How to figure out calories, macros, etc. for meals.

clobern

So I made some delicious whole wheat pizza last night and basically added up everything it took (2 cups of flower, 12 ounces of no fat greek yogurt, some baking powder) and then divided it by how many slices I cut. In the end, I ended up with more calories than eating a Papa John's pizza! Is this really how it works? Whenever I make homemade meals everything seems to end up being more calories than if I had bought the store-bought version.

Pearsquared

The store-bought versions tend to pack with salt in order to make up for the flavor lost from keeping the calories lower (or the skimping on ingredients). Chances are, even though yours is higher in calories, it's probably much heartier and doesn't kill in the salt department.

serai93

I have always wondered the same thing! So ill be keeping an eye on this thread...

Michaelsdin

Did your pizza look bigger than papa johns? And yes that is how it usually works but to no avail you probably burnt those xtra calories smashing and moshing the dough to form it so...kudo's lol. I would take a more calorie homemade meal over a storebought meal.

what did u come up with?

Ingredients Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
Bob's Red Mill - Gf All Purpose Baking Flour, 2 cup 800 176 8 24 0 8
Chobani Greek Yogurt - 0% Plain Non-Fat , 12 oz. 200 14 0 36 160 14
Shur Fine - Baking Powder, 2 tsp 16 8 0 0 640 0

just a round about table i personally don't know what kind you used but they should all b similar....how many slices did you cut

clobern

It did look a bit bigger, and tasted a hell of a lot better, and had more fiber.

This is what I had per slice

Cal.......Carbs.......Fiber.......Sugar.......Fat.......Protein
331 ..........42...........8 ............8......... 13 ..........20

I had lots of cheese, homemade sauce, low sodium pepperoni, green peppers and onions. I probably could have (and will in the future) cut back on the cheese. But it still seems like a lot.

savithny

It's my experience that homemade food is usually lower in calories than the restaurant versions! When I add up the calories for my burritos, for example, the plate I eat at home is just as filling as the plate they put in front of me at Chili's, but Chilis has nearly twice the calories.

You need to be sure you're comparing what you would have eaten in the restaurant version to what you made. You also need to remember that independent testers frequently find that the posted calorie counts for restaurant food are significantly lower than what actually gets served.

Homemade pizza, in our house, generally has a thinner crust than take-out. We use less cheese and more veggies, and so I've done the math and figured that we eat way fewer calories of pizza when eating homemade than when eating takeout.

MissesForrester

BUMP

LoudmouthLee

Calories aren't everything. Instead, you are a much healthier (and nutrient filled) version of the pizza, and you should be happy with that. You didn't use a jarred sauce. You made your own.

I promise you that your version is approximately 1/4 the sodium of the Papa John's version.

CupcakesAndRazorblades

All depends on what ingredients you use. Cutting back on the cheese would definitely drastically change the calories, try using less of a more flavorful cheese and you'll cut cals not flavor.

djkronyx

The carbs from the flour will do it to you each time and they add up quickly. I guess I cheat when I make homemade pizza...I buy the Flat Outs Italian flat bread (90cals: 16carb 9 protein 2.5fat) and then add my toppings (chicken, buffalo sauce, lowfat cheese) to that. The whole pizza is less than 450 cals and keeps me full!

clobern

Thanks guys. And DJ, never thought about using that stuff. I'll have to look into other versions of dough for these pizzas. You guys are awesome!