Tracking the exact calories...need help..

cali1luv87

Hi all..

Do you all of you track your exact calories or are you a bit off?

I'm having a hard time on somethings..for example.. I had steam brown rice today from Panda Express but I only ate 1/2 of it. The rice has 420 calories so I put down 210 since that's half. I had mixed fruit that my mom brought from work I had about 2 ounces how will I include that calorie wise?

Thanks!!

SandyBVTN

For myself, I absolutely do my best and most of the time weigh my food and am very precise about it. Knowing I am so precise normally, I feel totally okay with estimating in situations like you have described. If you are really good about measuring 90% of the time, I think you have a bit of wiggle room.

fit_crow

It really depends. Obviously with a lot of restaurant food I don't have the option to be exact so I have to estimate. I usually measure everything I add to recipes. Not with a food scale though. For me, personally, I have to balance counting calories with not letting myself become obsessive about it. But the emotional benefit of making healthy food choices is equally important to me as the intended weight loss, so that's about priorities and what works for my needs.

I would do the exact same things you did with your examples. A good thing to remember is that exact counting matters a lot more for calorie dense foods than just light fruits and vegetables. The latter won't really make a difference if you're aren't exact.