Getting started —
The sauce counts: easy-to-miss calories, and how to log them
Cooking oil, dressings, milk in coffee, a handful of nuts. Where the quiet calories hide, roughly what they add, and the fastest way to log each one.
Most logging misses are not big meals. They are the small things that do not feel like eating. None of this is about guilt; it is about making the diary match the day, so the trend line means something. Here are the usual suspects, with typical values from USDA food data, rounded.
Cooking fat
The pan started with something. A tablespoon of olive oil is about 120 kcal; a tablespoon of butter about 100. A stir-fry for two can easily use two tablespoons. Log the oil as its own item, split by the number of portions. In CalorieCounter, search "olive oil" once, save the amount you usually use, and it is one tap from then on.
Dressings and sauces
Two tablespoons of ranch or Caesar dressing is around 130 to 160 kcal. Mayonnaise is about 90 per tablespoon. Ketchup is lighter, around 20 per tablespoon, but it adds up on a plate of fries. A camera cannot see any of this once it is on the food, which is why the scan result will often carry a Check this label on the salad. Add the dressing by name after the scan.
The coffee that is really a snack
Black coffee is 2 kcal. A latte with whole milk is closer to 150 to 200, and flavoured syrups add roughly 20 per pump. If you have two a day, that is a meal's worth of energy that never went on a plate. Save your usual order as a meal and log it in one tap.
Milk, cream, and sugar
A splash of milk in tea, a spoon of sugar, cream on dessert. Individually tiny, collectively steady. Quick add is made for this: type the number once and move on.
Nuts, seeds, and "a handful"
A small handful of almonds, about 30 g, is around 170 kcal. Nuts are excellent food; they are also the most common thing eaten straight from the bag without a thought. Weigh a handful once so you know what yours is, then log by that amount.
Tasting while cooking
A few bites of pasta to check it, the last spoon of sauce, the crust off the bread. Nobody logs these and nobody needs to log them individually. If you cook most nights, a single quick add of around 100 kcal under "cooking" on those nights keeps the diary honest without turning dinner into an audit.
Drinks with dinner
A glass of wine is about 120 kcal; a pint of beer 180 to 220; a can of regular soda 140. Search them. They are exact, and they are quick.
Leftovers and second helpings
The second scoop of rice is the easiest miss of all because the first one was already logged. When you go back for more, add to the meal you already saved instead of starting a new one. The portion stepper moves in small steps, so "a bit more" is a number.
The fastest way to log each one
| The miss | The fastest fix |
|---|---|
| Cooking oil, butter | Search once, save the amount, one tap after that |
| Dressings, sauces | Add by name after the photo scan |
| Coffee orders | Save the order as a meal |
| Milk, sugar, tasting | Quick add a rounded number |
| Nuts and snacks from the bag | Weigh a handful once, log that amount |
| Drinks | Search |
| Second helpings | Add to the saved meal, nudge the portion |
Every one of these tools is on the free plan, with no daily limit. The only thing that is limited on Free is photo scans, and photos were never the right tool for a tablespoon of oil anyway.
None of this requires precision. Rounded numbers, logged consistently, beat exact numbers logged occasionally. The point of the diary is the trend, and the trend only needs the day to be roughly complete.
Be first in line.
CalorieCounter is coming to the App Store for iPhone. Leave your email and you get the link the day it is live. One email, nothing else.