How nit-picky are you about calorie counting?

SandyRevolution

Hello, all. I have a question about how nit-picky you should be about calorie counting. I love all sorts of foods, so getting enough healthy fruits and vegetables has never been an issue for me. I love salads, too. My question is this: How strict are you in counting each and every calorie? If you sprinkle three tablespoons of diced onion on a salad, do you track the minimal amount of calories? If you chew two pieces of sugar-free gum, do you track the five calories? If you grab a quick bite of raw spinach while you're making a salad, do you track the two calories? You get my drift.

I got into trouble when I did Weight Watchers last year (lost 122 pounds and gained it all back). I got too wrapped up in the point-tracking process and basically drove myself nuts over it and quit. How nit-picky are you? I have *a lot* of weight to lose, so it'll be a long haul. I most definitely know how to diet, it's just a question of long-term motivation.

Thanks for any thoughts you might have!

rachaee

Im ridiculous...I even track breathmints if im offered one and I weigh EVERYTHING. It's quite annoying!

kgoodman0108

I track everything, except for mints, gum and drinks with artificial sweeteners that are under 5 calories each. If I eat ONE strawberry, I track it. I dont go as far as weighing and measuring my food... that is something that I want to start doing.

Ramberta

I don't log those stray bites or samples individually, but if they accumulate throughout the day (and I have an obsessive memory now when it comes to recalling things I eat) I'll log it as a miscellaneous 50 or 100 cals or whatever.

Or I'll just tack on another 5 minutes to my workout and call it even.

But I do measure and portion just about everything. My food scale is wonderful for that, because it's more accurate to go based on weight rather than using measuring cups or just "eyeballing". And when I'm cooking I log everything, from the oil in the pan to the seasonings used. Everything adds up.

briski_2005

i dont track gum or breathmints or anything that i just take a bite of. the only things i track are my meals and snacks for the day orr if i drink anything besides water.

horseplaypen

I kind of keep a mental tally of what I choose not to log - mostly herbs, spices, and 'bites' or tastes of things that I'm preparing, like soup or whatever. As long as I'm under ~100 calories for that mental tally, I just ignore it but know that it's there. I rarely eat prepackaged foods, and it would take way too much time to log each teaspoon of cinnamon, each leaf of basil that goes into my recipes (some things have like 10 different spices!), and try to figure out how many calories were in that forkful of lasagna that I stole from my boyfriend's plate. Got better things to do!

darrellhenderson

I don't track it if it's 5 calories or under but I try to be under my calorie allotment daily.

AwesomeSquirrel

If I eat it I log it.

With some fruit (apply, banana, orange) and veg (onion, carrot, garlic) I don't bother weighing but go for small/large/whatever entry but everything else is logged either by weight or volume though I will admit eyeballing tablespoons of ketchup these days.

ETA: I only log the "big" spices in my recipes and I never log salt, black pepper or small amounts of herbs mixed into mashed potato.

bethFromDayton

I created a recipe for 'dinner salad with dressing'--I figure it's "close enough" whether I put carrots on it or not or tomato or not or cuke or not. Likewise, I measure (1/2 cup, etc.) rather than weigh fruit--I figure it's close enough. If I stop losing, then I'll consider being more precise in case my estimates are off, but for now, this is working--and being more accurate isn't worth the effort.

SandyRevolution

Thanks for all of the responses so far. I love the idea of not tracking things that are five calories or less. As long as I don't start taking advantage of that freedom, it should work.

Carnivor0us

I don't count calories, I only monitor them to get an idea on how much I'm eating. I DO count carbs, and my fats, but only to make sure I'm hitting my target fat intake of 60% and protein intake of 25%.

TheVimFuego

I'm a ballpark kind of guy ... I know what is *significant* and I'll track that kind of stuff but the rest doesn't have to be monitored to the nearest gram ...

hannah_ryann

I use my food scale at home to weigh/measure everything (milk that goes into my coffee, chicken, veggies, olive oil) and I track all of that.

I'm a teacher and when kids bring me bites of things to try from cooking classes/whatnot, I'll find an estimate and log it.

When I go out to eat, if I can't find the exact thing in the database I'll use the closest estimate in the database.

I don't track artificial sweeteners, diet mountain dew, or salt/spices.

fatsnacker

you have to account for everything but be relaxed about the small things. If I have a third of a tin I will enter 0.34 instead of 0.333. A pack of 6 chops 660g - I will enter 110g without bothering to weigh it. I don't want to obsess about each and every food item I eat so by rounding up I know I am not going to be too far out and not in danger of going over my daily allowance.

rawhidenadz

I track mints, gum, cough syrup, mustard, ketchup, cloves of garlic. I weigh and measure everything, too. If I go out or someone else cooks for me I can estimate fairly accurately, but I just prefer to track as accurately as possible when I have access to my food scale/measuring stuff. I know it's obsessive but it helps me stay on track.

about the only thing I don't track is dried spices. I also generally quick add about 50 calories a day because those hidden calories add up throughout the day and nutrition labels are never 100% accurate (not even close, really).

IMO if it stresses you out to count those low calorie veggies and things like gum and condiments, don't do it. You could just take those calories into account and maybe quick add 25-50 calories so you don't have to worry about tracking those throughout the day.

twinkiemon

I don't track at all - I kind of glance at calorie information if it's a packaged food, but for me just eating smaller portions and healthier foods works best. Every so often I'll track a couple of days just to make sure I'm doing alright, but I figure as long as I'm exercising and eating healthy and the scale is still going down, I must be doing something right.

willdob3

No, I'm not. At this time I don't need to be in order to see great results.

I don't even weigh or measure foods, just guesstimate the amounts I add to MFP. I've got a lot of experience weighing/measuring so I recognize amounts closely enough. I also cook simply and that helps. I often buy veggies in bags - half a bag works per meal.

I started using MFP to make sure I do not under-eat.

fabulara

Not very. I weigh or measure as often as it is convenient and otherwise guesstimate, sometimes consulting my husband. "Does this look like 8 oz. of salmon?" "I'd say six." "OK." I do try to log onion, because it does have calories. I don't bother with, say, parsley.

I get a lot of the info I need from approximate figures. You can see pretty quickly that, if you're eating cheese, you might as well be eating butter, so densely caloric is it. Maybe you'll eat less cheese next time--or none. So maybe you snagged a calorie number from the data base for four ounces of cheese, but really, you ate six. So? The info for four is pretty revealing.

That said, I try to overestimate rather than underestimate.

There's another set of factors I consier. I am a big girl with a lot of weight to lose. I gather that it is easier to lose the way-fat pounds. It gets harder as you approach your ideal weight range. So I've read. Have also read that the number of calories you need to eat just to maintain, let alone lose, gets smaller as you get smaller. Assuming that all the above is true, I've been thinking I'd get more finicky about counting down the road, when I have less leeway.

kazzsjourney

I weigh and track everything. I read a thread a while ago which I cannot find now....about discrepencies with measuring and how even using cups etc to measure can be innacurate. I have struggled for the last 9-12 months...since I combined that with some other changes to my diet...ive been losing again. I even weigh each slice of bread as I use it (and have noticed up to a 20 gram difference to what is stated as the serving size on the packet) obviously when I go out I cannot measure but I dont eat out heaps so the occassional I dont think is a issue.

Tabytha13

Wow, what a great post. I've read through everyone's replies so far and I thought I'd add mine too....

At the moment I'm only 2 weeks into the NHS Choices 12 week plan to lose weight , develop healthier eating habits and be more active so I am counting everything and weighing everything. I've been on diets before when I had to count fat g, carbs but this is the 1st calorie counting I've done. I'm finding it quite an eye opener!

But ... I am hoping that once I have learned what a healthy portion looks like, understand more intuitively what calories (both visible & hidden) are in foods and beat my emotional eating, this level of calorie counting will become unnecessary.

_Fatty2Fitty_

I use to be so over the top.....count every tiny piece! I lost about 20lbs, and gained it all back and then some! But that wasnt the worst part.....I started to become obsessed! I wouldnt allow myself any kind of treats....then binge because I caved into the cravings! You can imagine why i gained it all back!

This time round I am in a better place, I an more lenient and enjoying losing weight more!

twinmom430

I log everything, and weigh everything! I stopped doing it for awhile, 5 months....while I didn't gain any weight (just yo-yo-ed a few lbs)...I thought I was savy enough to eyeball a 1/2 cup of this or that. Or not log the extra bite of pb on a knife while making my kids lunch...etc. Even though I was eating healthy foods, I wasn't counting or weighing everything and I stopped losing.
Just started back at it last month and I've finally starting losing again after a few months.

Only thing I don't weigh is lettuce while making a salad.

LadyPakal

With a lot of weight to lose I am less strict with logging some stuff (milk in tea for example). I can afford to at the moment. Of course, as I get nearer goal, I will have less wiggle room so I'll have to be more strict.

JoRumbles

I started out logging most things but guessing weights and measurements and I lost weight just fine. I usually was under my calorie goal but I figured I was probably underestimating some amounts.

I have started to weigh things more and find it really interesting. E.g. 10g of butter/spread is quite a big blob! A "serving" of peanut butter goes a long way etc etc. I was actually pretty close with my weight guesstimates- it helps I work on a deli as a student.

Still, I do a lot of guessing becuase I eat out or at my mums house quite a bit and I don't want to seem obsessive by asking how much each thing weighs.

I would never log spices, salt, pepper etc. I would never measure the amount of semi-skimmed milk in my tea.

It works for me, the weight is coming off steadily. If that stops being the case then I will review my policy

BChanFit

I like this thread! I track pretty much everything too although I don't weigh my food. I just go by volume or other measurements. If it's only available in a weight I find another way or to look it up or scan it using the bar code thingy.

nvpixie

I try to remember to track everything, including the 10 calories from the fish oil pill I take once or twice a day. However, with salads and other raw veggies, I'm pretty general with my logging. I don't weigh my food, so it's kind of difficult to put every single thing down to the exact gram. If you look at my food log for today, you'll see I had a salad and I estimated some of the veggies I put in there. On the other hand, if I eat one m 'n m, I'll log it simply to hold myself accountable for every bite.

x_JT_x

I weigh and log everything. Condiments, salad toppings...everything. If it goes in my mouth it gets weighed and logged. I don't consider it being nit-picky...I consider it being accountable. I can't complain about not being successful if I'm not being honest with intake and calorie burn.

shareelynette

I track everything. I try to do it while I'm cooking so I don't forget anything and I weigh all my foods. I can't stand eating somewhere where I can't count things now =( I feel like a total youknowwhat because of it too but I am super dedicated to what I'm doing and that's why I'm successful!

underwater77

I log every ounce that enters my mouth. The only thing I don't log is my water because I drink a ton of it.

Supplements, spices, "zero" calorie foods, etc. Everything goes. If I am up or down a week, I want to know why. I honestly don't even care too much if lose pounds at this point. I am healthy and active and feel incredible, so I just log to keep myself accountable. It keeps me from eating like crap. I still have the *bad* foods I like, I just make sure that I workout enough to justify them. I also keep my diary open to the public which I also think helps. Some will say the opposite and that having a public diary makes them dishonest - it makes me just not want to eat crap food.

AlongCame_Molly

Im ridiculous...I even track breathmints if im offered one and I weigh EVERYTHING. It's quite annoying!

This, except I don't find it annoying at all. It's a fun game for me that leaves me feeling empowered and very in control of my life. And any SAHM can relate to what a great feeling that is!

SteelySunshine

I am waaaaaaaaaaay more picky now than I was when I made some serious changes to my diet starting in October. I didn't count calories, but I was aware of them and I did lose some weight. I don't know how much, I didn't have a scale. I got weighed last month and I know since then I have lost 10 lbs. I think maybe 5 of that was flux weight though. But, in any case I have lost some weight, since signing on here and it's because I do count calories now (I am pretty sure I stalled there for a minute/month) . But, that being said there are things I have forgotten to log or don't log:

Spices
Onions yep all 20 calories of them not logged always
Ketchup and Mustard (don't eat those much anyway)
Grapefruit if I log this it's because I am so proud of myself for having one for desert
tomatoes if I only have one
salad greens I log the dressing though
herbs

That is about all. But, I am getting better at logging even those things. Honestly I would rather work out an extra 15 minutes to take care of the minutia of foods I don't log.