Calorie stickler?

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eammarx
eammarx Posts: 56
in Food and Nutrition
So maybe I am a stickler but I like to try and be as close to the "real" calories as posssible.

For example today i had an original English Muffin. So I split it with my 2 year old because he never eats the whole thing. I gave him the bottom half with cream cheese **drool** and I had the top half with my "I can't believe it'ss not butter" spray.

The top half is obviously smaller than the bottom half. But its bugging me in my calories that I just put 1/2 because its not really half. If I had the bottom half it would also be bigger and I would want to put that I had more calories than I did.

I don't know. Just bugging me.

Replies

  • eammarx
    eammarx Posts: 56
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    So maybe I am a stickler but I like to try and be as close to the "real" calories as posssible.

    For example today i had an original English Muffin. So I split it with my 2 year old because he never eats the whole thing. I gave him the bottom half with cream cheese **drool** and I had the top half with my "I can't believe it'ss not butter" spray.

    The top half is obviously smaller than the bottom half. But its bugging me in my calories that I just put 1/2 because its not really half. If I had the bottom half it would also be bigger and I would want to put that I had more calories than I did.

    I don't know. Just bugging me.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    take it easy. ever heard of the phrase "close enough for government work"?

    well, this is "close enough for MFP"!!:laugh:

    there are gonna be times when you are gonna have a really hard time getting exact information. If you go to a restaurant, even if it is a restaurant that publishes the calorie counts (which many don't) then how do you know the person in the kitchen followed the serving size exactly? You don't. And what about if you go somewhere that refuses to disclose its information?

    Breathe, relax, and know you are doing much better for yourself by counting, even if you are off by a little bit, than a lifestyle where no counting was done...
  • loreeb18
    loreeb18 Posts: 1,221 Member
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    I like to be as close as possible too. But I'd rather go over and think I ate more calories than I really did than the other way around. So if you eat the smaller piece but count it as half, you actually give yourself a slight buffer (even if it only ends up being like 12 calories :laugh: ).
  • Lowenna1
    Lowenna1 Posts: 22
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    It's hard not to be particular about it - I love to look at my food diary at the end of the day and give myself a pat on the back.
    Did you know you can put in fractions of portions? So if you think you had less than the whole portion you can put in 0.75 to represent three quarters of the portion.
    It's actually quite hard to explain but hopefully you'll get the idea.
    :smile:
  • eammarx
    eammarx Posts: 56
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    It's hard not to be particular about it - I love to look at my food diary at the end of the day and give myself a pat on the back.
    Did you know you can put in fractions of portions? So if you think you had less than the whole portion you can put in 0.75 to represent three quarters of the portion.
    It's actually quite hard to explain but hopefully you'll get the idea.
    :smile:

    Yeah I know I can put in fractions of portions. I do it a lot on certain products. But I can't seem to eyeball how different the top versus the bottom is
  • eammarx
    eammarx Posts: 56
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    OK cool. I will just say its half. It is better to over estimate than underestimate lol
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    Do you wear a heart rate monitor 24 hours a day?

    Probably no.

    So you don't actually KNOW how many calories you burn each day, right?

    And yet, without the ultra-strict-exact numbers, you're still losing weight, right?

    Please take it easy on yourself. Getting overly obsessed with numbers can lead to bad things.
    You are doing great just to know how many (approx) calories you eat each day.

    How many people have no idea how many calories they eat each day?

    So if you're off by 12 calories(every day), it would take 291 days before you would gain one pound.

    Be easy on yourself:flowerforyou:
  • eammarx
    eammarx Posts: 56
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    Do you wear a heart rate monitor 24 hours a day?

    Probably no.

    So you don't actually KNOW how many calories you burn each day, right?

    And yet, without the ultra-strict-exact numbers, you're still losing weight, right?

    Please take it easy on yourself. Getting overly obsessed with numbers can lead to bad things.
    You are doing great just to know how many (approx) calories you eat each day.

    How many people have no idea how many calories they eat each day?

    So if you're off by 12 calories(every day), it would take 291 days before you would gain one pound.

    Be easy on yourself:flowerforyou:

    When your right your right. I probably go over in snacking somewhere too. I am a mindless snacker. Maybe I need to justify it to myself that its ok. I had 12 calories from this morning lol
  • mnmommy79
    mnmommy79 Posts: 1 Member
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    I am just starting this today. Hope I can stick with it. No, I mean I will stick with it!
  • cyndeebee
    cyndeebee Posts: 249 Member
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    A lot of it is just guesswork, but being conscious of what you're putting into your mouth is, I think, half the battle.
    When you resolve to count calories, you become aware. I caught myself, today, stopping mid-way to my mouth, with a spoon of risotto...
    I'd already measured (something I rarely do), but I was going to lick the serving spoon before I put it in the sink.
    So this tells me two things: I'm more aware of food now, instead of just mindlessly eating - and maybe I, too, need to lighten up, eh?

    I, too, shall heed the advice of not getting too worried about a few missed calories. As long as we stay well within range of our allotted calories, I think we'll be fine...
  • thejarviclan
    thejarviclan Posts: 465 Member
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    LOL, you're the opposite of me! I always want to OVER-estimate because I figure that means I actually have a little leeway, and I feel like I'm losing more weight (even if it's infintismal!)

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