Do you guys really count calories?

__freckles__

In my life I could probably count the times I've actually kept track of my calories for a day on one hand. But I know a lot of people here do it. So how do you do it? Do you actually weigh everything out and keep a list of everything you eat throughout the day? The two times I did it on MFP I kind of just guessed at the amounts I ate.

I'm asking because I'll soon be at my normal weight. I'm just starting to weightlift (which I LOVE btw). I want to burn more fat but retain the muscle I have. So...do I need to count calories and how many should I eat? I'm 5'8 soon to be 145 lbs and 28% body fat. Would like to set a first goal of 24% body fat. I do weightlifting 3 times per week for about 45 minutes each session.

Help is appreciated!

michellekicks

What are you doing to get to where you're going?

When you get into bulking and cutting, you may want to be really precise with your calorie intake.

__freckles__

What are you doing to get to where you're going?

When you get into bulking and cutting, you may want to be really precise with your calorie intake.

Right now I'm following the New Rules of Lifting for Women workouts. But when the author talks about nutrition he assumes you want to build muscle. I don't want to build muscle, just retain what I have and burn fat.

Mcgrawhaha

i weigh / measure EVERYTHING, i log EVERYTHING...

EVERY SINGLE CALORIE that goes into my mouth gets counted!

ive been known to log 1 skittle... what??? sometimes i just need a taste!

michellekicks

I do weigh and measure everything, but then I swing between body recomposition and eating at full TDEE to prepare for racing. So I do like to be precise and change up my macros based on my goals.

Otherwise, just keep doing what you're doing. Any one of these things could happen:

a) you'll eat at maintenance and lift, which will see you naturally get leaner and more ripped and your weight should stay roughly the same
b) you'll eat a bit above and do a bulk, which will see you put on extra muscle mass and your weight will increase slowly until the calories you're eating just level off to maintenance with the higher muscle mass
c) you will eat a bit below maintenance and keep getting leaner and continue to lose weight slowly

letmebangbro

After a while of tracking, when you look at food....all you see are calorie numbers, grams of protein, sodium levels...etc...

jhloves2knit

i weigh / measure EVERYTHING, i log EVERYTHING...

EVERY SINGLE CALORIE that goes into my mouth gets counted!

ive been known to log 1 skittle... what??? sometimes i just need a taste!

I read your success story and saw your before and after photos. Whatever you're doing, it works!

jhloves2knit

After a while of tracking, when you look at food....all you see are calorie numbers, grams of protein, sodium levels...etc...

That's funny. Didn't realize I was doing exactly that and talking about my analysis. No wonder my husband gets cranky.

Mcgrawhaha

i weigh / measure EVERYTHING, i log EVERYTHING...

EVERY SINGLE CALORIE that goes into my mouth gets counted!

ive been known to log 1 skittle... what??? sometimes i just need a taste!

I read your success story and saw your before and after photos. Whatever you're doing, it works!

thank you!

bunbunzee44

yeah I measure everything. when I started I guesstimated, but those were so off! it gets easier soon, because you'll have all the things you eat regularly pre-measured

catwoman_leo

i weigh / measure EVERYTHING, i log EVERYTHING...

EVERY SINGLE CALORIE that goes into my mouth gets counted!

ive been known to log 1 skittle... what??? sometimes i just need a taste!

i just gave a close look to your DP!and You look just woww! help me out sista! how did you get those leaner arms :sick: ???

catwoman_leo

I never find any specific options to put for the calorie count ...

Mady1911

I started about 3 weeks ago, after stuffing my face with pizza...next day was curious to see how many cals I actually ate that day and I had a shock! I count every gram, every fruit, veg or whatever I put in my gob! And I get results! I found that I was underestimating everything before! And definitely was lacking important info, e.g. that spices, pepper, vinegar, cocoa powder also have calories!

Not experienced enough or qualified to answer to your other questions, but well done for your progress and goof luck for what's to come! Ta-da!

Mcgrawhaha

i weigh / measure EVERYTHING, i log EVERYTHING...

EVERY SINGLE CALORIE that goes into my mouth gets counted!

ive been known to log 1 skittle... what??? sometimes i just need a taste!

i just gave a close look to your DP!and You look just woww! help me out sista! how did you get those leaner arms :sick: ???

lol... I been kicking my own *kitten* at the gym

paullee9861

I weigh and measure everything and keep an accurate honest diary.
Nothing goes in without logging, Mostly I plan the day ahead.

Mguilmot

If you are guessing how much you are eating, you might as well guess how much you weigh.
Why being so precise on that scale ? :-)

jamesbowlin

i weigh / measure EVERYTHING, i log EVERYTHING...

EVERY SINGLE CALORIE that goes into my mouth gets counted!

ive been known to log 1 skittle... what??? sometimes i just need a taste!

Well we all need just a little taste of the rainbow every now and then. Although for me the secret candy taste would be reese's pieces. MMM so yummy but so bad for me!

kazhowe

i weigh / measure EVERYTHING, i log EVERYTHING...

EVERY SINGLE CALORIE that goes into my mouth gets counted!

ive been known to log 1 skittle... what??? sometimes i just need a taste!

This! I weigh everything even at work and if I want something - I find out how many calories etc are in it and then if I REALLY want it and think the 'cost' is worth it - I have it ! Having said that - mostly when I find out how much something is going to 'cost' me I weigh it up against how long I will have to run or workout in the gym and decide that I don't quite want it enough!

TheFitnessTutor

A scale is mandatory and should be in every home regardless of intentions, goal or bodyweight. End.

zedgt87

Seesawboomerang

I did weigh everything at first. Now I am fairly accurate at guessing some things.

I put every item in the diary though, and sometimes it's shop bought so the calories are already worked out. Sometimes it's logged by item with a rough size (eg banana, medium).

So it's largely guesswork for me.

If you want to have maximum accuracy (total accuracy not possible, ever) you'll need to weigh absolutely everything.

I can't be bothered with that myself.

jenilla1

I weigh and measure - my food scale is one of my favorite tools.

Aniretukato

Not really ... I only measure my oats and eyeball everything else. I just make sure i eat 80% raw vegetables for meals and not eat protein and Starnes together. And make small plates of food so i eat as much as i want without over eating. Eat fruits vegetables or nuts for snacks when im actually hungry during not meal times.

url=http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker][/url]
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

bmr8008

i weigh / measure EVERYTHING, i log EVERYTHING...

EVERY SINGLE CALORIE that goes into my mouth gets counted!

ive been known to log 1 skittle... what??? sometimes i just need a taste!

^^^^^^^
Word!

pkw58

Yes, I do. At home I weigh and measure, at restaurants I do my best .

baybeejulia

I weigh and log EVERYTHING, even spinach and veggies. It's the only way, otherwise you're just guessing and that's just dangerous.

If I can't weigh/count it, I don't eat it. Simple.

neandermagnon

i'm not currently counting calories but I have done in the past, and will do again if I go on a cut. (currently bulking)

I know it can seem like a huge amount of work, but if you get yourself into a routine it actually doesn't take much time or effort, especially with MFP... without MFP it'll be difficult and time consuming. Also, the first couple of weeks of using MFP it'll take a lot more effort, but after a short time it becomes much easier as all your regular foods are right there in your diary (as my foods and my meals), you just click and log, it's much quicker.

What I do when tracking my calories, I have a kitchen scale and a pad of post-it notes in the kitchen. I put my plate on the scale, zero it, then add one kind of food, write down how many grams, zero it, add another food, write down the grams, etc until all the food's on my plate. I eat it. I make sure I don't lose my post-it note. Later (usually before my last meal of the day), I log all the food off my post-its onto MFP and then plan a meal based on my calories/macros I have left over. Having done this for a while, I'm quite good at planning my last meal like this. For days when I want to eat junk or other special occasions, I plan my earlier meals to be high protein, low carb, low fat, so I have room for a high fat, high carb meal later on.

It seems like a lot of work and effort but when you get in the swing of it, especially with all your regular and favourite foods in your my foods and my meals section, it really gets easier.

Spartans55

Yes. For one, I had no idea how many calories I was eating. It was a big wake up call. And two, it makes me feel guilty if I go over my calorie goal so it has helped me fight cravings many times.

AntWrig

In my life I could probably count the times I've actually kept track of my calories for a day on one hand. But I know a lot of people here do it. So how do you do it? Do you actually weigh everything out and keep a list of everything you eat throughout the day? The two times I did it on MFP I kind of just guessed at the amounts I ate.

I'm asking because I'll soon be at my normal weight. I'm just starting to weightlift (which I LOVE btw). I want to burn more fat but retain the muscle I have. So...do I need to count calories and how many should I eat? I'm 5'8 soon to be 145 lbs and 28% body fat. Would like to set a first goal of 24% body fat. I do weightlifting 3 times per week for about 45 minutes each session.

Help is appreciated!

If you're not competing, I don't see the need to be 100% anal about tracking everything. For the average person, having a grey area is perfectly acceptable. You have to remember that the whole point is to make dieting as easy possible. Tracking everything, every single day is not enjoyable (at least for me), especially when faced with a situation in which you can't track.

There are many kinds of eating disorders and we should be mindful of them all.

Yes, I track everything (during contest prep), however in my off season, I have days in which I loosely track.

Myhaloslipped

After you've been counting calories for a while, it becomes like second nature. I weigh or measure when I'm cooking at home, but sometimes I estimate when I'm out because I don't want to be the jerk that sends a server off on a hunt to find out how many calories are in my food. Sometimes I'll see someone eating a huge plate of pasta or something and think, "If they only knew how many calories were in that food, they wouldn't be able to sleep at night." lol. I used to just assume that certain things were low in calories, and now I realize that I was often WAY off.

NoAdditives

I don't generally weigh or measure things, but I know from all my baking/cooking experience (and from weighing/measuring in the past) that my estimations are pretty accurate. I do log everything, which is a hassle at first, but it's an easy habit to get into.