How to account for unknown meals...?
 

Looking for some help or advice...

On days, like the holiday season, when you eat out, at people's houses, or both how do you keep your fitness log accurate? I try to be conscious of putting in my numbers everyday, but if I'm estimating everything I eat for three days that other people have cooked, I just don't think it's even close to accurate. At the same time, I don't like leaving those days unaccounted for...

Any ideas?

Well, you do your best. What other options are there? Even a WAG is better than nothing. Aftrer a while one can guesstimate portion size at least somewhat accurately. Choose the closest generic item in the database if you're unsure about the actual ingredients/cooking methods.

If it's at a restaurant, many have nutritional info on their websites.

If it's at friends/family, I wouldn't be shy about asking about ingredients/cooking methods (i.e. fat added in cooking).

Personally, if I'm going to be away from the computer for more than a day I write down my foods on a memo pad and enter them later, giving my best guess as to portions and ingredients.

In any event, I don't think I'd leave a day empty as that will skew your nutrition, calorie balance, etc.

Regards,
Michael

PS One option for "pot luck" type get togethers is to simply eat what you brought. This is what I did yesterday at the family Christmas gathering. I made turkey chili and that's what I ate so I knew exactly what the ingredients were.

Michael, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

You're exactly right... "you do your best"

It takes a little more effort, a little more time, but a "guesstimation" is better than nothing. Logging nothing not only skews your values and records, but also doesn't make you responsible for what you eat! And that is the whole point of keeping track right?

I think I just needed someone to say... hey, it's not always easy, but you do your best...

Thank you Michael and congratulations on your hard earned results!

You're welcome, and thank you for the kudos. As you say, it's not always easy to spend the few extra minutes in a day to log everything, but it sure is effective if you stick to it.

Regards,
Michael

What if you don't know...
 

I had supper at my mom's last night and I have no clue how much I ate. I know I went over because we had some beef with fries (in oven) with carrots (with butter) & topped off with some homemade gravy. This is usually where I quit counting calories because I like being accurate and when I don't know, it screws up my day. What do you guys do when you don't know?

There's a number of sites that correlate serving size to common household items.

Here's a couple to get you started.
Visual Estimates of Serving Sizes
Visual cues make 'portion sense'

Google "visual serving sizes" for more.