counting calories - how exact are you?

Does anyone count sauces...
Do you count "licks", "tastes", "bites" or "nibbles"? ...

Been wondering about these things for a while.

I count sauces generally, mostly because of the sodium (I use a lot of soy, black bean, oyster sauce etc). I typically enter it as 1 serve without bothering to measure. I think I usually use more than that

For small things that I really can't be bothered about, or if I simply don't know what's in it, I make up some kind of generic meal with 100 calories per serve (serving size doesn't matter: call it "1 unit" if you want) and no other nutritional info. I use that as filler if I think I need it. If I had a bit of something really sweet from my friends dish, I might guess it had 20 cals. I could just add 0.2 serves of my generic meal. Sometimes I have a whole meal without really knowing what it is. In that case I might guess it had 400 cals, so I just enter 4 serves of Generic.

I try to avoid this in general, but it can cramp lifestyle sometimes to try to measure absolutely everything. You don't want to start licking the spoon too much though! That can add up. (sure you don't do this - I just don't want to sound like I'm endorsing people to )

Other than these rare occasions, I try to be pretty precise. I have to put up with a fair amount of mockery from my best friends. Especially when I don't let them fill up my beer until I finish because it throws out my count. I sit there at the bar flicking up the count on my iphone each time I fill up
(watching that calorie budget drain away is great motivation for restricting the number of drinks!, but I digress...)

It's the uncounted licks and nibbles that sabotage weight loss efforts and create a false sense of "nothing is working"

Solution: train yourself not to lick, nibble, or taste unless you are will to count the calories. A variable in your lifestyle has to change in order for the weight to come off.

good luck.

Do you count "licks", "tastes", "bites" or "nibbles"? I just licked the spoon from making brownies for my boys (we didn't get a bday cake this year so this is sort of their treat in lieu of)

This all adds up though.
I had a really really bad habit of nibbling on the food i was cooking for a meal and of course i wondered why I put on the weight.
Now I am VERY strict with my eating as I know I have a goal to go for!

I counted everything but gum in the beginning. I lost 32 pounds and am working on maintaining. I still count most things but do estimate sometimes like with fruit and even dressings. If I start to gain I will go back to counting everything. So far so good though.

I don't count licks/nibbles. I know these can add up but I didn't have a problem losing so I guess I don't lick/nibble too much.

d) I have two small kids who are like seagulls (mine!mine!mine!) and they eat a lot of bites of my stuff - so I rationalize it as only fair to not log my licks/bites lol

I have successfully lost weight in the past but again, it was a very long and slow process. Being this way helps me when I have to transition back to maintenance. For the record, I successfully mainted a 52lb loss for 4 years before those seagulls came along

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: thats perfect Sarah. I was calling mine a parana but seagull is a better term. I log most things, but the little licks ect not so much, If I start to plateau then I might but if I start to feel like I'm being a food nazi (for lack of a better term) then I really wont stick with this. SO for me I try not to do those little licks but if I do, I let it go. Like Sarah I don't take off those bites my kids steal from my meal or the bit left over on my plate either.