How do you measure a salad?

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yortem
yortem Posts: 22 Member
edited May 2017 in Health and Weight Loss
for example, i want to buy this thai salad
ffglbqzeb5e7.png
beside vegetables it has bean noodles, spicy chili and traditional Thai sauce...
what you usually do when facing a recipe and you dont know the details much?
how many calories do you think it has?

Replies

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
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    Break it down by ingredient and log it that way. The Thai Sauce is going to be the most calorific ingredient so I would pick the higher calorie version of what I searched for or quick add calories to give me a bit of wiggle room.
  • leajas1
    leajas1 Posts: 823 Member
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    Look it up in the MFP database and find the closest food that fits. I searched "Thai Salad" and these were the first few that came up (there were more). Be realistic and honest with yourself, though, with the option you pick.


    Thai Beef Salad
    Outtakes, 1 plate, 318 calories


    Thai quinoa salad, 0.166667 recipe, 260 calories
    Thai Coconut Salad

    Modmarket, 1 salad, 487 calories
    Thai Chicken Salad

    Panera, 1 Salad, 490 calories
  • xchocolategirl
    xchocolategirl Posts: 186 Member
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    Does the place maybe having information about the calories posted online or at the store?

    The next best thing if they don't is to start dismantling the item and figuring out the calories for each item.

    Good luck!!
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,074 Member
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    If it is a premade salad and there is no nutritional value listed you really have to make an educated guess. When I was really really strict I would deconstruct the salad and weigh the components of the salad to get a good estimate.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
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    the lazy way is if you can find a similar menu item at a chain restaurant with nutritional information you could use that. i find that places like friday's, chili's, cheesecake factory (which has appx. 1000 salads) etc. are going to have pretty high calories and help me to feel like i am not underestimating.
  • cianag
    cianag Posts: 29 Member
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    The problem with Asian foods, including Thai, is the high sodium in their sauces. :( Just look at the label of a bottle of fish sauce.
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
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    I usually pain stakingly put in each item little by little and of course have to estimate. ex: 1 tbspn black olives, 1/2 tblspn of shredded carrots, 4 cherry tomatoes, 2 cups spring mix salad/lettuce, 1 tblsp of sunflower seeds, etc... Luckily I don't have salads every day lol *Because since, it's usually from the salad bar it always differs :smiley:
  • yortem
    yortem Posts: 22 Member
    edited May 2017
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    im new with this diet so its really hard to guess how many sauce there is or how many bean noodles there is , i think i will give it 600 calories. its seems right? . i have 800 left for today (and its dinner) so...
  • susanp57
    susanp57 Posts: 409 Member
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    Ask for the sauce on the side. That way you can get that a bit more accurate.
  • yortem
    yortem Posts: 22 Member
    edited May 2017
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    from looking more on the internet it seems like 400-450 calories is more accurate than 600. i'll go with 450.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
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    yortem wrote: »
    for example, i want to buy this thai salad
    ffglbqzeb5e7.png
    beside vegetables it has bean noodles, spicy chili and traditional Thai sauce...
    what you usually do when facing a recipe and you dont know the details much?
    how many calories do you think it has?

    I look at what's in it .. estimate quantities .. Close enough is good enough. Missing by 100 cals on a salad won't have any impact, long run.
  • YalithKBK
    YalithKBK Posts: 317 Member
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    leajas1 wrote: »
    Look it up in the MFP database and find the closest food that fits. I searched "Thai Salad" and these were the first few that came up (there were more). Be realistic and honest with yourself, though, with the option you pick.

    This.

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