Do you guys really count calories?

amyelnash

I dont get why you wouldnt?
Its all down to chemicals and math...

you wouldnt build a concoction of chemicals with a splash of this and a splash of that, youd measure them out.

the same as making a shepards pie, you would grab a bit of potato and some mince and expect a pie to form.

you should measure and calculate everything. takes about 2 minutes to log each meal, and manual scales are about £3.

you get a sense of joy from knowing what youve logged has been weighed and the numbers are as accurate as you could get them. its a mental cleanse as well as a physical one.

mazdauk

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! (although I eat a whole mini-pack of skittles :blushing: )

If I didn't log, for example, all my cups of tea, I would be over 100 calories over my goal. Or if I ate one 2-finger KitKat. And as for guessing, try this:

1. guess 75g dry pasta and put it in a bowl.
2. Weigh the pasta.
3. Now put the extra 75g you "guessed" back in the packet

I've been following this regme since New Year, and I STILL look at 75g dry pasta and think "Are my scales wrong? that is surely not enough!!!" And don't get me wrong, i could easily eat more than 75g. But that's how I ended up here in the first place!:ohwell:

I pre-log my food for the day (often when I get to work) so i can see how much extra exercise I might need. Once I reach my new goal and switch to maintennce I'll continue to log exercsie and calories. Why? because on holiday I switched to maintenance (having reached my goal of 147lb), then upped it a bit (because I was on holida) and some days went over 9because we ate out and/or didn't do much walking). When I came back the scales were almost 5lb UP.

So yes, i count calories and will continue to do so til they find a way for excess calories to evaporate on the application of wine!:laugh:

ETA because I do a lot of cooking, I'm pretty accurate at guessing things like cheese and butter, for example. But "loose" stuff like pasta, cereal, flour etc. are really difficult to guess.

You can get a digital scale for way less then a month's gym membership!

Amy8n

I have to log every single calorie that I eat. When I stop logging, that's when I get off track & the weight goes back on. I find the logging a real motivator!

Camera_BagintheUK

Do you actually weigh everything out and keep a list of everything you eat throughout the day?

Yes.

It's not hard once you get into the routine of it. I'll carry on weighing things when I've finished.

Logging on the MFP diary makes it easier - I'd never have lost 2 stone if I had to log by writing it down and adding up!

carmenmiranda1

I measure and log 85-90% of what I eat. In other words, I do it fairly religiously.

However, once you've been doing it for a while, and you know that you have, say, 400 calories left for the day, and you're out at a restaurant, you can kind of guess about how much that steak weighs, and that sort of thing. When I am being conscious of my caloric intake, I usually eat plain foods at restaurants--in other words, it's much easier to look at a slab of meat and know how much there is than to try to guess what went into a pasta sauce.

If you're looking at maintaining, it's a good idea to log religiously for a few weeks to find out at what number you maintain. Then you have that for reference, and if you wanted to ignore logging until you see a gain or a loss, you know what number to add to or subtract from in order to get back to your goal. If you really are at maintenance, then you don't necessarily need to log unless your weight has changed.

That being said, one of the key the benefits of logging is that you really get a good idea of what you're putting into your mouth, as other people have mentioned here. If you've never logged calories, you DON'T actually think, "that cup of coffee has milk and sugar in it, which have calories." Or you don't realise just what three pieces of pizza mean, to use the examples listed earlier.

Experience with logging can help you make good decisions. For example, I know the difference in calories between a skinless chicken breast fillet and one that is deep fried from KFC. So if I am really craving that one from KFC, I can allow myself to have it if I work it in. On the other hand, if my goal is to lose, and I'm just feeling hungry, I know that I can have twice as much of that fillet.

ailbheoconnell

if you are looking to gain muscle without as much effort as you would think, go to leangains.com and read the bio and the leangains guide. If it interests you there is a website called rippedbody.jp i think, that has a more simple explanation. I was a bit knocked back with the technical jargon on the first one, but it is the original site. hope that helps

55in13

Looks like I am one of the few who rarely logs. But I have a common set of a few workday breakfasts and lunches I usually eat (and have logged them in the past) and don't snack on the job, so I am really only ball parking the night time and weekend food. Mostly what I did while losing 55 pounds and what I am doing now to maintain is mix days that I am sure are under goal with days that are around or over and keep an eye on the scale and the belt. I adjust the mix of days as needed. The good news is that lately it has been needing more days that aren't below.

KANGOOJUMPS

nope, we are here to drink,

KatieBee8

I never measure and I never log on here. But I do count my calories on some days. I eat a very similar diet the majority of the time so I tend to know my general calorie intake without bothering to count.

papillon71

I count everything, I log every single thing that goes in my mouth and also double check that the entries in MFP are correct as per labelling (as a lot are not especially sodium contents), I have a small set of digital kitchen scales and weigh everything including lettuce leaves LOL. For me it has worked as "guestimating" how much something weighed was having me go nowhere, I was way out most times I learned. So it's log and weigh for me, been on the journey since January 2013, 43lb gone and stuck to 1200 cals a day.

christa96

Guesstimating my calories is what got me in trouble to begin with! So yes, I weigh and measure all of my food.

richardheath

No, I don't.

I actually lost my weight (40 or so lb) before I found MFP. I used the tools here to track carbs more than calories, and to get an idea what I was eating, macro-wise. I eat to my glucose meter more than to a set caloric intake, and have learnt how to do that and maintain my weight. I haven't tracked food for a long time now. Weight has been stable for > 1 year, and blood sugar levels are good, so I think I'm doing OK.

I keep thinking that I'll monitor everything again for a while, just to kinda double check, but I haven't got round to it...

bex4health

I log everything but do not weigh, just measure with measuring cups and go by estimation. I have been losing weight consistently so I don't feel I need to weigh. I also have 3 children and really don't want them seeing me weighing food. I think weighing food might be necessary if you are trying to be spot on with everything.

thisberichard

I actually count calories. I got a relatively inexpensive (but well-reviewed) food scale from Amazon, and it has made everything a great deal easier. I use it well more than I had expected to: there are things like peanut butter that I had intended to seek out single-serving packets for the purpose of portion control, but I found myself just measuring the gram weight of the peanut butter I put on things because there's so little fuss involved.

It's also taken a lot of the guesswork out of servings that aren't a simple multiple of what I see on the label. I don't need to make rough, volume-based guesses since I can just weigh what I have, divide it by the gram weight of a serving (usually with my computer's little calculator program, while entering things into MFP), and know that the resulting number is the number of listed servings I'm eating.

For your purposes, I don't think you really /need/ to be counting calories, necessarily, but I think that doing so would help ensure that you have a full and clear picture of what you're body's doing while you work on your goals. The question is whether possessing that information would give you enough additional comfort and confidence to make it worth the fuss. If you think it might, give it a try; if you think it won't or you try and it doesn't do much for you, then you can kick back and rely on estimates. After all, even the most painstaking care can't give us perfect precision on this sort of thing.

musicboxes

Yes, I faithfully log & measure everything. I was totally shocked to find out that what I THOUGHT I was eating was not what I was REALLY eating. I love MFP as it keeps me on my goals & I can review my reports to see when I am off track & on track & see what is working & what is not.

Also, daily water has been a "biggie" for my weight lost success.

P.S. I am loosing inches faster than lbs.

musicboxes

Yes, I faithfully log & measure everything. I was totally shocked to find out that what I THOUGHT I was eating was not what I was REALLY eating. I love MFP as it keeps me on my goals & I can review my reports to see when I am off track & on track & see what is working & what is not.

Also, daily water has been a "biggie" for my weight lost success.

P.S. I am loosing inches faster than lbs.

AnabolicKyle

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

Yeah^

at first it takes a long time than its pretty easy.

vickiyuille

It's just become a habit for me to count calories like brushing my teeth I started my first diet at the age of 14 and I've been calorie counting ever since I need too if I want lose weight and keep the weight off!

dorothytd

Yes. I really do.

There are days, however, where I only track through my afternoon snack and I "rough it' out for the rest of the evening. I also weigh regularly so I can see trends with my eating. I don't plan to ever stop logging!!

ashandstuff

I log everything because I am SUPER forgetful. If I don't log it, I will completely loose track of how much/little I've consumed on a given day. It's more of something I made a habit. Just did it everyday. It's pretty easy with the app.

55in13

This is probably obvious, but figured I would throw it out there, since a common concern is forgetting something if you are trying to keep a rough count in your head. IMO, that comes from being so used to logging that you are using the wrong operation. You don't add anymore; you subtract. Then all you have to remember is one number - what is left. This is calories only and doesn't account for macros. I eat a fairly balanced diet and macros are generally fine.

nxd10

To answer your question, yes, I really count calories. Every single one. Every single meal. Every single day. Now that I'm in maintenance I've loosened up so I no longer count every piece of lettuce or the spoon lock of cookie dough when I'm cooking.

I have the MFP phone app. I log after every meal - during the meal if I'm alone and often when I'm just with my husband. On rare days I do two meals at once.

I weigh a lot if I'm cooking. I am really good at estimating because I've practiced visualizing sizes against weighing and using those visual cheat sheets they give you.

I did this at home, but also in the last year traveling to Sweden, South Africa, Chile, and Brazil. Yeah, those foods are on MFP too and some (many) actually work with the scanner.

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I find the data collection part of MFP what makes it work for me. I learn a lot about what foods are more or less caloric. It gives me permission to treat myself when I feel like it. It reminds me that I need to eat more when I exercise a lot.

I'm 54. I have never counted calories or done any 'dieting' before this stint. But it's been 16 months or so and I wish I had done it 10 years before. If I had I never would have gained the weight I just took off.

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At this point I really have trained myself to eat well. I don't really even pay attention to the calorie count - I just log. And I come out very close to the same net every day, even though I eat all kinds of differnet things. It has helped me listen to my body.

mtnhiker1

To count calories - and I do it to a fault since I started on MFP

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Read all labels carefully, if you make something like a salad or one of my breakfast sandwiches - count the ingredients individually and add together and divide by the portion you eat.

JoRocka

um. it's a calorie counting site- yes we totally count.

I count daily- but I cook weekly so I know in advance- all my food is pre-portioned. so it's not a chore at all.

I shoot for macros and calorie goals- not "Eat less xx or yy"

but I'm not really trying to lose weight- so much as go through cutting/bulking... that's a little different than someone trying to lose significant weight.

Binkie1955

I log in to MFP and let it worry about the calories. I don't. I DO worry about the carbs. if you're interested in reducing FAT, focus on the carbs over the calories.

rose228822

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!

I am a bookkeeper so maybe I'm just very detailed...so I do count every single calorie and also add in exercise daily and it really doesn't take a lot of time and it keeps me accountable and also when I am nearing my sodium level or carb level I want to know!
I too work out quite a bit but found out that my weight dropped with portion control...take care and good luck!

Mechanikitty

I'm a **** cook, I only really eat quorn products and things that have clear labels. I'm aware that labels can be off a bit but I'm doing well so far. I try to log every day -I did take a week off of logging whilst I was on holiday though. Honestly, I had some freakish adrenaline rush from being 'normal' with food but I was estimating in my head anyway.

I've tracked calories for years and years so my estimates are pretty slap-bang on the mark.

Sometimes things happen and you find yourself eating mac and cheese in a resturant and you really curse yourself for you caloric know-how. If anything can put you off junk foods it's the big scary numbers, so in that sense calorie tracking is extremely important.

Edit: don't jump into estimating, it comes naturally when you weigh for a long time.

Overboard_Eater

Yes I weigh and log 95% (calorie dense foods almost all the time, whole fruits and veggies I mostly estimate now) of my food but more than that I meal plan to meet my macro goals. Because I have been doing this so long I have preset meals that I know fit together to meet goals, still aim for 40% protein, 30% fat and 30% protein but as long as I get over 120 grams of protein I feel good.

When new things are introduced or eat out at a restaurant I am more lenient
1. because I am in maintenance
2. I know that 90% of the time my foods are rick solid.

The only time I consider not logging is when I am subconsciously heading back into old patterns. That's when I know I need to be extra careful and log, log log.

Wildflower0106

I don't count calories anymore. I stopped counting when I went into maintenance. I have still been working on fitness I just adjust intake based on what I have learned through this experience. I feel more normal since being able to maintain without having to count calories. Calorie counting and ocd (actual diagnosed ocd) don't always get along. As long as I continue to see results I see no need to log food intake.

Danimal718

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

Not to go full geek here but....It's like seeing the Matrix for what it really is.

I measure everything that I don't already know and weigh everything I don't already know. I can fill a bowl up to the same spot everytime after I've measured something once or twice.