Do you count calories in extra added ingredients or toppings?

tpyb8v9phd
tpyb8v9phd Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone this may sound a little dumb but when counting calories do you count every single food topping individually? For example hot cocoa sugar free but add a tad of cream and a few mini marshmallows. Or adding salsa which varies in calories depending on ingredients do you input individually? Or soups? Pinto Beans is another because they contain different ingredients. This is where I am at a loss with the counting and drives me crazy. Thanks in advance- April

Best Answers

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,922 Member
    edited January 17 Answer ✓
    Personally, I would count those things. But perhaps you could just weigh and calculate the calories for each of those case one time and then judge whether you want to (weigh and) log it every time. It will depend on quantities, types of food item,...
    There is also, aside from the quantity and impact of the single food items, a cumulative effect. If you have many of these 'little foods' over the day, they might well add up to a significant amount of calories that could impact your progress.

    There are several degrees of precision possible:
    - ignore these 'little foods' entirely
    - weigh once to have an idea of the portion, and for the following occurrences just copy that quantity
    - weigh every food every single time
    And undoubtedly other variations in between.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,904 Member
    Answer ✓
    Nothing is for free, so yes you should count it, especially when some of the things you mention are high calorie items like "cream" and "marshmallows".

    Personally, I might estimate % of packet. If you get 10 servings from a pack, call it 0.1 each time, even if it's maybe slightly higher or lower that specific time. Or I might just eyeball it from experience, and call it X calories.

    But again, none of that stuff is free. Another thing with hot cocoa, did you measure the amount of milk?
  • TracyL963
    TracyL963 Posts: 116 Member
    Answer ✓
    Yes, especially at the beginning. This is all a learning experience.

    For some, at "little" cream in their coffee really adds up. Calories can be a bit sneaky. Salsa is generally low calorie, but you might not know that until you log it. I drink a cup of chai every morning. If I grab a bigger mug, I tend to use more milk. Not good. Now I use a measuring cup every time.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,494 Member
    Answer ✓
    I do, for two reasons.

    First, because the count and they add up.

    Second, related to that first, is that if I'm struggling, or not losing, I need data to work out why. It's no good looking back over my last month to work out why I'm not losing as expected and thinking "well, I was in the calories", when a bunch of little things aren't there in the data for me.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,466 Member
    Answer ✓
    A few years back, a researcher wanted to study the phenomenon of overweight chefs, was it really because they simply loved their food too much? What he found was that the average professional chef, regardless whether they monitored their daily diet or not, consumed roughly 100 calories per day simply from taste-testing the food they were preparing. A sip here, a nibble there, it all added up. Over a year, 100 calories per day is 36,500 calories, enough to gain over ten pounds a year SIMPLY FROM TASTE TESTING.

    So yes, you need to account for the little additions you make, the packet of ketchup you have with your fries, the marshmallows you add to your cocoa. It all adds up.
  • tpyb8v9phd
    tpyb8v9phd Posts: 3 Member
    Answer ✓
    Thank you everyone for your replies I will be taking the extra few seconds to add them little calories, I need to train myself to be consistent.
  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 4,007 Member
    edited January 17 Answer ✓
    Late, but you bet I do! Especially starting out!
    I found sneaking a few nuts while cooking dinner could easily be 200 calories.
    I found that celery stuffed with peanut butter or pimento cheese spread cause it's healthier is also a bunch more calories than a cookie or a couple of crackers.
    I found that if I kept grape tomatoes handy(I love them), I could pretty well have all I wanted while i was cooking.
    I wouldn't have known if I hadn't logged them, then looked over my past logging to see where I could easily and happily improve.
    I switched from hot chocolate to a London Fog with 1% milk. I'm sure that won't work for most people. I'm also convinced most people could find good lower calorie alternatives for many foods if they would keep an open mind, experiment, and learn from logging.
  • wdwnutfromva
    wdwnutfromva Posts: 2 Member
    Answer ✓
    As long as I'm losing, I don't. I don't have the mental bandwidth for that. Once I start plateauing or gaining, then I'll start looking at those "little extras".
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 632 Member
    Answer ✓
    Perfection is the enemy of done.
    Whether you log every little thing or not, the calories you actually eat are eaten.
    Do not drive yourself crazy. If you don’t want to or can’t log all the little details, then consider a general ‘condiments and cream’ entry for say 100 or 150 calories. This will prevent you from under-recording your total calories.

    Stay the course, consistency is key.

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