We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Estimating Calories

slimdownspicey
slimdownspicey Posts: 110 Member
edited October 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I feel like I've become dependent on entering exactly what I'm eating into my food diary and I've lost the confidence to know that I've made the right choices when I can't. I tend to go to lunch to these fancy "buffet" to-go places in Manhattan near my office...and example of what I'll get -

-1"x2" piece of veggie frittata with Moroccan stewed tomato on top
-2 tbsp chicken shwarma with a little herb cream sauce
-1-2 tbsp Brazilian chicken salad
-steamed veggies with a little yogurt sauce
-3 roasted plum tomato 1/2s with less than 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
-1/3 cup of roasted sweet potato

This totaled about 1 lb. To me it was the right amount for lunch and I took a tiny bit of the more "indulgent" things I would want to try. But when it comes to entering in the calories, I'm at a loss.

Wondering if anyone else has some experience with this or advice. Thanks!

Replies

  • hillendahl
    hillendahl Posts: 29 Member
    I love to eat at alot of independently owned restaurants...Typically what I do is look at what I'm being served and mentally compare it to an entre at a "chain" restaurant....where the nutritional value is known.

    For example....I love fajitas. So, I use the nutritional value for one fajita at taco cabana as a guide. With fajitas usually comes mexican rice. So, I search the mfp data base for mexican rice. There are alot of entries...because it can sometimes vary. I try to pick a middle of the road entree....maybe not the highest caloried one in the database...and not the lowest caloried one....something in between.

    In essence, it is only a guess....but I'm thinking it's probably a better to guess than to not even try..
  • chuisle
    chuisle Posts: 1,052 Member
    Eating at my work is similar...its difficult to tell how many calories are in a prepared dish! I generally will look it up on recipe sites that include nutritional information, compare them to one another, check the MFP database and if there is nothing there then I will add the recipe myself.

    A note on calories: in studies even registered dietitians underestimated their caloric intake on a regular basis. Make it a policy to leave a little extra room.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories