Am I miscalculating calories?
violaninja
Posts: 12 Member
I haven't eaten over my calorie goal in a week, and I gained weight the last three times I did. According to the MFP food diary, I've only eaten 800 calories today, but I'm pretty stuffed and quite certain that I've been eating well. I don't have a food scale, but I do measure using cups most of the time, and I always try to overestimate non-measured portions – if a portion of meat looks like four ounces, I'll call it five. Am I just grossly miscounting calories? If so, is it because I don't weigh portions?
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I'm not sure how to do that, but I will... Anyway, I just went back through today's entry and doubled the portion sizes I wasn't sure were accurate, and it still says only 900ish calories. ? I enter virtually everything: vitamin supplements, cooking oils, spices...0
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You need to invest in a food scale. I think you can find them under $20.00 at Walmart, or Target if your in the U.S. I've got to buy one myself because mine just broke. A serving of cereal 28 grams usually will not fill up a measuring cup. Sweet potatoes are another item that really need to be weighed. Also meat could weigh more or less depending on thickness.0
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Just get a food scale0
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violaninja wrote: »I'm not sure how to do that, but I will... Anyway, I just went back through today's entry and doubled the portion sizes I wasn't sure were accurate, and it still says only 900ish calories. ? I enter virtually everything: vitamin supplements, cooking oils, spices...
You know that " virtually " means that you might, or you might not enter everything in your log. I think your calorie count is off, because you are misjudging your portion sizes. You really need to weigh and measure accurately to have a good chance at weight loss.
Good Luck !
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Here's a approximate way of eyeballing portions until you get a scale.
http://www.xlathlete.com/xl/events/Portion Control Guide.pdf
I definitely promote buying the scale though.0 -
I'm just very confused because while I'm aware that weighing is the only accurate way to measure portions, I deliberately overestimate my portions. For instance, I ate 1 tsp of golden flaxseed today, but I logged it as 1 tbsp; similarly, I measured 1/4 cup of brown rice, but I logged 1/2 cup. It seems strange that I could be underestimating that much when I make such an effort to take miscalculation into account.0
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Another VLCD person.-1
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Yep, definitely invest in a food scale.....I got a cheapo digital one from walmart.com for like 10 bucks.....and they shipped it to the store for free.....easy. The worst part is replacing the CR2032 batteries about once a month (I use it a lot.....lol).
But yes, when I got it, I was surprised how "off" for example, the "protein scoops" are that come in the jugs of protein powder! lol. I now measure everything down to the gram.....
Especially eating a lot of fruits and veggies, without logging by weight, it's easy to misjudge.....like for example, a banana......I know MFP has some pre-measured entries for a 6".......8" ...... etc.....banana.......but I log everything by the gram.
Edit: Yes, just checked your diary, and you are eating a lot of fruits and veggies.....my guess is there is just a slight miscalculation in the serving sizes of said fruits/veggies......since, for example, not all fruits are cut equally to "fit" in a 1 cup measuring cup
So that's what makes having a kitchen scale so convenient.... 0 -
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It is possible to get full much sooner due to the fact you're paying close attention to your eating.
You probably can't really gauge much on "the last few times I went over my calories I gained weight". You probably gained water weight or food weight. A day over maintenance isn't going to show up as measurable fat the next morning. You could probably eat much more than you are and still maintain.
And you don't have to have a food scale to maintain. It's a great tool to learn portion sizes but estimating successfully IS possible. You can even maintain without food logging at all. Most of the world does.
Good luck!0 -
The advice about investing in scales is a good one. What you should also remember is that ALL the published nutritional information, including daily calorie intake for both men and women is an average, therefore, it is possible that some people will need to take on board more calories and others less to reach/maintain their goals.
Weighing yourself once a week (using the same scales and at the same time of day) is a good way to judge by how much, if any, you need to adjust your calorie intake from the published average. You should be aiming to lose between one and two pounds of weight per week. Any more than two pounds a week and you start to lose muscle mass which is not good, nor sustainable.
The simple answer is be patient and be sensible, which I'm sure you are.
Good luck.
Peter0 -
Maybe you're gaining because you're not eating enough calories. You are nowhere near your goal calorie amount, so your body is probably in starvation mode.0
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I think your gaining because your not eating enough calories. Believe it or not every time I eat 800 calories my fitness pal tells me I am not eating enough calories to loose weight and that I must stick to a 1200 calorie diet. Also important to eat enough protein to loose weight also. I was having trouble with loosing weight but when I changed my calorie intake to higher and my protein higher the weight started coming off.
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PeterStef003 wrote: »You should be aiming to lose between one and two pounds of weight per week.
Except that she's trying to maintain.
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Here's a approximate way of eyeballing portions until you get a scale.
http://www.xlathlete.com/xl/events/Portion Control Guide.pdf
I definitely promote buying the scale though.
Thank you so much for adding this link... I am a visual person and I find this chart most helpful!0 -
Your intentionally starving yourself by adding in way more calories than your actually eating ...which is resulting in your body not functioning properly = no weight loss. If you want success buy the tools needed...perhaps a food scale and a heart rate monitor this will save you guessing in the future on portion sizes and also calories burned per workouts...0
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PeterStef003 wrote: »The advice about investing in scales is a good one. What you should also remember is that ALL the published nutritional information, including daily calorie intake for both men and women is an average, therefore, it is possible that some people will need to take on board more calories and others less to reach/maintain their goals.
Weighing yourself once a week (using the same scales and at the same time of day) is a good way to judge by how much, if any, you need to adjust your calorie intake from the published average. You should be aiming to lose between one and two pounds of weight per week. Any more than two pounds a week and you start to lose muscle mass which is not good, nor sustainable.
The simple answer is be patient and be sensible, which I'm sure you are.
Good luck.
Peter
It is not just an average, which is true, the FDA allows nutritional labels a % variance in the stated nutritional label content. Counting calories, even when measuring food and using a weight scale, is NOT an exact science. There will always be variables in the quality and calibration of the scale...
The calories you burn are not exact either... I found the success to my 90 pound weight loss and two year maintenance of that loss was/is directly attributed to calories in and calories out. I never used a scale and seldom measured my food... yet changed my fatty eating habits and reduced my overall calories intake. I am not advocating to anyone to follow my diet plan... I am just saying it worked for me and everyone is different!
Best of luck to you...
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Were we supposed to be calculating our calories all this time??? Oops, I had no idea.0
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Were we supposed to be calculating our calories all this time??? Oops, I had no idea.
That's how I feel. I'm not so worried so much about how accurate my calculations are so much as that I'm eating a healthy amount and maintaining. Ideally, I would like to maintain without weighing and logging everything for the rest of my life.0 -
violaninja wrote: »Were we supposed to be calculating our calories all this time??? Oops, I had no idea.
That's how I feel. I'm not so worried so much about how accurate my calculations are so much as that I'm eating a healthy amount and maintaining. Ideally, I would like to maintain without weighing and logging everything for the rest of my life.
Agree. Although to take it a few steps further... I was kinda joking around sarcastically. I make it a point to never count any calories and eat the right foods until I'm full.
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