How many people "estimate" their food intake?

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  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    The majority of my food is prepared from home.
    If I make a sandwich I would log the bread and any fillings seperately. I would not look for a tuna melt entry.
    If I make a pizza the same deal or I'd use the recipe builder to log everything at once.
    If it is a non-chain restaurant food then I find something similar in the database from a different restaurant.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,144 Member
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    tjkita wrote: »
    So what about restuarant foods that aren't in the food chart? Say "little anthony" pizza. Would you pick little seasors pizza or pizza hut then? As for a tuna melt, whole wheat bread 2 slices, tuna, mayo, cheese and heat it up in an oven....yummy but high in sodium.

    I don't log restaurant food in my diary unless the restaurant has the nutritional information available in their menu or on line. I do use the comment section in my food diary and I record there where and what I ate, just for my own information. I don't log much while on vacation and nothing at all if I go to somebody else house.

    One of the reason is that those "fake" entries overload the Recent section of my food diary and they can not be deleted; so no thank you.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    On the most part I weigh, but there are times when I just quick add an estimate, but I always over estimate. We'll be going to a carvery for our roast tomorrow, there'll be two different meats, accompaniments (yorkie, pig in blanket, stuffing ball), roast potatoes, boiled potatoes and around 6 types of veg. I'll have half the yorkshire pudding, pass the other extras to my OH, have a couple of roast potatoes, couple of boiled and fill my plate with veg. I have calculated it before and with pud it comes to around 750, but I'm going to log 1000 so if I want to indulge in a latte I can without worrying.
  • samchez0
    samchez0 Posts: 364 Member
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    I do this. I know it's akin to sacrilege on MFP to say you don't measure and weigh everything but I've had success without it. I've lost 40 lbs over the last year. I tend to pick higher calories for things though and probably overestimate. I will also say that as a lower weight now I think my margin of error is much smaller and have totally plateaued. But I've also been sliding back into old eating habits.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,022 Member
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    samchez0 wrote: »
    I do this. I know it's akin to sacrilege on MFP to say you don't measure and weigh everything but I've had success without it. I've lost 40 lbs over the last year. I tend to pick higher calories for things though and probably overestimate. I will also say that as a lower weight now I think my margin of error is much smaller and have totally plateaued. But I've also been sliding back into old eating habits.

    Is it???

    Ive been on this forum for several years now and I've said many times that I dont weight and measure everything - havent felt that about saying it at all.

  • ShammersPink
    ShammersPink Posts: 215 Member
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    I think that it gets jumped on when people complain that they "can't lose weight" and are logging everything, and eating a minuscule number of calories, but are weighing nothing.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    A tuna melt for 150 or 200 calories

    Is it the size of a canapé?
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    Estimating does not work for me. I was perfectly aware of how one gained weight, and managed to gain a LOT of weight a little at a time over many years.

    Being as accurate as possible has yielded very good results for me, and I intend to continue this path forward.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,022 Member
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    ShammersPink wrote: »
    I think that it gets jumped on when people complain that they "can't lose weight" and are logging everything, and eating a minuscule number of calories, but are weighing nothing.

    oh yes that is fair enough - even in every thread where I say I estimate a lot and do lazy logging I do qualfiy that be saying it works for me , my weight is doing as expected but if people's weight is not doing so, tightening logging will help them to see where their problem lies.
  • ShammersPink
    ShammersPink Posts: 215 Member
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    If it aint broke, don't fix it!
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    For those who find that estimating calories is working for them, bear in mind that the closer you get to your goal weight, the less wiggle room you have to mess around with. At that point, being highly accurate with your caloric intake will be more important simply because there's very little margin for error.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,022 Member
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    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    For those who find that estimating calories is working for them, bear in mind that the closer you get to your goal weight, the less wiggle room you have to mess around with. At that point, being highly accurate with your caloric intake will be more important simply because there's very little margin for error.

    I didnt find that myself.

    and I got to my goal and have now maintained there for over 3 years.

  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    For those who find that estimating calories is working for them, bear in mind that the closer you get to your goal weight, the less wiggle room you have to mess around with. At that point, being highly accurate with your caloric intake will be more important simply because there's very little margin for error.

    I didnt find that myself.

    and I got to my goal and have now maintained there for over 3 years.

    Then you have a very good handle on it, a skill which is quite uncommon. Not for a second saying that estimating doesn't work, since it obviously did for you. <3

    Inaccurately estimating caloric intake, however, is the biggest stumbling block for most people to overcome, especially as they get closer to goal weight. And at that point, you don't want to be going over your allotted calories and stalling your progress, but just as importantly, you don't want to underestimate them either, and risk nutrient deficiencies or making the last leg of the weight loss marathon harder than it needs to be. :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    For those who find that estimating calories is working for them, bear in mind that the closer you get to your goal weight, the less wiggle room you have to mess around with. At that point, being highly accurate with your caloric intake will be more important simply because there's very little margin for error.

    Not for me. I was always results based not numbers based. The more experience you have the better idea you have what you need to do to get those results.
    My accuracy actually declined not increased. I did things like average out the cycling part of my commute rather than record rides individually, average out the number of routine drinks I had a day etc..
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    For those who find that estimating calories is working for them, bear in mind that the closer you get to your goal weight, the less wiggle room you have to mess around with. At that point, being highly accurate with your caloric intake will be more important simply because there's very little margin for error.

    Not for me. I was always results based not numbers based. The more experience you have the better idea you have what you need to do to get those results.
    My accuracy actually declined not increased. I did things like average out the cycling part of my commute rather than record rides individually, average out the number of routine drinks I had a day etc..

    Agree to the bolded.

    But most people here are new to the process of weight loss/maintenance and therefore do not yet have the experience needed for estimating to be routinely viable for them. They tend to underestimate what they're eating and overestimate calorie burn from intentional exercise. The dozens and dozens of "Help! I'm doing everything right and not losing weight!" threads here are evidence of that. :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    For those who find that estimating calories is working for them, bear in mind that the closer you get to your goal weight, the less wiggle room you have to mess around with. At that point, being highly accurate with your caloric intake will be more important simply because there's very little margin for error.

    Not for me. I was always results based not numbers based. The more experience you have the better idea you have what you need to do to get those results.
    My accuracy actually declined not increased. I did things like average out the cycling part of my commute rather than record rides individually, average out the number of routine drinks I had a day etc..

    Agree to the bolded.

    But most people here are new to the process of weight loss/maintenance and therefore do not yet have the experience needed for estimating to be routinely viable for them. They tend to underestimate what they're eating and overestimate calorie burn from intentional exercise. The dozens and dozens of "Help! I'm doing everything right and not losing weight!" threads here are evidence of that. :)

    That's just evidence that some people struggle. People who don't struggle don't tend to ask for help.

    Dozens and dozens of people struggling out of thousands of users could be interpreted as evidence that most people find a way to make it work in whatever ways suits them.

  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    For those who find that estimating calories is working for them, bear in mind that the closer you get to your goal weight, the less wiggle room you have to mess around with. At that point, being highly accurate with your caloric intake will be more important simply because there's very little margin for error.

    Not for me. I was always results based not numbers based. The more experience you have the better idea you have what you need to do to get those results.
    My accuracy actually declined not increased. I did things like average out the cycling part of my commute rather than record rides individually, average out the number of routine drinks I had a day etc..

    Agree to the bolded.

    But most people here are new to the process of weight loss/maintenance and therefore do not yet have the experience needed for estimating to be routinely viable for them. They tend to underestimate what they're eating and overestimate calorie burn from intentional exercise. The dozens and dozens of "Help! I'm doing everything right and not losing weight!" threads here are evidence of that. :)

    That's just evidence that some people struggle. People who don't struggle don't tend to ask for help.

    Dozens and dozens of people struggling out of thousands of users could be interpreted as evidence that most people find a way to make it work in whatever ways suits them.
    I agree that there are lots of 'silently successful' people on *both* sides of the equation. Those that manage to figure out the process of properly weighing their food to get a realistic handle on their calorie consumption don't start those "Help me" threads either.

    And most likely the vast majority of those that do need help but don't start a thread about it, get the help and information they need from reading the threads of those that do. :)
  • Arapacana1
    Arapacana1 Posts: 117 Member
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    I only estimate at parties and at restaurants, and then I estimate high. If I'm absolutely starving a few hours later, I know that my estimate was too low and I add an apple and a low-cal yoghurt.
  • thielke2015
    thielke2015 Posts: 212 Member
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    I measure every new food I have then next time it's already and I can adjust the portion size if I have more or less than previous. I use the barcode scanner a lot .... that must be accurate
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
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    I don't estimate much anymore. My calorie allotment is so minimal and my goal is high and I have a time goal too. So I'm weighing most things except liquids like milk. I weigh meat and veggies now. I actually found I waa underestimating veggies so i get to pump up the volume of those. I made popcorn last night and even weighed the butter. For the most part I avoid eating out, if I do I choose the least sauced, version of meat i can find, eyeball a portion about the size of what I previously weighed in the past at home, and get a doggie bag. I choose all veggies as sides and assume a minimum of a half tablespoon of fat (oil, butter) has been added to them. I stay away from breads or other high carb sides.

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