How accurate do think your food log is?

Im just curious how many people are really weighing everything the eat. Im sure mine is off. Probably way off at times.

I tend to weigh the more calorie dense stuff like protein, nuts, etc and not so much the veggies that are low cal.  I'm sure I am not accurate on my food log to a certain extent, but I can get it close enough to make progress on my weight loss and that is all that matters :)

I agree. I know I'm off a bit but I'm losing weight, so I'm getting what I want out of it!

I weigh everything but sometimes the values on here aren't precise and the values on food packaging aren't either so I think it's all an estimate. As long as the scale is doing what I want then it all good

I weigh everything and log the generic entries. I'm very confident in the accuracy of my food log.

Original Post by bierorama:

I weigh everything and log the generic entries. I'm very confident in the accuracy of my food log.

agreed. Everythin I eat is weighed and measured

I used to be super accurate. Then I tried to mellow out, as it was controlling me far too much. I know what I ate and for the most part can calculate it in my head.

Banana+Puffins+Almond Milk+Almond Bar + Pasta+Sauce+Jello + Welch Fruit Mix + Buckleys= ....

Accurate enough.  Whatever I'm doing works, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Mostly accurate if the user pays attention. I follow the "deck of cards" rule for meat and enter in as many custom nutrition labels as possible.

What I worry about is the activity log. I think it's way to generous, I usually accept the low end of the range for calories burned. I also don't log in activities on weekends because weekends are mostly sedentary.

If I had to put a number on it my best guess would be +/- 20%

one way I have noticed myself cheat a bit, was when I created a meal combination, for example Plain yogurt and blueberries, then just using the meal entry everytime, but I am sure there are times I am loading on a lot more blueberries than I did on the initial measurement.  So if I measured everytime, the result would actually be different.

Then there is the times I estimate the weight of a food item, but I catch myself all then time if I don't like the calories result, I will adjust the weight to make the calories match more what I think it should be.  So no telling if that is just wishful thinking, or I am actually properly adjusting the amounts.

I think, in a lot of cases, the fact I am getting the calories too low on one side, is offset by how many calories I am burning doing day-to-day tasks, work, chores, driving, etc, that I do not log as activities.

Whatever can be dished out in variable amounts I weigh.  I'll estimate on shelled nuts sometimes.  I weight things like ground turkey, butter, cheese and other items that can be variable amounts.  If it's an egg white, I go with '1 large egg white' in the system.

I weigh everything, so, I believe my food log is very accurate. When I eat out, I use the menu calorie guide and also check the food charts on their website. If I am visiting with someone, I don't measure food at all, I just skip measurements for a day. Then come back to it the next day. It works well, so I am not worried.

Most people's are probably off by a good bit. Unless you weigh every item of solid food you eat and measure the volume of every liquid you consume, your log is going to be off significantly.

Whether that's something to stress over is another thing.

I noticed that i would underestimate my portions or choose the one with the fewest calories when I had a choice between two similar foods. Now I weigh almost everything. It gives me a sense that I am really only consuming what I log and nothing else. I tend to be a little obsessive, compulsive and that helps.

I figure mine is off by at least a little, so I try to stay a couple hundred calories under just in case. I haven't been dieting enough to really tell if I need to adjust that or not.

My issue is having to find a similar item that may not be the exact same as the one I consumed

Original Post by adonis311:

My issue is having to find a similar item that may not be the exact same as the one I consumed

Yes, that is very frustrating.

I am mostly ballparking it.   When in doubt, I tend to estimate upwards and record more calories rather than less.  

I'm getting to be very nitpicky about this as well. Since I mostly cook my own food, I enter the ingredients very carefully and analyze all my recipes. 

I also have the habit of, when I'm in doubt, over-estimating. I'd rather eat fewer calories than I think. If you know what I mean.

I have a follow up question of curiosity about activity logs-

I've noticed that there are really mundane activities on there: shopping for groceries, doing the dishes, sweeping. Do most people really log these activities? Aren't the calories burned doing these things part of your BMR?

I only log the exercises that I go out of my way to do.

That is confusing, I suppose since they are listed as options that they do count as activities above BMR. I have noticed that I could log so many mundane activities that I accumulate a very large calories burned total. I am suspicious of this. I would rather be productively working to burn calories rather than exercising; however, it needs to be something that stimulates my body a little.