Fish & Brewis calories???

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cabin4life
cabin4life Posts: 10 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, so here's my dilemma. My MIL is giving us homemade fish & brewis for supper tonight. I have NO idea how to record the calories for this one. Looking at the different entries in the 'food list', calories for the same amount range from 125 to 1200. How in the world do I log this?????? (she's the kind of cook who just 'wings it', so I can't even ask her what's in it).

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,015 Member
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    I think this is one of those things in early weight loss that really throws people who are trying to log food.

    Here's the thing. Life is going to happen. You're not going to be preparing all your own meals so you'll need to be a little flexible on your logging. I don't know what fish and brewis is, but you can probably make a reasonable guess and then move on. Just log something, even if it's "Quick Calories." You have to learn to live life while working on weight loss. It's more about the 80% of choices than the 20% of guesses.

    Don't be "that" person who obsesses about calories or fat when they are eating with loved ones. It won't end well for you!


    One of the things about logging food that you'll learn from cooking at home is portions and ingredients. It will be helpful to you in the future, but probably not in the beginning. Just log a guess and move on.

  • cabin4life
    cabin4life Posts: 10 Member
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    I'm not obsessing. But there's a big difference between logging 125 cal and 1200 cal. I'm merely looking for input on what others would do so I can 'log a guess'. Some of us have tendencies that require us to at least try to be accurate or we go off the rails completely. Is that healthy? Maybe not, but it's how our brains work, and we have to deal with it as best we can.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    In your situation, I'd probably find a recipe that looked similar and estimate the calories based on that.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,174 Member
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    I tend to log meals like that one of two ways:

    - I would look at some recipes to figure out what the ingredients are, focusing on the most calorie dense ingredients.
    And then log the ingredients separately, based on a ballpark idea of the proportions of the ingredients and the portion I ate.

    - or look up the nutritional data (for a specified weight! Not just the total calories 'per meals) from well known supermarkets for that dish through Google. Then searching that entry in the database and adjusting the portion size to the amount I ate.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,015 Member
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    cabin4life wrote: »
    I'm not obsessing. But there's a big difference between logging 125 cal and 1200 cal. I'm merely looking for input on what others would do so I can 'log a guess'. Some of us have tendencies that require us to at least try to be accurate or we go off the rails completely. Is that healthy? Maybe not, but it's how our brains work, and we have to deal with it as best we can.

    Well, unless it's two bites, it's not 125 calories.


    Most meals that are prepared from a recipe will be between 500-1000 calories per portion. If that's concerning to you, then enter 800 calories, eat one serving and move on. We can't estimate for you, because we do not know how much of it you'll eat or what the ingredients are. I guess you could try Lietchi's way - though even that sounds like too much work for one meal.

    It will become easier for you after you've logged food for a while. I can instinctively guess the approximate calories in a meal I eat wherever I go. I accept that a meal eaten out will mean I cannot log it accurately but I can get within 500 calories - which is close enough.

    This whole process is about making your best guesses about food and exercise and then making adjustments as you go along. Sure, a food scale is excellent and I use mine every time I make my own food but it's not necessary to be exact all of the time. Weight management is about making the best choices most of the time and being able to adjust as time goes on. Meals prepared by others and meals at restaurants are part of a good life, so you have to be a bit flexible and not hang on too tightly to that, "Accuracy," perfectionism.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    cabin4life wrote: »
    I'm not obsessing. But there's a big difference between logging 125 cal and 1200 cal. I'm merely looking for input on what others would do so I can 'log a guess'. Some of us have tendencies that require us to at least try to be accurate or we go off the rails completely. Is that healthy? Maybe not, but it's how our brains work, and we have to deal with it as best we can.

    Well, unless it's two bites, it's not 125 calories.


    Most meals that are prepared from a recipe will be between 500-1000 calories per portion. If that's concerning to you, then enter 800 calories, eat one serving and move on. We can't estimate for you, because we do not know how much of it you'll eat or what the ingredients are. I guess you could try Lietchi's way - though even that sounds like too much work for one meal.

    It will become easier for you after you've logged food for a while. I can instinctively guess the approximate calories in a meal I eat wherever I go. I accept that a meal eaten out will mean I cannot log it accurately but I can get within 500 calories - which is close enough.

    This whole process is about making your best guesses about food and exercise and then making adjustments as you go along. Sure, a food scale is excellent and I use mine every time I make my own food but it's not necessary to be exact all of the time. Weight management is about making the best choices most of the time and being able to adjust as time goes on. Meals prepared by others and meals at restaurants are part of a good life, so you have to be a bit flexible and not hang on too tightly to that, "Accuracy," perfectionism.

    This is my take. For meals that I'm only eating occasionally, "close enough" is fine.

  • cabin4life
    cabin4life Posts: 10 Member
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    Lietchi wrote: »
    I tend to log meals like that one of two ways:

    - I would look at some recipes to figure out what the ingredients are, focusing on the most calorie dense ingredients.
    And then log the ingredients separately, based on a ballpark idea of the proportions of the ingredients and the portion I ate.

    - or look up the nutritional data (for a specified weight! Not just the total calories 'per meals) from well known supermarkets for that dish through Google. Then searching that entry in the database and adjusting the portion size to the amount I ate.

    Thank you. I never thought about doing it the first way you mentioned. That's what I'll do. I did look up two local grocery stores that sell this premade meal, but they were both waaaaay off on their calories for the same amount.
  • cabin4life
    cabin4life Posts: 10 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    cabin4life wrote: »
    I'm not obsessing. But there's a big difference between logging 125 cal and 1200 cal. I'm merely looking for input on what others would do so I can 'log a guess'. Some of us have tendencies that require us to at least try to be accurate or we go off the rails completely. Is that healthy? Maybe not, but it's how our brains work, and we have to deal with it as best we can.

    Well, unless it's two bites, it's not 125 calories.


    Most meals that are prepared from a recipe will be between 500-1000 calories per portion. If that's concerning to you, then enter 800 calories, eat one serving and move on. We can't estimate for you, because we do not know how much of it you'll eat or what the ingredients are. I guess you could try Lietchi's way - though even that sounds like too much work for one meal.

    It will become easier for you after you've logged food for a while. I can instinctively guess the approximate calories in a meal I eat wherever I go. I accept that a meal eaten out will mean I cannot log it accurately but I can get within 500 calories - which is close enough.

    This whole process is about making your best guesses about food and exercise and then making adjustments as you go along. Sure, a food scale is excellent and I use mine every time I make my own food but it's not necessary to be exact all of the time. Weight management is about making the best choices most of the time and being able to adjust as time goes on. Meals prepared by others and meals at restaurants are part of a good life, so you have to be a bit flexible and not hang on too tightly to that, "Accuracy," perfectionism.

    You're actually not being that helpful at all, and are coming across as being preachy and judgmental. You have no idea how long I've been logging food. You have no idea how long my weight loss journey has been. You have no idea of what my triggers may be when it comes to guessing or estimating. I'm well aware of how the process works. I'm done responding or reading your messages. Perhaps your responses are helpful to some, but not to me at all. Good luck to you on your journey.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited March 2021
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    There is good news and bad news. The fish and brewis is a high calorie comfort food. It will come in at about 2 cal/g no matter what the variables are as long as the two main ingredients are cod and bread. So if you eat a bowl and it weighs a pound which is what I would expect at a minimum from a bowl you have around 900 to 1000 calories. The good news is that it takes an excess of 3500 calories to gain a pound. So, while you may not make any progress thanks to your M-I-L, you won't do much damage.
  • cabin4life
    cabin4life Posts: 10 Member
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    There is good news and bad news. The fish and brewis is a high calorie comfort food. It will come in at about 2 cal/g no matter what the variables are as long as the two main ingredients are cod and bread. So if you eat a bowl and it weighs a pound which is what I would expect at a minimum from a bowl you have around 900 to 1000 calories. The good news is that it takes an excess of 3500 calories to gain a pound. So, while you may not make any progress thanks to your M-I-L, you won't do much damage.

    Thank you very much! I don't think she puts scrunchions in hers, so I won't have to worry about that part lol. I've never made it myself and was a bit confused as to which of the entries listed in the database was even close to being somewhat accurate. Once I have a vague idea, I have no problems in guesstimating lol
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    cabin4life wrote: »
    I'm not obsessing. But there's a big difference between logging 125 cal and 1200 cal. I'm merely looking for input on what others would do so I can 'log a guess'. Some of us have tendencies that require us to at least try to be accurate or we go off the rails completely. Is that healthy? Maybe not, but it's how our brains work, and we have to deal with it as best we can.

    What @cmriverside said is exactly what others who've successfully lost weight and maintained weight do. This isn't an exact science and you can't let perfect be the enemy of good or good enough.

    Fish and brewis is a high calorie food, so I'd err on the high side estimating calories...it is certainly not going to be 125...I'd say depending on serving size, it's going to be anywhere from 500 (small serving) to 1200 (large serving), especially if it's prepared traditionally with scrunchions and the rendered fat is drizzled over the dish.

    These are things that overall I've learned to live with, as they aren't everyday eats and one high calorie meal or day here and there isn't particularly material to the bigger picture. Other strategies I've used when I know I have a very calorie dense meal coming...or a party/BBQ, etc where there will be lots of calories flying around is to have smaller breakfasts and lunches or skip one (usually breakfast) altogether and minimize or completely cut out any snacks for the day so I can just do my thing later...but again, occasions here and there are going to happen...there will always be holidays, birthdays, get togethers with family just to enjoy each others company and some good food, etc...but these aren't everyday and overall immaterial to the big picture.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,015 Member
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    cabin4life wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    cabin4life wrote: »
    I'm not obsessing. But there's a big difference between logging 125 cal and 1200 cal. I'm merely looking for input on what others would do so I can 'log a guess'. Some of us have tendencies that require us to at least try to be accurate or we go off the rails completely. Is that healthy? Maybe not, but it's how our brains work, and we have to deal with it as best we can.

    Well, unless it's two bites, it's not 125 calories.


    Most meals that are prepared from a recipe will be between 500-1000 calories per portion. If that's concerning to you, then enter 800 calories, eat one serving and move on. We can't estimate for you, because we do not know how much of it you'll eat or what the ingredients are. I guess you could try Lietchi's way - though even that sounds like too much work for one meal.

    It will become easier for you after you've logged food for a while. I can instinctively guess the approximate calories in a meal I eat wherever I go. I accept that a meal eaten out will mean I cannot log it accurately but I can get within 500 calories - which is close enough.

    This whole process is about making your best guesses about food and exercise and then making adjustments as you go along. Sure, a food scale is excellent and I use mine every time I make my own food but it's not necessary to be exact all of the time. Weight management is about making the best choices most of the time and being able to adjust as time goes on. Meals prepared by others and meals at restaurants are part of a good life, so you have to be a bit flexible and not hang on too tightly to that, "Accuracy," perfectionism.

    You're actually not being that helpful at all, and are coming across as being preachy and judgmental. You have no idea how long I've been logging food. You have no idea how long my weight loss journey has been. You have no idea of what my triggers may be when it comes to guessing or estimating. I'm well aware of how the process works. I'm done responding or reading your messages. Perhaps your responses are helpful to some, but not to me at all. Good luck to you on your journey.

    Ha.

    It's not like I didn't do the same thing you're doing!

    How do you think I learned?


    Carry on, by all means. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings in some way, that was absolutely NOT my intention.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,429 Member
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    cabin4life wrote: »
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    There is good news and bad news. The fish and brewis is a high calorie comfort food. It will come in at about 2 cal/g no matter what the variables are as long as the two main ingredients are cod and bread. So if you eat a bowl and it weighs a pound which is what I would expect at a minimum from a bowl you have around 900 to 1000 calories. The good news is that it takes an excess of 3500 calories to gain a pound. So, while you may not make any progress thanks to your M-I-L, you won't do much damage.

    Thank you very much! I don't think she puts scrunchions in hers, so I won't have to worry about that part lol. I've never made it myself and was a bit confused as to which of the entries listed in the database was even close to being somewhat accurate. Once I have a vague idea, I have no problems in guesstimating lol

    I don't know your personal circumstances, but if it's viable, consider the value of admiring the meal and how delicious it is, then asking for the recipe. If no recipe, consider enthusiastic learner-cook questions: "It's so rich! Do you use butter, or bacon fat?" "I like this proportion of pork to cod, what's your secret?" and so forth. (Even experienced cooks can be learner-cooks if they've never cooked the dish, so it's not inherently disingenuous. I'm not arguing for being insincere, so if you don't like it and are only eating it out of obligation, this won't work. But if you *do* like it and are trying to get a better handle on calorie level, I think it's fine to ask about methods/ingredients (as long as it's not some kind of closely-guarded secret, even from family).)

    Just a thought.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
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    Or, how about: "I am trying to lose weight by counting calories so it is really helpful for me to know your recipe so I can make and accurate count."

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