Measuring what you eat

[Mojooo]

I am sure most of us have an idea of how much salt, sugar, carbs, calories etc we think is reasonable to have per day and we might be trying to limit our intake.

I know there are some schemes that give food points that basically try and do this but has anyone actually tried doing it just on raw numbers and adding up each food item they have per day?

Obviously you can calculate figures from pre-packed foods that have nutritional info but what about those that don't?

I am thinking of collating figures for the foods I eat on a daily basis to see where that gets me.

[Halb]

Mojooo said:

Obviously you can calculate figures from pre-packed foods that have nutritional info but what about those that don't?

I believe it would be easier to add up the known nutritional values of fresh foods.
A recent (last 6 years or so) study found that out of 70 products tested for 570 nutrients, only 7% matched the stated values, and one fifth was outside the 20% margin of error.

[King Herald]

I used to use an American on-line diet program: www.sparkpeople.com

The hardest part was working out what they call a 'portion'. It was never really very clear.

The system worked and I lost some decent weight, and while it remained interesting it worked, but it got tedious trying to remember everything and log it down after each meal.

[ticmon]

Just google myfitnesspal. Does all you're asking for.

[Hoofy]

ticmon said:

Just google myfitnesspal. Does all you're asking for.

Wot e sed. Been logging everything for the last 7 months.

[illmonkey]

ticmon said:

Just google myfitnesspal. Does all you're asking for.

Data is entered by users though, and barely lists all of the nutritional values.

The discrepancies are rediclious as well, someone will say a chicken breast is 80, some say 200. You still need to reference the box and pick the closest one in my opinion.

[Cheib]

The Livestrong App is very good for this is you have an iPhone. Can do it with their website too.

Has most things listed, very comprehensive database.

[Flibble]

illmonkey said:

Data is entered by users though, and barely lists all of the nutritional values.

The discrepancies are rediclious as well, someone will say a chicken breast is 80, some say 200. You still need to reference the box and pick the closest one in my opinion.

I find picking by brand name gets you a lot closer usually. Or just type your own in of course. It's never going to be 100% accurate unless you have a lab set up at home.