Hello All

As Fitday is american based and bacon in the UK does not have any carbs, I am struggling with my food -input. Most expensive bacon here has a sticker with the nutrition information on it. But I have to budget a bit at the moment (x-mas is looming), and bought a cheap pack of Streaky Bacon. This is Back Bacon, about half meat, half fat. Would that be what you call "Fat Back" ?? All the other bacon thingys I tried on Fitday either contain carbs ( I take it, that is because there is maltodextrin added in the states) or don't seem to have enough fat.

Does someone know a UK Carb Counter on-line ?? Most of the US stuff seems to have way more carbs than the UK stuff, but according to another mailing-list, most stuff in the US contains sugar or starch amongst other additives (how do you manage to do this diet ???? )

Greetings
Sabine

I don't know if this is true in the UK, but in the US, all packaged food has to have a nutrition label.

If you're having trouble finding an item in Fitday's database, what you can do is create a "Custom Food". All you do is enter all the nutrition information from the package label, and then the particular food is in your "Custom" list. This is actually nice because it's easier to find and enter stuff from the "Custom" or "Recently Eaten" lists.

Hope this helps.

'Streaky bacon' is, to us, North Americans, just plain ol' bacon. It's the same thing.

There is a small number of carbs added in the form of sugar in the curing process, but it's VERY small. I don't count it unless I eat more than a couple of slices (very rarely).

Rachel

Hiya

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'll just put it down as bacon then. This stupid pack I bought doesn't have a nutrition label. I was sure we had to have them as well, but apparently not.
Maybe I just check one of the more expensive ones and use their counts.

Thanks
Sabine

I find that there is often a difference in the counts listed for fitday (which is based on the USDA) and what the label says. A big problem with accurate counts for meat is that the nutrient data is often given for the product AS SOLD .. meaning RAW. And we all know that bacon shrinks and a lot of fat stays behind in the skillet. I typically have 4 or 6 strips of bacon ... the label tells me that 3 slices has 34g of fat ... but when I weigh 4 cooked slices, they barely weigh 25g ... and they're at least 50% meat too.

Fitday has a Custom foods option. I use it a LOT. Click on New Custom ... you'll be presented with a blank nutrient data box, where you can type in the values listed on the label. It will be saved for you, so your favourites are just a single click to add to the day's menu. As well, I use the custom file for my own recipes and mixtures of foods that I have often ... for example, coffee with cream. I got weary of clicking on coffee, brewed regular, 1 oz ... then having to adjust the amount, then having to look up cream and add it, then adjust the amount, bla, bla, yada yada ... so, I made a custom entry, now it's just one click .. and I only need change the amount, depending on how many cups I have.

It's also useful for recipes. Hint: Open a second browser Window .. (just use the arrows at the top next to the date to move ahead to a blank page --- you can just delete your entries afterward) ... enter the ingredients and amounts as if it was a day's menu in one Window. It will calculate the nutrient total for the recipe, and you can just enter the data as a New Custom food, and it's a lot easier to do if you can have two Windows open side by side to copy the numbers.

Another hint about the Custom tool ... the drop-down menu box on your main Food journal page will only show 40 or 50 items ... so if you have more than that in your Custom foods list, just click on View Custom .. and you'll be taken to a page with the full listing.

hope this helps

Doreen

I meant to add about bacon .... our nutrient data counter has a listing for COOKED bacon, either 100g or 3 slices ... http://www.lowcarb.ca/low-carb-tool...l?item_id=10124

ta, Doreen

Thanks Doreen

I use the custom food thingy all the time ( I think there will be more foods in custom soon, than there is in the main section), as US food seems to vary quite a lot from ours ( Diet coke for example). This bacon thing just bugged me (still mad Did I say before, that I hate Safeways ? ).
I'll use your counts for now. I think I really should go out and get one of those carb counter books.



Lol I did the same. This clicking around drove me mad

Have a nice day

Greetings
Sabine

Oops, this considerably changed the amount of Cals I had today I must have been eating less than I thought for a while

Sabine, this is slightly off-topic, but I have recently started buying my bacon from the butcher's instead of the supermarket. Previously, I was getting a pound of bacon offcuts for 98p at the Spermarket, but it was of variable quality. Now, I get 2lb of bacon bits for 99p (i.e. half the price) and the quality is considerably higher. For years, I fought shy of the butcher, thinking this was the expensive way to do it, but now I realise what a mistake I made, and suggest you check out your own local butcher. I now get 4lb of bacon bits per week for £1.98, and it's excellent quality. I eat half a pound a day of it myself, and give a little bit to the children (they don't like too much of it). I now also do deals with the butcher on other meat and chicken products. For instance, I get 20lb of assorted meat and chicken products a fortnight for £17.00. The more I buy, and the more I'm a regular customer, the better deals I get. Two other advantages. You can watch in the shop while they mince beef and make sausages, so you know what is in them, and it is all fresh. So you can freeze what you want to. I recommend you to check out the local butchers - you could be as surprised as I was!

Andy

Hi Andy

I already know, that my local butcher is lots cheaper than Safeways/Sainsburys. He also offers bulk-prices, but he doesn't take Switch, and I never remember to pull out more money from the cash-point. He also isn't open on Sundays, when I do my usual shopping....Basically it comes down to the point, that I have to get organized again I am trying, honest !