Calorie Counting 101
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It's hard to tell if someone is joking because people legitimately post that very question, ALL THE TIME! I wish I could have simply assumed that was a joke but having spent enough time around these forums, one can never tell...lol@vismal -sigh- I guess my tongue in cheek joke went so far over your head it will take the space shuttle to retrieve it. Sorry.
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I put my food on the scale, tare it, then weigh the condiments I add. This way I can add more and be aware of it as it happens. I might decide against that extra mayo if I can see how many calories I'm adding.When weighing condiments I zero the scale with the container sitting on the scale. I apply the condiments to my food. I then put the container back on the scale. It will read a negative number in grams. That is how much condiment I used. This does not work for aerosols like pam or whip cream.0 -
The only problem here, is depending on the amount of food, your plate, and your scale, you might exceed the maximum weight the scale allows. I know sometimes when I have a heavy plate filled with steak, potatoes and other vegetables, it weighs too much to all be on the scale at once.
I put my food on the scale, tare it, then weigh the condiments I add. This way I can add more and be aware of it as it happens. I might decide against that extra mayo if I can see how many calories I'm adding.When weighing condiments I zero the scale with the container sitting on the scale. I apply the condiments to my food. I then put the container back on the scale. It will read a negative number in grams. That is how much condiment I used. This does not work for aerosols like pam or whip cream.
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I've been dieting all morning, how come I'm not skinny yet?
This is a solid strategy for weighing foods. I just wanted to comment that I find it more important to weigh calorie dense foods than say, fruits and veggies. I recognize that I may someday get to the point where I have to weigh a tomato and my head of romaine to be accurate enough to continue losing weight, but because my 'weigh the steak and eyeball the veg' method is still working, I have not prioritized weighing every item.
I think it's great that you're teaching the negative number trick for condiments. I didn't figure that one out on my own, right away, and it's really a very clever idea.0 -
This is a GREAT post/thread!
I joined MFP to jumpstart a healthy lifestyle change and it has really helped me to see (even as inaccurate as I may be at this point) how to maintain and track a healthy diet. Just logging has helped me lose 2 pounds in the last (and only) week that I have been on here. I want this change to stick so I'm trying to take it slow and not burn myself out by obsessing over the little things. I'm logging now and watching my calories but I know, eventually, I'll stall and have to add more exercise. Even then I may stall and this thread has given me good ideas to combat that and stay motivated. So, thank you, Vismal, for the encouragement and help for those of us trying to educate ourselves and be more healthy!
Now, this is where I start to get sketchy on how to treat this program...
"The program sets your calorie goal a little low expecting that you will eat the extra calories that you earn through exercise."
Eating "earned" exercise calories? This seems counterproductive but should I be doing this to get enough calories? Or will this just be a bonus if I don't eat them back? Or am I misunderstanding? I started this to be healthy and don't want to just slash calories to lose weight...
I set mine to sedentary because I haven't yet started an exercise regimen. When I do (soon) I want to understand how the program works and not deprive my body unknowingly.1 -
I love this post! Thank you so much. My friends and I have done the calorie counting and we're always like, "I do it, why am I not I losing weight?". Well, your post pretty much answers that question. It was kind of a wake-up call. After reading it I went out and bought a digital scale and started measuring everything precisely!
I used to work in a lab where we measured materials for aerospace composites, and exact measurement was critical. It would be ludicrous to eyeball it and then expect the processes to work. The same application goes for weight loss! If you're just eyeballing it half of the time, you can't ask why the process isn't working!2 -
colbyfromage wrote: »I love this post! Thank you so much. My friends and I have done the calorie counting and we're always like, "I do it, why am I not I losing weight?". Well, your post pretty much answers that question. It was kind of a wake-up call. After reading it I went out and bought a digital scale and started measuring everything precisely!
I used to work in a lab where we measured materials for aerospace composites, and exact measurement was critical. It would be ludicrous to eyeball it and then expect the processes to work. The same application goes for weight loss! If you're just eyeballing it half of the time, you can't ask why the process isn't working!
I love you. The End
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The only problem here, is depending on the amount of food, your plate, and your scale, you might exceed the maximum weight the scale allows. I know sometimes when I have a heavy plate filled with steak, potatoes and other vegetables, it weighs too much to all be on the scale at once.
I put my food on the scale, tare it, then weigh the condiments I add. This way I can add more and be aware of it as it happens. I might decide against that extra mayo if I can see how many calories I'm adding.When weighing condiments I zero the scale with the container sitting on the scale. I apply the condiments to my food. I then put the container back on the scale. It will read a negative number in grams. That is how much condiment I used. This does not work for aerosols like pam or whip cream.
That's why I bought a postage scale. It's digital, does LB-OZ, LB with decimals, KG with decimals, KG-G. It weighs up to 55 LBS or 25Kg, 2G, has a Tare, and will tell you if it is not stable on the countertop. A bit big at 8 inches square and 3 inches tall but the weight zone is a nice 7x5 inches.0 -
I do weigh everything to the gram
. Thanks for the info, always good to hear I am doing something correctly 0 -
Eh, I don't know. Calorie Counting has some pretty obvious advantages. Assuming a lack of complicating factors (e.g. metabolic disorders) along with consistent and relatively accurate logging, counting calories has a very strong rational appeal. Problem >> Data >> Math >> Solution. Fairly simple. Note that the complication factors don't negate an approach centered around looking at the energy balance of a system; it just makes it less simple.
What's simple isn't always what's easy, though. For instance, I could:
-get burned out on counting calories because I have enough other stuff going in my day-to-day.
-become obsessive about tiny inaccuracies.
-End up feeling weird about a natural process (Hunger >> eat) being dictated by a more analytical approach.
All of that is about how someone "feels" which can end up being incompatible with calorie counting. That kind of stress doesn't always have an on/off switch. There is some appeal to following a set of guidelines that isn't based on calories. Obviously it works the same way. To lose weight, you're burning more than you take in. But if I am burned out on counting calories, and I'm left with following hunger signals and satiety as a means of helping me lose weight, then "food quality" becomes more important for reasons apart from overall health, getting my micros, and getting enough fiber.
In no way am I a clean eater just for my own personal ideology. I love my processed foods. But, in my experience, the more highly processed foods that I enjoy also tend to be more energy-dense and less satiating per calorie. For those reasons, if I need a calorie counting break, I kind of have to eat more clean to both stay in a deficit and not feel starved.
Sometimes my inner geek is jazzed by the fact that I scan something, weigh something, track it, and even plot out calories over time. And sometimes there's enough other crap going on in my life that I need to leave the lab coat in the office, so to speak, and not put that much thought into whether I can work the math in some way to fit a brownie into my day; it's easier to just to say that for the a few weeks, I'll stick to an apple instead of a brownie just because I know the apple will fill me up faster on a calorie-per-calorie basis.
That part of it is all personal preference, but personal preference is a pretty major factor. For that reason, I would have trouble telling any individual that calorie counting is best without first having a conversation with them about their life and their eating habits.
All I heard was excuses.0 -
In the end all I heard were excuses.0
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Good job You are in amazing shape btw.It certainly has paid off 0
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Sounds too much of rituals before Meal. ( and after- to log the numbers) . Even thinking about counting stops my appetite...0
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Very helpful, thank you.0
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Agreed, one of the best tactics for weight loss is measuring calories. As, calorie is the one of the main factor of gaining weight, so, it is better to reduce that much of calorie that you are taking.LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »robbackatya wrote: »You don't have to measure or weigh to get an accurate weight loss number.(not talking about trying to figure out your exact BMR which you wont do using a basic tracker anyways) You can make it as difficult as you want. Get fitbits, trackers, weigh and measure everything, but you don't have to and it is old school mentality.
It's one of the best ways to lose weight...weigh solids, measure liquids and track calories. I do that and I track my calories burned and I've lost weight just fine. So have many, many, many other people on this site...so stuff it.
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It's not especially helpful to post about something being old school and not needing to do it, then not posting a recommended option to do instead. Many people, myself included find that counting calories is the single most effective way to consistently lose weight. Also, as stated in the beginning of the thread, this post isn't about whether or not you should count calories. It's about how to count calories as accurately as possible if you choose to count calories.robbackatya wrote: »You don't have to measure or weigh to get an accurate weight loss number.(not talking about trying to figure out your exact BMR which you wont do using a basic tracker anyways) You can make it as difficult as you want. Get fitbits, trackers, weigh and measure everything, but you don't have to and it is old school mentality.0
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