Stupid question, but I need to start somewhere

sarajaneeeee · January 2019

Hi! As the title suggests, I have a stupid question... I was tracking my dinner tonight, which included mussels in a garlic butter sauce. The package said that each serving was 190 calories, and I had both servings so that's 380. Pretty straight forward so far...

Here's the stupid question: is the calorie count for every bit of what was in the package, or just what they assume you'll eat? Its not like I drank every last drop of the garlic butter sauce... In fact, I hardly touched it.

So is the calorie count really 380?

Similarly, if I'm cooking and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan, but theres still oil in the pan when I'm done, does it technically count for the whole amount?

(I'm still below my calorie goal for the day, so it's not super important right now, but I'm wondering for future reference. If anything, I usually tend to overestimate calories.)

kt90gurl · January 2019

You are correct in saying the total amount of calories shown on the box is assuming you will eat it all. However I would always log the 'extra' calories. Simply because calorie counting is not an exact science, will always be better to adding a few calories on, and therefore losing more weight, than trying to grab the calories back and potentially over eating.

Ps. that said, if you only eat half a sandwhich, only log the half ;P

kimny72 · January 2019

Unfortunately, while I like to be as exact as possible in my logging, some things just require a judgement call. I figure the manufacturer is providing data on what they consider a typical serving would be, no licking the inside of the package. Whether that's accurate or not, I don't know. But I figure if I log an extra 30 calories here, I'll probably miss 25 calories there, and it will all pretty much even up.

The cooking oil conundrum is what convinced me to add as little oil as possible to the pan, I can always add more. Because once you're done, what's left is a mix of oil, water, and juices from whatever you cooked, who knows how much of each?

Honestly, what's most important is consistency. Find a balance between accuracy and convenience that you're comfortable with, and let your progress over 6-8 weeks guide you. If you are losing slower than expected, you need to eat a little less - maybe because your logging is a little off, or maybe because your calorie goal was a little off. I hope that all makes sense! Welcome and good luck :drinker:

sbelletti · January 2019

Keep in mind that calorie counts on packaging are allowed by law to vary a certain percentage. This can add up to a significant amount depending on what you eat and how often you eat it. An extra 20 calories in that cup of coffee that you drink 4x a day, every day, is 560 calories for the week!

ErickGuzman · January 2019

I tend to count them , because like that it helps me not over eat later on.

amayk · January 2019

I count them, because it's impossible to tell how much to withdraw, and I prefer to note a few extra calories to be on the safe side, then to withdraw to many and eat to much.

Stupid question, but I need to start somewhere

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