Home made food...

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wisecat1
wisecat1 Posts: 41
in Food and Nutrition
How do you track your home made food? For example..I had a tuna salad sandwich on wheat bread. Now it's home made by my work cafeteria so I don't know how many calories are in the bread or what they even put in the tuna salad. When I look it up there are so many variations. I usually pick something in the middle but I wish I could do something a little more accurate. One was 275 calories, 170, 199, 500. Those were the home made versions. And then there's the food I make at home. I usually make dinner every night...and we don't use processed or frozen foods and I have a hard time getting my calories accurate.
Any suggestions?

Replies

  • espence30
    espence30 Posts: 116 Member
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    i through my ingredients into the recipe calculator on here..it gives me calories
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    There's really no way to know for sure. Pick something in the middle and hope for the best. As long as foods with unknown values don't make up a large percentage of your calorie intake, you should be fine.
  • RachelT14
    RachelT14 Posts: 266 Member
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    For the food you make from scratch at home, just add all the ingredients in the receipe tab and how many it serves and it will be there when you need it.

    Dont know about the sandwich i usually have a rough guess and hope for the best
  • Soccer_Chick
    Soccer_Chick Posts: 204 Member
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    You have the option of creating your own recipes. Then you can save it for use again in the future. It's pretty cool. Give it a shot.
  • PlanetVelma
    PlanetVelma Posts: 1,231 Member
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    Guess on the cafeteria food (I'd probably guess high since most places put mayo in tuna).

    For the stuff you make at home, use the "Recipes" tool. It's located in the "Food" Tab. It can be time consuming, but it's well worth the effort!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    There's really no way to know for sure. Pick something in the middle and hope for the best. As long as foods with unknown values don't make up a large percentage of your calorie intake, you should be fine.

    This. Or, bring your own lunches so you know exactly what you're eating.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    I guesstimate ALOT! Which is why I usually choose not eat back my exercise calories. I'd rather err on the side of caution and maintain my calorie deficit.
  • teagin2002
    teagin2002 Posts: 1,901 Member
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    1 of 2 ways:

    1. If it is a food that I will make with the same ingredients again I create a recipe, then I add it to my diary according to the portion I ate from it, either 1 piece, or 1 cup for example.
    2. If it is something I may change the ingredients in I will add each ingredient to my diary according to the amount I think I will eat of that item. Ex: if I put a while onion and 4 cloves of garlic I will count .25 onion and 1 clove garlic.
  • janglefish
    janglefish Posts: 9
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    I have the same problem and although I sometimes use the recipe tool on here I often change the recipe next time so I'm never too sure. I use a combination of all the ideas suggested at different times and hope that if I make mistakes they balance out. Having said that, I know I sometimes choose the lower option if it means I'll be under my limit!
  • wisecat1
    wisecat1 Posts: 41
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    wow...the recipe button...that's awesome. I have no idea why I've never seen it before. I'll use that like crazy! Thanks!!
  • wisecat1
    wisecat1 Posts: 41
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    And I do pack my own lunch every now and then. I guess I need to do it more often.
  • KayteeBear
    KayteeBear Posts: 1,040 Member
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    this is why I eventually stopped tracking my food...I never use the same recipe twice...I always change it up and I don't seperate each recipe into servings so I'm not always eating the same amount. so I just look at what I have on my plate and guess at how much of everything is in there..

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