Estimate your total calories for an unlogged item

NovusDies
NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Play along if you want.

I never log mustard but I use it almost each day. So I decided to weigh what I believe is a typical amount that I would use. There will obviously be some days I didn't have any, although they would be rare, and some days I would have more.

I am heavy-handed with it so 5 servings at 3 calories per serving = 15 calories per day. As of today I have logged for 950 days so that adds up to:

14,250 calories of mustard

At 3500 calories per pound it means if I had been logging it I might be 4 pounds lighter 2.6 years later. That is a big "might" because of the margin of error in calorie logging.

I still won't be logging mustard.

Replies

  • amart4224
    amart4224 Posts: 345 Member
    G Zero Gatorade. I drink a 12oz every day. The 12oz bottle says 0 calories but the 20oz says 5 calories, so I guess the 12oz would be about 3 calories. I would have to drink one every day for over 3 years to make one pound of unlogged calories 😂

    Fun to think about!
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    I get it, but may be overthinking a bit? I over estimate calories sometimes, especially when eating out, but I try logging everything, even mustard. Interesting though.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    I don’t log bbq sauce or A1. I eat them very infrequently though, so I figure in the grand scheme of things, they won’t matter.

    I do log ketchup though. Like the OP, I am heavy handed with ketchup (don’t like mustard or I’d probably be heavy handed with that also). A typical “serving” of ketchup for me is about 3-4 servings lol.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    missysippy930 wrote: »
    I get it, but may be overthinking a bit? I over estimate calories sometimes, especially when eating out, but I try logging everything, even mustard. Interesting though.

    I have a spreadsheet that tracks how my logging compares to my results. Historically my logging comes in on the slightly high side because I have areas where I have built in a buffer. So even though I do not log mustard, tea, herbs spices, small amounts of ketchup, ACV, and the occasional bite of whatever my wife is having it is actually in my calorie day.

    The danger of using a buffer is that I have seen people use one that kept eating bites here and there believing it was covered. At the end of the day they may have spent a 50 calorie buffer 5 or 6 times. My logging habits are pretty well set now. If my weight started doing something unexpected I know how to tighten up. However, I plan to log for 5+ more years so I would rather have my current system that is fast and requires little thought.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    edited October 2020
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Play along if you want.

    I never log mustard but I use it almost each day. So I decided to weigh what I believe is a typical amount that I would use. There will obviously be some days I didn't have any, although they would be rare, and some days I would have more.

    I am heavy-handed with it so 5 servings at 3 calories per serving = 15 calories per day. As of today I have logged for 950 days so that adds up to:

    14,250 calories of mustard

    At 3500 calories per pound it means if I had been logging it I might be 4 pounds lighter 2.6 years later. That is a big "might" because of the margin of error in calorie logging.

    I still won't be logging mustard.

    Ok... let me check the math....

    6×5(the current idoicy in U.S politics)-(the length of the current lockdown)= I'm not weighing veggies and fruit.....

    Better to be consistently inconsistent, than inconsistently consistent...🤷‍♂️
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    Let's say the small piece of lemon or lime in my near-daily iced matcha: I had to convert to whole lemons to even get a calorie guess, but here's the general idea in clearer terms:
    1/16 lemon X 350 days per year = around 45 calories a year X 5 years = 225 calories.

    If I'd logged a few of my relatively infrequent unlogged days, one of them probably would be 10x that, and more.

    😆🤣, Novus!
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    0 cal oil spray. Its only 0 cal for the tiny amount in the 1/4 second or whatever equates a serving. And a basic spray the pan is easily 2-3 seconds. Spraying the casserole dish is more. Of course, those foods are then consumed by multiple people and/or over multiple servings, and some of it STAYS on the dish or cooks out of the skillet. But I know there ARE calories in it.
  • aimeetu
    aimeetu Posts: 139 Member
    50 calories for 2 tablespoons of creamer in my coffee everyday x 1200 days = 60000. Or 17 lbs. I don't track my coffee creamer :-)
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,512 Member
    I didn't used to track my Splenda packets, but I have started and not only has it opened my eyes to the calories I was consuming, but also convinced me to cut back on my tea drinking! According to the MFP database, each packet has 4 calories. I was drinking probably 5 cups of tea or coffee a day and I have logged in for 2853 days now, so that's 57,060 calories I have not logged!

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