Everything is an estimate...am I counting things correctly?

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ADTeachTX
ADTeachTX Posts: 204 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Working under the notion that everything is an estimate...I am struggling with how to count some foods, especially when I do not eat at home and know exactly what is in something. Here is my problem... when I don't know the exact calorie count of a product and I am having to estimate, I have make the choice to count it at the highest that I can find in the database and risk not eating enough and feeling deprived because I am overcounting things, or finding an average and counting it that way and risking under counting the day and really eating too many calories. How do you all deal with this issue?

Mostly I go with the average because I really want to stay under for my mental sanity. I don't know if I really am under when I am not eating at home. I like the feeling of accomplishment and the encouragement from you guys when I stay under so I try to log it so that it shows that I am under, but I don't know if I really am under and maybe I am just lying to myself.

What is your take on this issue?

Sidenote: I am annoyed that there is very little consistency in the calorie count for grapes. I don't measure my grapes in a cup, I count how many grapes I actually eat. Anyone know why there is so much disparity in the calorie count for grapes. How many grapes are in a cup?

Replies

  • Sezmo83
    Sezmo83 Posts: 331 Member
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    When I'm at home I weigh almost everything. When I'm eating out I go with the highest one in the database unless I can find the info exact thing I've eaten somewhere.

    I've found discrepencies with almost every user added food in the database. Try looking up the calories elsewhere and not just on MFP if all the entries say really different things. http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/calorie_counter/fruit.htm is one I use. Only problem is it doesn't list sugar or sodium.
  • stevenleagle
    stevenleagle Posts: 293 Member
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    I tend to go for higher values unless i am near goal lol. Then i put in the lowest value I can get away with. Seriously though, I guess at the end of the day it depends on your results. if you are losing, you must be doing something right
  • klewis81
    klewis81 Posts: 122
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    These are ALL of my logging problems too! (even grapes)

    You are doing an awesome job losing weight so I think you are on the right track. That is what I keep telling myself. I try to choose the mid-to-high choice in the database and hope for the best. This is why I hate eating at restaurants though.

    And the grapes thing drives me insane too. I wish they would go through and delete all of the wacky, obviously incorrect foods.
  • ladyphoto
    ladyphoto Posts: 192 Member
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    Yea the grape thing- I'm with you on that one- especially since I eat them almost every day!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,068 Member
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    Let go of your notion that you can do this perfectly.

    Perfectionism is what got a lot of us into this mess of being overweight.

    I agree that since you are losing, you're fine. Even if you ate all your meals at home, and used a heart rate monitor, you still will have an error factor. I figure it could be as much as 300 calories in a day. But I don't gain weight if I go over by 100-300 calories according to my calculations, so I don't sweat it anymore.
  • lilyinlove
    lilyinlove Posts: 441 Member
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    A small inexpensive kitchen scale is a worthy investion.
  • danimoon67
    danimoon67 Posts: 38 Member
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    A small inexpensive kitchen scale is a worthy investion.


    ^^^^ THIS!
  • keengkong
    keengkong Posts: 83 Member
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    When eating out, you'll often have to estimate things. However, now many restaurants include calorie counts. I like to buy things that come in small packets because it's easy to figure out exactly how much I'm eating.

    If in doubt about how many calories are in an item, you can always go the USDA web site which lists calories per food: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/. It says that one American style grape contains two calories. The disparities in calories that you saw may have been caused by comparing different varieties or differently sized grapes.
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    Definitely get some kitchen scales - I weigh everything!!! Also I've found that I've learned what portion sizes look like so if I'm out for Italian I can guage myself whether there's 100 grams of pasta and what the calories should be. It's been oddly interesting! x
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    Everything that's high calorie goes on my kitchen scale - not vegetables, but certainly pasta, rice, cheese, etc etc. It's going to be far more accurate than weird measures like 'cups'. And once you've been weighing for a few weeks, it's easier to spot how many of your usual servings there are in food you're eating out.
  • vanessaclarkgbr
    vanessaclarkgbr Posts: 765 Member
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    I use scales - cups someone on here recommended in Asda, under £2 (multi coloured ones in the homewares department) and this is also a helpful resource - http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-grapes-i9131?size_grams=2.4
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    For the first month to 8 weeks I rarely ate out so that I could measure using cups and a kitchen scale so that I could really get a feel for the look and amount of foods. I still measure everything, but it gives me a better mind's eye for portions in the foods I'm eating. As for grapes . . . they come in varying sizes so really using a comsuption count as opposed to a weighted measure is going to be inaccurate.
  • jess213tx
    jess213tx Posts: 85 Member
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    I bought a small scale at Target that I use religiously at home (spent less than 20 bucks). I've also purcahsed some measuring cups that I use at work - 1/4c, 1/3c, and tablespoon.

    Otherwise, I try to stay away from foods I'm not so sure about - like sauces (except A1 and salsa), anything fried, and sugary drinks. If I go out for happy hour I'll stick with wine or beer because it's easier to count.
  • jess213tx
    jess213tx Posts: 85 Member
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    One other thing - I usually try to stay about 100 calories under my daily goal to account for rounding errors! I used to do more, but since I bought my HRM, it hasn't been as necessary.
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
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    I call this all a guesstimate! I just like to know in general how many calories I am eating.

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