1-10: How well do you manage your daily caloric intake?

Nessa0506
Nessa0506 Posts: 81
in Food and Nutrition
Hi Pals,

I am going to be honest, I track my food intake but I sort of guess my way throughout the day. Granted, I always try to overestimate than under, I must say that I am a lazy tracker.

If it has a barcode (which isn't frequent), I scan it, if its a few ingredients, I list them. When it comes to adding fully prepared meals I get lost. So I just tend to look up something close and guesstimate.

But I am getting better at some things. I am paying more attention to meeting my macros and water intake. And I list 90% if the food I eat.

If I had to rate myself 1-10, I would put myself at a 7.

How would you rate yourself? If you have any tips on how to improve accuracy please share :)

(Now that I think about it, I changed my rating of 8 to a 7, haha)

Replies

  • Danni1585
    Danni1585 Posts: 250 Member
    I would say an 8, I don't weigh but am losing well so,it's working. I do track everything tough, and if in doubt over estimate. I don't think my tips would be helpful, just keep tracking. Good luck, and good post !
  • mka06002
    mka06002 Posts: 6
    I know what you mean about fully prepared meals! Even if I prepared it, i loose track of how-much-of-what-went-into-this? Sometimes i look at other postings for home made meals similar to mine. Can't ever be sure they're right, though.

    I'm probably at a 5, honestly! 8 is good. Too strict can be tough!
  • om3guz
    om3guz Posts: 48
    I'd give myself a 9. I don't keep track of my water intake anymore (even though I always fill it because I can't stand to see it empty!), but I drink plenty of water, probably more than 8 glasses daily. I log 99% of everything that I eat. Sometimes I don't log the honey I put in my tea or the spices I add to my food. I usually only add spices when I know it has tons of sodium. I weigh or measure nearly everything.

    I also gauge how much I should eat and when. If I eat a big breakfast, I won't be hungry at lunch, and will want to eat a lot at night. So I typically eat a small breakfast (100 - 200 calories), a big lunch, and a not-too-filling dinner. I change this up though, depending on my schedule for a given day. I eat more on my busier days and less on days I am less active. This means eating less in the winter. How I wish winter would end!!
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
    I say a 9, almost 10. I track everything I eat, all my exercise and water intake but sometimes I have to guess with foods if it's home made or I can't find the correct brand.
  • om3guz
    om3guz Posts: 48
    When it comes to adding fully prepared meals I get lost. So I just tend to look up something close and guesstimate.

    Try the recipe tool. It's an option under the food tab, right next to settings. It is a great way to track homemade meals. You just add all the ingredients and write down the number of servings it makes. You can then add it to your diary like any other food.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    3. I measure everything out, but often times I'll add extra portions or I will go with the highest calorie item. Like I made ranch with yogurt, but I'm using the full fat version on my food diary. Most of this is inputted by other members, and probably most of them are wrong. Look up clementines for example theres about 16 versions and everyone is a little different. I figure portion control and logging is the best for me.

    Unless, I have some kind of lab or a USDA datafood base the likely hood of it being accurate isnt very. I dont mind being over. Maybe one day I'll get more strict. If the weight loss slows I might think about it, but for now I feel good just measuring, eating my vegs, and drinking water.

    I can bet most people's diary has some sort of inaccuracy even it is managed anal retentivly.
  • tanisha88
    tanisha88 Posts: 20 Member
    I would put myself at a 9, although this may be counterproductive. I tend to eat prepackaged foods when I'm not in the house (like a tin of soup or a weight watchers meal) or I eat in restaurants where I know all the calories can be found easily online. When I am in the house I scan everything before I open the packets then adjust the amounts as I put it in, I know very sad. Unfortunately my downfall has been working in a pub kitchen so being surrounded by fried, greasy food, where is pick up the odd chip or onion ring, so have to be strict with myself.

    Saying that I've just come back from holiday and didn't log one thing when I was away, all inclusive buffets got the better of me.

    I know packaged foods aren't the best for you, and are full of loads of rubbish, but just eating stuff where I wasn't 100% on ingredients was partly to blame for my weight gain, so if it doesn't have a barcode or calories/fat breakdown I don't eat it.

    x
  • Yeller_Sensation
    Yeller_Sensation Posts: 373 Member
    I rate myself a 9. I have OCD and I am a numbers freak. I also prepare meals for my strength training buddy and me; we practice IF and watch our macros like hawks six days a week.

    I plan all our meals 3-4 days at a time. The only day I don't plan ahead for is Sunday. Buddy and I rest from IF and workouts on Sundays. I still log everything I eat on Sundays because I love seeing all my numbers in the red. LOL. :laugh:
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    I'd give myself a 9.5. I very rarely go over, and when I do it's by a very small amount. My caloric deficit is firmly in the 500 - 1000 Calorie range, which is precisely where I want it.

    In terms of managing daily nutrition, I'd have to dock myself to a 7.5 since the last week has been fairly poor. Mostly because we didn't grocery shop at the weekend, so we've putting a little dent in some of the less healthy choices in the cupboards, but also because of work making lunches very inconvenient.
  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
    I'd say.. 7, I don't pay attention to macros one bit (only calories) and I'm bad to guess at things like buffet calorie totals, but I at least try to over estimate than under.
  • MagicsMommy11
    MagicsMommy11 Posts: 19 Member
    9 for tracking 7 for going over so an 8 total lol
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
    I'm going to claim a 7.5.

    I do not track water - because it is clearly not an issue - I go through over a gallon of water a day.

    And I do not subtract back food that I put on my plate but don't eat (pretty minimal).

    (Edit) Crap - macros... I'm not paying attention to them right now. But -2.

    I eat a lot of junky food - but I weight and measure all of my junky food and I actively avoid any restaurant that does not publish their nutrition info on the web.

    My best tips? Buy a digital scale (my older spring scale was a pain to zero out/tare over and over). And buy a bunch of measuring spoons and cups. It was getting to be a pain with the 1 TSP, 1 TBSP and 1/4 cup always dirty. $5 later at the Dollar Tree = no more problem. :)
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
    Been doing for 2 years and I would say a 9.
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
    I'm going to say 9.9. I weigh or measure out most of what I eat.
  • chels0722
    chels0722 Posts: 465 Member
    Uh probably a 10 in comparison to everyone else. I'm kind of OCD about it because I don't want to cheat myself. I make sure I am always eating enough, if not more than enough. I weigh to the GRAM all of my foods and make sure I hit all my macros everyday.
  • Tonnina
    Tonnina Posts: 979 Member
    I'm at an 8... I have had times at a 4 and others I've been a 10. I've recently been very good at tracking because I'm tracking my Macros more right now than my calories... Of course I'm still coming in under calories :-P Some days I don't track at all.
  • sweetnlow30
    sweetnlow30 Posts: 497 Member
    I would say a 9. I calorie counted for two years and lost 100 pounds, then I took a "maintenance" break for a year and a half and gained back 15 :blushing: I have been counting again for four months and It feels very natural to me. I log everything I eat and I use the recipe calculator for most of my dinners. I frequently weigh out my entire recipe so I know how much a portion is. I can't give myself a 10 though because I don't log things like spices and I just quick add 25 calories for my gum and splenda. I also don't track water but I know I drink at least 8 cups a day. I don't drink anything but water and one cup of tea.
  • yustick
    yustick Posts: 238 Member
    I'll give myself a 9.5.

    One of the things I do to make this easier is to prepare meals in bulk.

    I add each ingredient for the entire batch, create a meal in my meals. Then, I measure out the finished batch in cups and decide how many cups I want in each serving. Then I add the meal from my meals with the percentage of each serving (if 5 servings, then .20). Because I make a lot of the same things over and over again, but vary them slightly, I use that to create a meal in my meals with the serving size and date. I vacuum seal and freeze each meal with the name and date as it is recorded in MFP my meals. I think I made this sound much harder than it is.

    I prefer to use my meals over recipes, because I like to see all of the ingredients listed. Although, I'm sure it looks weird when I end up with an item that has 10 decimal places.

    On New Years, I made 150 meals. It was a very hard day, but I ended up with all these healthy homecooked meals that I just have to heat up and the best part, fewer dishes than cooking everyday.
  • lovetobethin86
    lovetobethin86 Posts: 202 Member
    I'd say a 9/ 10 for me as well. Now sticking to the calories is another story, however I always track it! Not usually water though
  • wavedancer123
    wavedancer123 Posts: 47 Member
    I would say 9, as I don't want to cheat myself, I tend to drink to thirst 3-4 litres.
    I weigh protein, it gets my into the habit to see what a portion is, for when I am out and about.
    Tend to drink black coffee when out of the house.
    When I do use the just add calories, I always put it in the Edit food box to say what it was I had eaten.
    I have lost the weight doing Lighter Life Lite, and am now on Route to Management - which seems to be working.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Right now, 9. Doing very well at staying the course, compensating when I need to, and making good choices. that said, I have TONS of wiggle room in my eating and caloric goals. I have them set VERY aggressive, so even if I slip I don't get upset because I am still in the green (even when it goes over a few hundred red.)

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