Might be a silly question

stelle91
stelle91 Posts: 19
edited November 9 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi
Since I'm new to the whole calorie counting thing, how do people work out the nutrients and calories in foods?

Replies

  • emstgm
    emstgm Posts: 117 Member
    Not sure I understand your question. Most foods you eat (packaged) have nutrition on the label. And other foods are mostly found in the MFP database. Once you set up your goals, MFP keeps track of your nutrition when you enter everything you eat. Make sense? Is that what you were asking?
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I *think* you are asking how we fit all our meals into our calorie limit (please let me know if this is not what you are asking).

    For me, I pre-plan a lot. I eat a lot of lean meats and non-starchy veggies that don't eat up my calories so much as pasta and other things do.

    This is really about finding what is going to work for you more than anything so experiment. Put in everything you want to eat tomorrow in your food diary and see if it fits.
  • KareninCanada
    KareninCanada Posts: 961 Member
    Just read the labels, AND pay attention to the portion size marked on the label. Easy as pie, at least in theory. It takes practice, though.

    Lots of foods are in the database here, but you need to keep in mind that both the food and exercise databases are built by the members, so if something sounds a little off, you should double check it.
  • live4turns
    live4turns Posts: 314 Member
    life will be easier with a scale too instead of "eyeing it out"
  • tsh0ck
    tsh0ck Posts: 1,970 Member
    life will be easier with a scale too instead of "eyeing it out"

    for some. I tend to eyeball lots of stuff, though I'll use measuring cups for snacks and munchie type things. but I always figure a bit high and then leave extra workout calories on the table. that way it balances out and I don't feel like I have to micromanage everything on here. part of the brilliance of this program is the fact that it's quick and easy. and that lets me stick with it.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Start out by writing down what you are eating in your food diary. You don't have to change anything at this point if you don't want to.

    After you've done this for a week, have a look back at each day and see where all the calories are coming from.
    - Sometimes thing jump out at you and those ones are easy to change (maybe you drink a high cal coffee every day - make it a once a week treat or swap to a lower cal version).
    - Or look to see if there are many fruits and veggies over the whole week, if not, find some new recipes to add them to or start having fruit for snacks.
    - Look for really high sodium - this can cause you to retain water and too much isn't good for you in the longer term. If you see one food that is adding heaps of sodium, google it or ask on there to see if you can find an alternative.

    You don't have to work it all out at once - just start logging your food and work on your meals gradually, small changes really add up over time.
  • OSC_ESD
    OSC_ESD Posts: 752 Member
    Trial and Error ...
  • stelle91
    stelle91 Posts: 19
    I mean most of the food i eat does not have nutritional info "on the back" eg wholemeal bread from the bakery
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I mean most of the food i eat does not have nutritional info "on the back" eg wholemeal bread from the bakery

    You'd have to guess. It will help if you have a food scale to help you weigh out these items to better guesstimate the calories in there.
  • issyfit
    issyfit Posts: 1,077 Member
    I mean most of the food i eat does not have nutritional info "on the back" eg wholemeal bread from the bakery

    I just search the database until I find something very similar if the exact item isn't there.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    The data base is huge, so you can try entering the name of your bakery on the offchance that someone has found the info and entered it.
    If not, just pick one from the database that sounds similar.
    There are lots of generic entries in there for all kinds of stuff that doesn't come with labels - like fruit, veggies, meat, bread etc.
  • stelle91
    stelle91 Posts: 19
    That's what I've been doing, just wondering, its really confusing!
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