Help With Counting Calories

WhatTheToast
WhatTheToast Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello, I am looking to lose weight and would like to start watching my calories, but I have no clue how to do so. Does anyone know of an article or personal experience to help me do this? Also what if someone else cooks? How do you count them then?

Replies

  • Kamina32
    Kamina32 Posts: 2
    Hello! I love too cook as well, so counting calories is important. I always use extra virgin olive oil, that helps and is healthier. The easiest is to add up what you cook, as well as using substitues. Getting creative with a skinless chicken breast is healthy and really tasty paired with a side of veggies. What i've learned is keeping bread out of a diet is great way to cut calories, also pasta and minimizing cheese.

    basically you just have to do research and add up the individual portions of whatever you put into your meal. Hope this helped!
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    If you're going to count calories you'll have to figure out how many you need.

    Check this out.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • Four_Leaf_Clover
    Four_Leaf_Clover Posts: 332 Member
    Measure and weigh everything that you eat. You can estimate others' cooking if you like, but you should probably overestimate the number of calories, depending on how they cook (lots of butter/oil, etc.).
  • drakechic08
    drakechic08 Posts: 156 Member
    Learn to read labels. Read them all the time. Make sure you are measuring and weighing everything. It also might help you start if you plan out your day ahead of time and then you will know what you can have that day without the guess work.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Love your profile name!

    There are about a bazillion ways to lose weight but since you joined MFP, here are the basics...

    Log your food consistently and honestly. Check labels as often as you can to make sure they match the foods you find on the database because many are entered by MFP users and may have errors or need updates. Log EVERYTHING!

    Try to get some exercise in. This isn't so much about weight loss (although it helps with the process) as it is about being healthy and getting fit. Start slow if you haven't been active. The most important thing is to find something you enjoy because you'll be more likely to stick with it.

    When you log exercise, MFP gives you more calories. There are several theories about how to handle this. I personally would aim to eat back 1/2 to 2/3rds of what MFP says you burned because the estimates tend to be on the high side. Or get a quality heart rate monitor (HRM) with a chest strap or something like a BodyBug or FitBit for more accurate calorie burn readings.

    Make friends with similar goals and/or make friends who've done what you're hoping to do. The great thing about the social side of this website if that you get amazing support if you find the right folks.

    Now as far as your question about others cooking - that's tough. if you're talking about a roommate, parent or significant other who lives with you, I'd get the recipe from them, ask if they've made any changes, enter it on here under the recipe builder and do your best with the serving size (some can be tricky).

    If you're going to someone's house as a guest, that's a bit more trickly but still doable. You could ask for their recipe, find something comparable in the database or enter ingredients individually. A best guess is better than nothing!
  • buzzcockgirl
    buzzcockgirl Posts: 260 Member
    There are so many foods in the database here-- you can find almost anything! First thing is to figure out how many cals you should be eating. Then just start logging! Enter everything!! A great website to figure out cals is called calorieking.com you can find out the cals in almost everything! Between this site and CaloriKing- you can figure it out! And when someone else preps your food, try to estimate best you can. Find a similar product in the database and adjust if you feel it had more butter, less sauce, etc. I always aim high-- better to err on the side of 'too much' than 'not enough'.
    Try to make healthy choices -- see where you are 'wasting' calories (juice, processed foods) and try to eat more whole foods / foods with one or two ingredients: chicken, broccoli, turkey, apple, kale, avocado, etc...
    And you just have to log everything!! It's been shown that people who track/log their food lose TWICE as MUCH! Good luck!!

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