Night Elf Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 What if I make a meal and don't know the carbs, fat and protein? I buy Hello Fresh meals and it gives all that information but I never eat what they consider to be a portion because it's so much food. For example, they may have me eating 4 ounces of chicken and I never eat more than 2 ounces. Or tonight I'm making southwestern stuffed peppers. Their idea is a whole pepper full of stuffing plus half of the rest of the stuffing leftover. That is a huge amount of food! I can guess the number of calories but don't know how to guess the specifics. I'm trying to maintain my weight, for those of you who know I've struggled with disordered eating. I'm increasing my daily calorie count again. I'm hoping not to gain but I'm trying this out to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 It's not easy. Another example is balsamic fig chicken. There was a sauce and their idea is to divide the entire cooked meal in two portions and they provide a nutritional label for one portion. It made a lot of sauce. I took about a tablespoon because I didn't need much on my small amount of chicken. How much of the nutrition lable is the sauce, how much is the chicken, how much is the roasted potatoes. They just mix it all together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Either adjust your serving size or enter each item separately which is a pain. Sometimes you can add an entree and say without sauce and see if it pops up. Then just add sauce separately and see if it pops up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 Thanks but i think I'm going to alter the way I was calculating. I was calculating each individual component for calories since that was all I was tracking. Then I could choose how much of each item I wanted such as only 3 oz. chicken, 1 T sauce, 2 oz roasted potatoes. Hello Fresh gives you the nutrition label for all of the foods together. To keep myself sane, I'm going to start with what they consider to be a portion and then give myself a percentage of that and calculate the macros using that percentage. This will also increase my meal intake which is another thing my nutritionist wanted me to do. She's trying to help me not restrict so much and to also eat more "real" foods and less snacks. That's been the hardest part for me. That's harder than not weighing myself every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 We just started using Hello Fresh, and I have the same problem. I think the menu is different in Belgium, but they include SO MANY CARBS! In one recipe they figured each person eating 300 grams of potatoes, which is about 200-250 calories right there. Another one had each person eating 250 grams, but cooked with butter. I can't do that! I use this website to modify the recipes and figure out the new nutritional info. It's not exact, but it's better than nothing. https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 So if you figure you eat 1/4 of the amount of sauce, scale the sauce ingredients down. If you eat half the chicken, enter that in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 (edited) I just scaled the ingredients in the recipe - if they send you enough for 2 people, I assumed you ate 1 pepper but 1/4 of the total stuffing. So I entered 1/4 of the amount of the stuffing ingredients: 1 bell pepper 2 oz ground beef 1/8 cup monterey jack cheese 1/8 cup quinoa 1/4 onion 1/2 cup scallions 1/2 cup chicken broth (I guessed on amount) 1/2 teaspoon olive oil It came to 340 calories 12.5 grams total fat 4.7 grams saturated fat 29.4 total carbs 5 g fiber 8.8 g sugars 28.5 g protein Edited February 10, 2018 by ondreeuh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 We just started using Hello Fresh, and I have the same problem. I think the menu is different in Belgium, but they include SO MANY CARBS! In one recipe they figured each person eating 300 grams of potatoes, which is about 200-250 calories right there. Another one had each person eating 250 grams, but cooked with butter. I can't do that! I use this website to modify the recipes and figure out the new nutritional info. It's not exact, but it's better than nothing. https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 So if you figure you eat 1/4 of the amount of sauce, scale the sauce ingredients down. If you eat half the chicken, enter that in. Thank you ondreeuh. I do use that site when I bake. I didn't think about using it to calculate my own Hello Fresh portions. And I agree about their portion sizes. We always have so many leftovers. Even DH can't eat his portion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 I just scaled the ingredients in the recipe - if they send you enough for 2 people, I assumed you ate 1 pepper but 1/4 of the total stuffing. So I entered 1/4 of the amount of the stuffing ingredients: 1 bell pepper 2 oz ground beef 1/8 cup monterey jack cheese 1/8 cup quinoa 1/4 onion 1/2 cup scallions 1/2 cup chicken broth (I guessed on amount) 1/2 teaspoon olive oil It came to 340 calories 12.5 grams total fat 4.7 grams saturated fat 29.4 total carbs 5 g fiber 8.8 g sugars 28.5 g protein Are you using their ingredient card that tells how much of each item they send? I will actually only eat half a pepper and I don't know how much stuffing. I can't eat a whole pepper. I make some of these recipes on my own. I found a site that has nutrition labels for their pouches of stock concentrates. This site. It gives the amount in grams so I know how much to put in my recipe. I found beef stock concentrate at the store. I haven't looked for chicken or vegetable yet because I haven't made any recipes that call for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Remember that everything is an approximation. Everything. Including the amount of movement you do and the amount of calories in an item. Option: Split it the way that they say. Mark "your portion". Eat it over two-three meals on the same day. Just enter it once. It doesn't matter whether each amount is in the right "meal" for the day. When I was still using MFP I combined everything into one meal. And frankly, if you eat it over two days and enter half each day, it really, really doesn't matter (in the long term) whether one day was really 60% and the next 40%. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Remember that everything is an approximation. Everything. Including the amount of movement you do and the amount of calories in an item. Option: Split it the way that they say. Mark "your portion". Eat it over two-three meals on the same day. Just enter it once. It doesn't matter whether each amount is in the right "meal" for the day. When I was still using MFP I combined everything into one meal. And frankly, if you eat it over two days and enter half each day, it really, really doesn't matter (in the long term) whether one day was really 60% and the next 40%. Yes, this is a great trick! Simplifies things a lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 I don't eat a whole portion in one day. I eat dinner at 5:30 and don't eat another meal, just some snacks. I don't want another meal in the evenings. And I very rarely eat leftovers so splitting it between a couple of days won't work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 I just scaled the ingredients in the recipe - if they send you enough for 2 people, I assumed you ate 1 pepper but 1/4 of the total stuffing. Ondreeuh - I just found out that Hello Fresh meals are in the My Fitness Pal's database. I reran the numbers you gave to me because I use a leaner meat and less tomatoes and my numbers don't match MFP's but I'm going to be content with them being close enough. Just in case that helps you too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 I don't eat a whole portion in one day. I eat dinner at 5:30 and don't eat another meal, just some snacks. I don't want another meal in the evenings. And I very rarely eat leftovers so splitting it between a couple of days won't work for me. For me, leftovers are the best part! All of the yumminess and none of the work! ;) I made my third HF meal tonight - whole wheat penne pasta with a lentil bolognese sauce, with feta and toasted pumpkin seeds on top. It came with arugula for a side salad, but I'm the only one who likes arugula/roquette. I dished up half a serving of pasta to each of us, and that was plenty. We will each have the other half for lunch tomorrow. I will definitely make the pasta again. Is it pretty common for them to have you make a ton of vinaigrette? We had a little 80 g bag of arugula to split four ways, and they had directions for mixing up 3T olive oil and 2T balsamic vinegar. I mixed up a half-batch, and then used maybe a third of it between the four salads. So right there, the nutrition info is going to be off. Our version of Hello Fresh has a meal plan called "Calorie-Focus." I don't see that on the American version. The "regular" recipes have 800-900 calories per serving, but the "Calorie-Focus" meals have 600-700. We are getting three of the Calorie-Focus meals tomorrow: Mashed Sweet Potatoes with "Old Cheese" (lol), Korean Beef and Vegetable Wraps, and Noodle Soup with Indonesian Curry. The next week I am using their recipe for Peruvian Sweet Potato Soup, and in my box I'm getting Spicy Risotto with bacon and leeks, a Japanese soup with mushrooms and chicken, and Fondant baked Couscous and Hake Fillet. My husband and I are enjoying trying out the new recipes - and the kids are kind of along for the ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 I can't answer your question about the vinaigrette. So far, the only salads I've had they only give you a lemon to squeeze over the lettuce. We use our own salad dressing. I have found dishes as low as in the 500 calorie range. It seems most of what I get is 600-700 calories. I usually recalculate their recipe based on what I know I will eat so I'll have a more accurate picture. And I also recalculate when I make the dish on my own because I may use different food such as leaner meat and white chicken meat instead of dark. So yes, I do feel like I'm reinventing the wheel. They provide that lovely nutritional label and I can't use it for most dishes. We had a one-pot chili that we measured with a measuring cup to find out what they considered to be a portion. Each person was to get 2 cups of chili. I can't even imagine eating that much in one sitting so I halved my portion and halved their provided nutritional label. I can't do that with the majority of meals I get from them. I want to be able to put in my own numbers into My Fitness Pal but I need to be a premium subscriber and I don't want to pay for that until I'm convinced this is the best way to get a hold of my nutritional needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 I can't answer your question about the vinaigrette. So far, the only salads I've had they only give you a lemon to squeeze over the lettuce. We use our own salad dressing. I have found dishes as low as in the 500 calorie range. It seems most of what I get is 600-700 calories. I usually recalculate their recipe based on what I know I will eat so I'll have a more accurate picture. And I also recalculate when I make the dish on my own because I may use different food such as leaner meat and white chicken meat instead of dark. So yes, I do feel like I'm reinventing the wheel. They provide that lovely nutritional label and I can't use it for most dishes. We had a one-pot chili that we measured with a measuring cup to find out what they considered to be a portion. Each person was to get 2 cups of chili. I can't even imagine eating that much in one sitting so I halved my portion and halved their provided nutritional label. I can't do that with the majority of meals I get from them. I want to be able to put in my own numbers into My Fitness Pal but I need to be a premium subscriber and I don't want to pay for that until I'm convinced this is the best way to get a hold of my nutritional needs. I use the app iTrackBites, which I think was only $2. I have it set to use the WW PointsPlus plan, but you can do a straight calorie-counting plan. It has a scanner, lets you create recipes, etc. It works very well for me. Now I want chili, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 You don't have to be a premium member to put your own stuff into MFP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 You don't have to be a premium member to put your own stuff into MFP. It will let me put in calories but there is a lock button on carbs, fat, and protein. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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