Calorie Counting 101
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grmckenzie wrote: »New here but read through this thread yesterday and bought a scale.
Now I'm pissed off.
I like the Quaker Harvest Crunch cereal for breakfast. Maybe not the healthiest, but I like it. And the calories weren't too bad. As the description give 1 cup (45g) 300 Calories.
So I weigh it on my fancy new scale. 1 cup = 97 grams. So over 600. Dammit! Had oatmeal this morning.
Yep. It really can be a shocker. Kudos to you for taking the time to inform yourself.0 -
grmckenzie wrote: »New here but read through this thread yesterday and bought a scale.
Now I'm pissed off.
I like the Quaker Harvest Crunch cereal for breakfast. Maybe not the healthiest, but I like it. And the calories weren't too bad. As the description give 1 cup (45g) 300 Calories.
So I weigh it on my fancy new scale. 1 cup = 97 grams. So over 600. Dammit! Had oatmeal this morning.
Kinda screwed up a little. Box say 2/3 cup is 45 grams. I've been using 1 cup which weighed 97 grams so I was a bit off in my frustration, but still that's off by 50%0 -
The struggle is real folks. I like many of you measured solid foods using cups, tablespoons, and the like. It simply doesn't work most of the time and as pointed out above, it can be off by A LOT. Here's a visual representation of measuring peanut butter with a tablespoon and a scale...
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The struggle is real folks. I like many of you measured solid foods using cups, tablespoons, and the like. It simply doesn't work most of the time and as pointed out above, it can be off by A LOT. Here's a visual representation of measuring peanut butter with a tablespoon and a scale...
Noooooo!!! Why god, why?!
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The struggle is real folks. I like many of you measured solid foods using cups, tablespoons, and the like. It simply doesn't work most of the time and as pointed out above, it can be off by A LOT. Here's a visual representation of measuring peanut butter with a tablespoon and a scale...
This right here is why I am glad I prefer smooth peanut butter. It's actually a little less sad when trying to make a serving spread over the slice!0 -
grmckenzie wrote: »New here but read through this thread yesterday and bought a scale.
Now I'm pissed off.
I like the Quaker Harvest Crunch cereal for breakfast. Maybe not the healthiest, but I like it. And the calories weren't too bad. As the description give 1 cup (45g) 300 Calories.
So I weigh it on my fancy new scale. 1 cup = 97 grams. So over 600. Dammit! Had oatmeal this morning.
"Healthy" and "natural" granola-type cereals are calorie bombs. Now I use a single serving as a topper to some Greek yogurt instead.1 -
Just a little bump. Don't mind me.
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Just giving some threads a holiday bump.1
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Bumping this for visibility.1
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I know this is an oldie thread, but just wanted to say thanks for writing that all out. I was able to lose 60 pounds when I first had my son a few years ago, and learning to count calories got me through several plateaus. I took some time off because there was a death in the family and a few other things, but in that time I was smarter about food and didn't gain as much as I otherwise might. Now I am back and educating myself even more to begin a weight lifting regime with some goals I couldn't reach without nutrition. I mention all of this because if I had never learned to count calories and track nutrition from the ground up, gram by gram, I would never be considering the kinds of goals I am now. You have to learn to walk before you can fly as they say, and using a scale, a fitbit and a nutrition/calorie counter is the best way I can think of to learn how to walk.
If we were all able to track our intake without counting, all of us would be thin and trim. If you have another tried and true way that works for you, great. If you don't, listen to the people here who have been successful and follow that system. At least give it a shot. They got results because something they did worked. It is a little more work than just cooking and eating, but it saves you a ton of work trying to figure out what is going wrong if you ever hit a plateau. You will lose faster and more steadily, and in the long run, that is actually easier than not tracking it at all and constantly guessing. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks for the write up! It helped me a lot!3 -
Hasn't been bumped in a while.1
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This old is GOLD0
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Seems like there are a few threads that could use a bump today...
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Does everyone know what the ''net calories'' mean ? is it what your body has to work with?0
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Net calories refer to how much you have consumed after calculating how much you burn. In my opinion they confuse things and should be ignored. Simply count your calories and monitor your results. If you eat a consistent level of calories and do not lose weight after 3-4 weeks it's generally safe to assume you are not in a caloric deficit and you either need to burn more calories, consume fewer, or a combination of both. Trying to get the math perfect between what you eat + what you burn is too difficult. Simply getting an accurate idea of how much you consume is hard enough (and is why this guide exists in the first place). Accurately knowing how much you burn is even harder (bordering on impossible IMO) and simply not necessary to see results.Does everyone know what the ''net calories'' mean ? is it what your body has to work with?
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Tacklewasher wrote: »New here but read through this thread yesterday and bought a scale.
Now I'm pissed off.
I like the Quaker Harvest Crunch cereal for breakfast. Maybe not the healthiest, but I like it. And the calories weren't too bad. As the description give 1 cup (45g) 300 Calories.
So I weigh it on my fancy new scale. 1 cup = 97 grams. So over 600. Dammit! Had oatmeal this morning.
This is what is on the box.
1/2 Cup (45 g), 200 calories. So your 1 cup (97g) is 400 calories, not 600.
( I realize that your post is old but someone bumped it so I just read the last page and saw your comment. It got me curious so I looked up the box label.)0 -
Does everyone know what the ''net calories'' mean ? is it what your body has to work with?
That's (Calories eaten - calories exercised). If your Net Calories is less than your daily calorie allowance, you can calculate the new 'calories available to eat' as (calorie allowance - net calories). If math isn't your forte, do it vismal's way.
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thanks for all the answers! and what if what you consume it's already low and you burn quite a lot of calories but still not losing weight?? could it be something like ''metabolic demage''?
I have hypothyroidism taking t4 and t3 but still hard to find a balance1 -
Even if you're excellent at math I still think it's a bad way to do it because getting an accurate "calories exercised" number is quite difficult.JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Does everyone know what the ''net calories'' mean ? is it what your body has to work with?
That's (Calories eaten - calories exercised). If your Net Calories is less than your daily calorie allowance, you can calculate the new 'calories available to eat' as (calorie allowance - net calories). If math isn't your forte, do it vismal's way.
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Thanks for this post!!0
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