Weight-Loss Calorie Counting Whithout Nutritional Information

Weight-Loss
MotherOf2

MotherOf2

New member
so after a week of successfully counting my calories and falling into the rythm of doing so, i've been thrown for a loop during the holiday going to family dinners. Now since i'm not the one making the food i have no idea whats gone into it. I also have no way of measuring anything. now the holidays are over, but i'm realizing if i were to go to a resteraunt or out for dinner and have no nutritional information what do I record?
For all those calorie counters out there, what do you do when you have no idea what your eating? I have a loaf of homemade banana bread (as well as cookies and pastries i'm trying to stay away from) from my mother in law but now that i want to get my counting back on track i dont want to touch it.
I'm just finding it very frustrating. it's hard enough trying to put the measurements and math together at it is. throwing in being part time clueless is unbearable! I'm really wanting to stick to 2000 Calories a day and be 100% sure that i'm not going over that... I'm so very tired of guessing...:banghead:
 
I hear you on that one. I've been frustrated many times by having to either refuse or guestimate the calories on something. I either am left feeling restricted or guilty. The restaurant part isn't too hard though because most restaurants have calorie guides online now. But for stuff other people make I've learned to ask whats in things. My friends and family are used to it now because I was doing low carb for a while so they don't even blink. When I haven't been able to do that like at the college cafeteria, I'll go home and look up the food item online and approximate...which is still a guess but its worked ok. I've been tempted to pack my food scale around with me, lol.

All of these suggestions are still a pain in the butt though I know and probably not the answer you were hoping for. The easiest thing I've done that works is for special holiday gatherings I just count it as a free day and don't worry about it. Or like during the summer when we've gone to family bbqs I've ate light the rest of the day and just watched my portions at the bbq but still sort of had a free day. Hope somebody adds some new ideas :)
 
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I totally understand your frustration! I just recently started counting my calories and I've noticed that most restaurants have nutritional facts upon request! :) There are some restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory who don't have it available, but the chef can tell you what was put into your food if you ask. :) I used to feel like I was inconveniencing my waiter, but really, it's your right to know what you're putting into your body.

Also, have you ever tried using calorieking[dot]com? You can type in any food, or any big restaurant and they should have the values for the food. I use it all the time and it's pretty helpful!
 
Whether or not it's available, restaurants are required by law to have nutritional information available for what they serve, just like they are required to post if nuts are used in the kitchen. What we do, if we ever eat out, is to order a to-go box as soon as the food hits the table and place at least half of the food in the box. Portion control isn't a strong suit for most eateries. It's pretty easy to look at a menu and tell what is going to be loaded with fat and carbs. Order a salad and only eat half. We limit our eating out to once or twice a month.

When we have a family and friends gathering recipes are shared, right up front. With food allergies, diabetic problems, and weight problems, my family started sharing recipes at family dinners a couple of years ago. In order for my Bride and I to meet our goals, we must have a structured menu plan or the goals are hard to meet. I use "Recipe Manager" for Mac and plan all our meals and snacks for the coming week. All the recipes are in the computer along with nutritional values. It makes it very easy to meet the goals we have set and to stay focused on what we are trying to do. When a family gathering is up coming everyone knows what the other is bringing and usually a week ahead of time the recipes are shared via e-mail. We know what we can eat and still stay on plan. All of my family cooks, so recipe sharing isn't something new to us. With "Recipe Manager" on the computer it's a simple thing to enter the recipe, and using the nutritional value look-up feature, exactly know what we are eating in all categories.

I mention "Recipe Manager" for Mac, because it's hard to find stuff for the platform and RM is quite nice. There are several same type programs available for PC. I've used Master Cook and it's probably the most widely available and most recipes are shared in it's format. It offers the same planing features and is well worth using to help plan your menu and track your calories.
 
well maybe i'll have to muster up the courage to ask for nutritional information... it's a new thing to me so it might feel awkward but better not to have it linger on my brain. i dont eat out too often and when i do its fast food places really and they have all their info. online usually. though i'm not sure how much i trust it in its consistencey from one burger to another lol it's better then nothing

Now the one thing i might have problem with is family dinners. the simplest example being i know what goes in mashed potatoes, the question is how much do they put in? i know they arnt a bunch of measurers they just dump and go till it looks/tastes right. as for counting it as a free day well thats all and good if you only have one dinner... but come every family type holiday i have a minimum of 3 dinners each time :ack2: so glad holidays are over...

the recipe management software mentioned seems like a good idea ill give it a go.
I do use caloriecount.about.com to help me find nutritional information for some things... i just have a hard time trusting those things. i guess i figure if its not stuck to the thing i'm eating, how do they know what exactly is in it? i also have a problem with meat because it's not consistant some bits are fattier than others which would obviouly effect the calories in it.
lol I stress too much :willy_nilly: lol
 
I'd say try to find out their menu and look up the nutritional value before going and also decide what you will eat before you go.

Not always possible, but it helps.
 
that's excatly what i do try to do if they have one available online. as crappy as mc donalds is for you i love their nutritional information. you can add things to a tray and it adds up the calories and other info. as you add things right down to the packets of ketchup.
 
I normally use the daily plate which livestrong now is partnered with and I will look up whatever item I am wanting to know about. And then sometimes if I am worried about my intake that day I use the recipe with the highest calories, or i average out the calories in different recipes.

Hope that helps.
 
I'm in the same boat on family dinners, Motherof2...Nobody else in my husband's family or my own really bothers to watch what they eat at all. And of course, this Christmas, we had Christmas at his dad's, his granny's twice, his mom's and my brother's. When I make something like mashed potatoes, I use skim milk or fat free condensed skim milk to make them, and only JUST enough butter to get by. I watched my brother put a good 1/2 cup of butter in his potatoes, along with a bunch of buttermilk. And the stuffing....don't even get me started on how they made that.

The husband's granny uses butter and cheese in everything. My favorite visits to her house are the ones where she just has sandwiches...

But when we go, I'll focus a lot on vegetables and proteins. I completely skip the bread, and I've started asking my brother's family to either make a fruit salad type thing for dessert or not get offended if I bring one. I didn't have any big gains this holiday season, so I guess it worked out ok...
 
lol well I guess I'm lucky my relatives aren't THAT bad... I only got to have stuffing at one of my dinner and i stuck to a small amount even though it's my favourite. I didn't have any healthy alternatives to the deserts and your fruit sald idea is a good one... maybe i'll be packing one of those to my next family gathering. It would be much better for me to be picking at the fruit on the dessert table then butter tarts and cookies lol and I love fruit waay more anyways. Speaking of butter nuts, you should see my husband make Kraft Dinner Mac n Cheese. as if the stuff wasn't crappy enough for you he throws in like over a cup. he likes it when theres a "pool" in the bottom :puke:... yeah... my husband doesn't cook...
 
Your husband sounds a lot like mine, Motherof2....I'll be in the kitchen cooking and just ask him to watch a pot for a minute while I step away, and I'll come back to see him adding butter or milk or something because HE thought it needed it. I made the mistake of allowing him to make my mashed potatoes one time, and found out he's a LOT like my brother when it comes to that dish. Needless to say...I didn't have more than a bite of that side dish that night.

I mostly keep him out of the kitchen as much as possible.
 
lol yeah sometimes I think when they said women belong in the kitchen that was simply because men shouldn't be lol
 
Them's fightn' words, Ladies!!

My Bride and I had an agreement when we got married, one of the first things she told me when we were courting was "I don't cook" and I told her that it was OK, because I did, and I told her I didn't do yard work, she said that it was fine because she loved to do yard work. She's stays out of my kitchen and I don't have to touch that frigging lawnmower.
 
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Cookn....if you live in Texas, I need to get you and my husband together. You could teach him a thing or two...
 
I don't go to North Texas, the Wicked Witch of the North lives there. I know it sounds like a country song, but I had a house, a dog and a truck in Plano. The dog died and I know the witch sold the truck. It's been 9 wonderful years and 5 days since I talked to her and here's hoping for 90 more years.
 
Ah...the Wicked Witch of North Texas. Haven't met her...good luck with the next 90 years!
 
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