Vague-logging strategies?
kiela64
Posts: 1,447 Member
So I know it's completely impossible to log restaurant food. But it's also a bad idea to just "not log" for a day or something, because one item is inaccurate.
For example, I had a pizza slice at a not-chain place that doesn't list calories or anything. It was different from other places, with a massive pile of mushrooms with cheese on top, no sauce, and tons of olive oil. The 2 options I see are to guesstimate amounts of each item (1 cup of mushrooms - it was so many mushrooms, maybe 3oz of mozzarella, ? pizza dough, and like 2 tablespoons of olive oil) OR to just log a generic pizza slice and just pick one of the higher calorie options?
What do you do for these situations?
For example, I had a pizza slice at a not-chain place that doesn't list calories or anything. It was different from other places, with a massive pile of mushrooms with cheese on top, no sauce, and tons of olive oil. The 2 options I see are to guesstimate amounts of each item (1 cup of mushrooms - it was so many mushrooms, maybe 3oz of mozzarella, ? pizza dough, and like 2 tablespoons of olive oil) OR to just log a generic pizza slice and just pick one of the higher calorie options?
What do you do for these situations?
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Replies
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For that one, try the Dominos website. They have a pizza building section in Nutrition. You can change up the toppings, remove the sauce, etc.9
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I just ballpark it in situations like that. You're not going to be able to nail it with precision every day; as with all things related to dieting, "most of the time" will get the job done.20
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Adopting a perfectionist, 'If i can't do it well, I won't bother doing it at all' kind of approach doesn't do anyone any favours.
All you're doing is taking a less than ideal situation (can't accurately log one meal) and making it the worst possible situation (won't accurately log anything).8 -
If I can’t get the exact I just try for a generic or moderately similar item.5
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One year for thanksgiving (I think), I hadn’t put all the recipes into the builder yet so I just logged things using a best guess/reasonable entry from the database. I then went back and entered the recipes and changed my log to the accurate entries. The difference was about 10%. So a few hundred calories.
Over the course of a lifetime-that’s nothing.
Give it a best guess. Pick something that seems close. You know if your pizza was closer to a deep dish extra large super supreme 800 calories a slice or 1/6 of a frozen Totino’s.
I log on vacation where I cook 0% of my meals and a best (reasonable) guess logging gets me right on target to my weight change over that period.7 -
I just would go for a generic pizza entry - but go for one of the higher calorie options.2
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Depending on the type of dish, I will:
- log the ingredients I think are in it (this is when it's clear what foods are in the dish and it isn't too complicated
- log a generic entry (if the dish looks pretty standard)
- or log a mix of both. For a non standard dish, I log a generic entry and then add extra ingredients. Or sometimes I know most of the ingredients, and then I will add a generic entry of the 'unknowns' (usually sauces).
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So I would log a mushroom pizza slice that seems reasonable. Ignore the mushrooms, they're low calories and cancel with the non existent tomato sauce, and would add 13.5 (1T) of olive oil because i have EVOO handy.
I would have a hard time seeing the mushrooms absorb more than 1T without breading. Crust deep dish or thin or regular and size of slice would make a difference.
If mushrooms fully covered with cheese that may require extra cheese (processed cheese slices are 19-21g most of the time for sizing purposes)
Cheese could also account for some of the oil feel.
In the end crust and cheese are the bulk of the calories.7 -
I don't r e a l l y know how close I ever am on restaurant food. I don't eat out often, so it is pretty much a non-issue, but I have been logging food for so long that I can pretty well guess the portion(s) of something on a plate, even pizza I would think. Again, no way to actually know...but I can look at it and get close enough. After being at the same weight for so many years, it's pretty hard to throw me off my game enough to have a significant weight change so I don't sweat the small stuff.
None of this is an exact science. I think the Dominos Build Your Own in the first or second post above is brilliant, and I'm glad you posted this question because now I know that exists and sounds really useful.
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Another tip is to take a photo of the food (and possibly the menu) if you are out with others so you can do the best guess later. I find that to be less intrusive and allows you to stay engaged with your companions rather than thinking about what's in the food.5
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So I know it's completely impossible to log restaurant food. But it's also a bad idea to just "not log" for a day or something, because one item is inaccurate.
For example, I had a pizza slice at a not-chain place that doesn't list calories or anything. It was different from other places, with a massive pile of mushrooms with cheese on top, no sauce, and tons of olive oil. The 2 options I see are to guesstimate amounts of each item (1 cup of mushrooms - it was so many mushrooms, maybe 3oz of mozzarella, ? pizza dough, and like 2 tablespoons of olive oil) OR to just log a generic pizza slice and just pick one of the higher calorie options?
What do you do for these situations?
I eat at my favorite buffet a couple of times a month, an authentic Chinese all you can eat place. They don't have a website or any calorie info. I have no idea what kind of oil and other ingredients they use.
I've googled similar food to get a calorie idea (sesame balls, 100 calories each, oops, better not eat four!). I end up eating a reasonable meal and log 1000 calories for the meal, which may be close -- or not. Eating there once in a while hasn't hurt me at all.6 -
So I would log a mushroom pizza slice that seems reasonable. Ignore the mushrooms, they're low calories and cancel with the non existent tomato sauce, and would add 13.5 (1T) of olive oil because i have EVOO handy.
I would have a hard time seeing the mushrooms absorb more than 1T without breading. Crust deep dish or thin or regular and size of slice would make a difference.
If mushrooms fully covered with cheese that may require extra cheese (processed cheese slices are 19-21g most of the time for sizing purposes)
Cheese could also account for some of the oil feel.
In the end crust and cheese are the bulk of the calories.
Thanks! I logged a generic pizza slice, but it still seemed much too low for how full I was. It was a lot of bread. I'll probably retroactively log some extra bread and call it even. Thank you!1 -
serindipte wrote: »For that one, try the Dominos website. They have a pizza building section in Nutrition. You can change up the toppings, remove the sauce, etc.
Yep. I have logged a lot of dominos that was not actually dominos.
I take my vagueness one step further though and I log a similar pizza already in the database and adjust the serving sizes to match the calories. This means very often I will log something like 5.65 or 7.15 slices of pizza.2 -
I think my favorite entry like this is the "Chinese buffet, serving size 1 plate" that's a flat 1,000 calories.1
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magnusthenerd wrote: »I think my favorite entry like this is the "Chinese buffet, serving size 1 plate" that's a flat 1,000 calories.
Obviously it depends on how the plate is filled but that seems too high for a single trip and too low for 2 or more trips.
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magnusthenerd wrote: »I think my favorite entry like this is the "Chinese buffet, serving size 1 plate" that's a flat 1,000 calories.
Obviously it depends on how the plate is filled but that seems too high for a single trip and too low for 2 or more trips.
You greatly underestimate my ability to stack crab rangoon and delude myself about it.
Actually, I think the last time I was at a Chinese buffet, I was losing but not logging, ate two very moderate plates and weighed less the next day. I had mixed feelings about that weigh in - sure I was still losing, but darn it, I let the buffet owner win.8 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »magnusthenerd wrote: »I think my favorite entry like this is the "Chinese buffet, serving size 1 plate" that's a flat 1,000 calories.
Obviously it depends on how the plate is filled but that seems too high for a single trip and too low for 2 or more trips.
You greatly underestimate my ability to stack crab rangoon and delude myself about it.
Actually, I think the last time I was at a Chinese buffet, I was losing but not logging, ate two very moderate plates and weighed less the next day. I had mixed feelings about that weigh in - sure I was still losing, but darn it, I let the buffet owner win.
That is not possible. The sodium content alone should have been worth 3 pounds of water (7 pounds if you are me). I hate you now.4 -
Oh well, I won't sweat the hate.magnusthenerd wrote: »magnusthenerd wrote: »I think my favorite entry like this is the "Chinese buffet, serving size 1 plate" that's a flat 1,000 calories.
Obviously it depends on how the plate is filled but that seems too high for a single trip and too low for 2 or more trips.
You greatly underestimate my ability to stack crab rangoon and delude myself about it.
Actually, I think the last time I was at a Chinese buffet, I was losing but not logging, ate two very moderate plates and weighed less the next day. I had mixed feelings about that weigh in - sure I was still losing, but darn it, I let the buffet owner win.
That is not possible. The sodium content alone should have been worth 3 pounds of water (7 pounds if you are me). I hate you now.
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It depends if I am really trying to lose (like right now I got back from vacation on Monday and was up several pounds and am trying to eat at more of a deficit to get back to normal) or I'm generally happy with my pace and either maintaining or losing more slowly (I'm basically hovering around goal but for this recent vacation). And just to be clear, I always log as accurately as possible (weigh everything, every bite lick taste etc), but as far as eating out at a restaurant question.
If I'm being very diligent I try to guess at the components of what I am eating and estimate as close as possible, including the oil something is cooked in (cannot forget that), and try to get as close as I can. If I'm OK being a little looser, I will just look for a comparable item (not the components), log the best I can, and live with that.
Even on vacation I tried to just log something to stay in the habit. I may just find an entry for "fish tacos" or something which is not very precise, but I was on vacation and the idea is to keep the good habit of logging, not stress over total accuracy.
Easier said than done, I know.4
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