Do you overestimate or underestimate your calories?

i_love_vinegar
i_love_vinegar Posts: 2,092 Member
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
When you enter in your food into your Food Diary on here, do you believe you put an accurate number, or over/under estimate?

I purposely overestimate, since I am too lazy to measure out what I eat. :laugh:

And you?
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Replies

  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
    I'm very accurate because I weigh almost everything, and what I don't weigh (liquids) I measure.
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.
  • noexcuses1218
    noexcuses1218 Posts: 332 Member
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.

    what she does.
  • brvanover
    brvanover Posts: 52
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.


    This is what I do too!
  • BabyDuchess
    BabyDuchess Posts: 353 Member
    Mine's as accurate as I can get it. :flowerforyou:
  • maryd4love
    maryd4love Posts: 164 Member
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.

    That is what I do as well.
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
    I try to keep mine fairly accurate.
  • newtswifey07
    newtswifey07 Posts: 45
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.

    That is what I do as well.

    Ditto!
  • fireyes
    fireyes Posts: 31 Member
    I try to keep it accurate, but I think I might underestimate how much I eat on accident, but not by much. I also underestimate how much I exercise, so it's all good. :]
  • Balishdear
    Balishdear Posts: 60
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.


    ^ This
  • lingading
    lingading Posts: 258 Member
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.

    what she does.

    Samesies.
  • JLH3188
    JLH3188 Posts: 3
    I think I tend to underestimate my calories more often than not. It would be easier to weigh/measure everything, but I just don't have the time with my job and everything.
  • kklindsey
    kklindsey Posts: 382 Member
    wow, I am surprised that so many of you don't weigh and measure. I weigh, measure and read the label for everything I eat unless I am away from home at a party where I can't easily look it up. My best friend once told me after seeing me get out a teaspoon for butter "no wonder you weigh less than me" lol. for me it is too easy to be off by 100's of calories and I know myself and I would say it looked like less than it was, subconciously.
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  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    I underestimate I feel, but I don't eat back my exercise calories so there is an extra buffer built in for stuff like that. On days that i don't exercise, I still underestimate but leave at least a 200 calorie gap to cover that.

    i also have an HRM that gives a pretty accurate calorie burn.
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    Also with that, I do measure things, but I don't have a food scale, so I approximate.
    But for example, my wheat thins box says a serving is X-grams, or 16 crackers. I will only eat 15 crackers, then log it as the serving, just to be sure.
  • kitinboots
    kitinboots Posts: 589 Member
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.

    This. Because I don't measure my food or trust my own judgement, and because I read about MFP calorie burned estimates being exaggerated. When I get home, get a HRM and my own kitchen back I will be more accurate.
  • exercisechic927
    exercisechic927 Posts: 64 Member
    I underestimate I feel, but I don't eat back my exercise calories so there is an extra buffer built in for stuff like that. On days that i don't exercise, I still underestimate but leave at least a 200 calorie gap to cover that.

    i also have an HRM that gives a pretty accurate calorie burn.



    That is exactly what I do.....
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I don't measure but I try to do my best to be accurate by eyeballing and reading labels. Same with exercise.
  • jbucci1186
    jbucci1186 Posts: 440 Member
    if i don't have it exactly measured, i definitely over estimate... would rather be under and say i'm over than the opposite!
  • sunrise84
    sunrise84 Posts: 18
    I'm very accurate because I weigh almost everything, and what I don't weigh (liquids) I measure.

    This is what I do. I keep my scale in the cabinet with the plates and bowls right above the counter by the sink, so I have NO EXCUSE not to grab it.
  • bmw4deb
    bmw4deb Posts: 1,324 Member
    I get as close as possible
  • kiwi_tobi
    kiwi_tobi Posts: 23 Member
    I'm very accurate because I weigh almost everything, and what I don't weigh (liquids) I measure.
    Same here! That way I can look over my days and see how i felt and what I was eating. what worked and waht didn't! I also have a HRM so that measuers how many cals i burned when working out.
  • bellinachuchina
    bellinachuchina Posts: 498 Member
    I over estimate.
    And then I under estimate calories burned.
    Basically to cover the general margin of error.

    This. Worked for me :)
  • withchaco
    withchaco Posts: 1,026 Member
    I weigh/ measure everything, and I still overestimate just a tad (think rounding up) for calories eaten. For calories burned, I go by my HRM number and either use the exact number or round down.
  • RainyDayKelli
    RainyDayKelli Posts: 85 Member
    I weigh and measure every single thing that goes into my mouth. Although, I do underestimate calories burned when I exercise. Just in case.
  • vinlop
    vinlop Posts: 71 Member
    I honestly have no clue if I'm over or under what I put down, but I just feel that logging my food (regardless if it is accurate) every day just works for me. When I right it down, I am so much more conscious of eating healthier and in better proportions. I have had a very steady weight loss over the past month, and I feel great!
  • keengkong
    keengkong Posts: 83 Member
    I try to measure as many things as possible. However, practicality demands estimating many things. (I'm not going to measure two tablespoonds peanut butter every time I make a peanuyt butter & jelly sandwich.) When I estimate, I try to be accurate. I don't need to make my estimates on the high side.
  • significance
    significance Posts: 436 Member
    I weigh and measure what I can, but if I'm not sure, I try to over-estimate. If I have a slice of banana bread at a cafe, I tend to pick the highest-calorie banana bread in the MFP database to log, for instance. I do this to counter my natural tendency to want to minimise what I've eaten and to counter MFP probably over-estimating my exercise calories (I just accept the values it gives). I also aim for a little less than the target net calories that MFP recommends, for the same reason.
  • lollie1285
    lollie1285 Posts: 239 Member
    I measure every little thing I eat. Today, I ate a handful of grapes without counting them and got so mad at myself for it. I don't eat back my exercise calories for now only because I'm not quite sure how much I burn and I don't want to overestimate. I should be getting a new HRM soon, so that should take care of that issue and I can hopefully start eating more.
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