Ugh! Calorie Counting

[ladeejoi]

I'm having a really hard time counting calories. It's not keeping the calorie count low when i eat, it's only the actual counting. I just think it's too much work to measure the exact amount of cereal and milk i put into the bowl. Any tips? Or do i just have to suck it up and measure everything?

Also, what about eating out? If i'm going to Red Lobster or Outback, how do i know how many calories I'm eating?

[shor0814]

The easiest way I have found is to use MyFitnessPal for counting food and water, they have a huge database including restaurants.  You can scan barcodes for foods and search pretty easily.  I don't weigh and measure everything but I have measured and weighed enough stuff that I can eyeball an amount pretty well.  I tend to eat the serving size or a multiple of a serving size (salad dressing is usually 2 tbsp so I use 1, 2, or 4 tbsp for my salads).  Measure and weigh things for a while then mentally compare what you cook in the future.

I also gave up on worrying about a few calories here and there.  If I have 3.5 ounces of salmon instead of 4, or have 4.5 instead I don't sweat it.  I don't let this get too carried away and eat an 8 ounce steak and call it 4 ounces. 

For me it is a lifestyle change, I will not weigh and measure for the rest of my life but I will continue to estimate.

Shawn

[Dominique]

First of all, there is no need to post the same question to multiple forums: just pick up the most relevant forum. In this case, I assume you want to count calories because you would like to lose weight, so the Weight Loss forum might be the most appropriate.

I personally don't bother with counting calories, but many people are doing it successfully, so it can be done.

[dnourie]

Calories for most restaurant foods are online, and often in MyFitnessPal. I find it interesting to track calories. I've also discovered that serving size in the Nutritional Fact box on food is very different from how much we eat. They make serving sizes small so it looks like it's lower in calories.

The tiny can of Van Camps Beans is one serving that I eat, but the info on the back says it's 2! So instead of 100 calories for the can it's actually 200.

Outback is super high in calories. I went there with my kids a few weeks ago. I had a baked potatoe and caesar sald. That was 650 calories. I don't eat meat, but for many family that did, their dinner was closer to 1000 calories.

I thought I was eating few calories that I actually was. I measure my cereal then log if I've eating 1.5 servings or 2. That way the calories are correct for the amount I ate. Most cereal is 2/3 of a cup per serving. I eat 2 cups. When I log that in MyFitnessPal, it does the math for me. And I log 1/2 cup of Almond milk/ MyFitnessPal has most brands and you can add anything it doesn't have. It's worth putting the  nutritional info in once. You don't ever have to add the product, only the amount you ate.

[Inga]

another way to make it easy is to eat fresh... most foods I eat are already in the database, bananas, apples, eggplant, tomatoes, etc.  I check the restaurant menu before I go. Either their own website or Livestrong will usually have calorie counts, if the calories are huge like outback I'll request a box right away and put 1/2 of everything right into it so I'll have lunch for the next day.  

[StefK]

I don't weigh but I do over-estimate the portions just to be on the safe side. At the end of the day I would only pull my own leg if I under-estimated my food intake. Also over time the scale will tell 😉

Stef.

[sim_smax]

Yes, calorie counting can be a pain, especially if you are weighing everything.  People are really bad at estimating portion sizes, often understimating how much their actually eating, so it is best to measure as much as you can.  I found there is a couple of tricks to doing this.  First, I eat the same thing for breakfast every single day.  Usually its oatmeal (a half cup dry) and some brown sugar (two tablespoons), personally I really like oatmeal but I know many people do not.  Just pick some foods that you really like and eat them everyday or on specific days of the week.  Second, pick bowls, plates and cups and pre-measure them.  I have a favorite mug at home and I know how much it holds.  When I fill it full of almond milk, I know its a cup and a quarter. Or, use cup that has measurements on it such as a Nalgene container.  Lastly, just keep a scale on your counter and just get in the habit of measuring everything and then prepackaging it for snacking later.  Anyways, just some thoughts and suggestions. 

[Inga]

I do the same as sim smax, I eat a lot of the same things from day to day and I pre measure foods that I buy in bulk. my diet (801010) is pretty easy so not that much to measure anyway. 

[Haymitch]

Restaurants are fairly easy, since they ususally tell you how much you're getting, at least of meat.  But if I've gotten a baked potato, I just estimate whether it's a small, medium or large potato and there are usually good exemplars already in the site.  For places I frequent, I use their information and create meals around foods I've decided fit my goals, fish or chicken, grilled or broiled, and vegetables steamed or prepared without sauce.  That and I have a 1,000 calorie deficit as my goal, so there's plenty of room to err and still make progress.

[Mary]

Restaurants have nutritional info on their web sites.

You don't have to measure your cereal and milk daily.  Measure it once, look at the level in the bowl for 1c. cereal and 1/2c. milk (or whatever) and on successive days use your eyes to fill to that level.  It's all just estimates.  

It can be done in a couple minutes a day.  But yes, it sucks.  Do it while you lose weight or until you can eyeball what is a good portion/choice and then start winging it.  Repeat as necessary.

[AlexandraM]

Is it really THAT much work? Sorry to be frank, but I'm an avid weigher of food and while it may take an extra minute or two to weigh out food--especially if you have multiple things going into something at once--I think the extra effort really pays off, especially when you step on the scale. This method doesn't work for everyone, but if you're having issues with portion size then you may just have to 'suck it up' until you get better at eye balling things. For example one avocado could be about 100g while another could be closer to 200g--150 extra calories makes a big difference--add that up a couple of times and your calories could be significantly higher than you think. Also, I rarely weigh out foods such as vegetables and most fruits and focus more on starches, dairy and meats. I didn't get a handle on steady weightloss until I started weighing out my food. This works for me in the long run as I don't mind taking a little extra time to prepare meals/snacks.

[dnourie]

I agree, Alexandra. I discovered that one cup of cereal is more than I was thinking, but I didn't realize until I looked closely that many cereal boxes list 2/3 of a cup as a serving.

I don't find measuring a pain. I know how much an of peanuts is because I weighed it once, saw what line of my little pyrex bowls it went up to, and so now I don't need to measure them. I keep a one cup measuring cup on the table, so I pour the cereal into the cup, dump it into the bowl, and do the same with a second if I want two cups.

Really, it's no big deal. Many of the other foods I eat are premeasured by amount, so I know the calories already.

[nochem66]

Sync fitbit with myfitnesspal. The directions are so easy and it does all of the counting for you.

I found the directions in the help forums.

[gerrymcd]

The easiest - and potentially most boring - solution is to eat the exact same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.  I remember reading this in 'large fella on a bike' the blog by Scott Cutshall.  He lost 300+ lbs by never having to count calories, other than the one time he came up with his 2,000 calorie meal plan. 

Its an option! 

[robert01]

Good post....I have probably been underestimating my calorie intake and will start weighing my food.

[OlsBean]

If Calories counting is difficult for you, you could consider trying Low-Carbing, you don't need to count calories then.

[MoodyFoody]

When you start out I have found that I needed to weigh and measure everything.  Eventually you can eyeball things better without measuring.

[CarolS]

When I'm trying to lose a few pounds, I weigh EVERYTHING to the gram.  It's a bit obsessive, but it works for me.  When my weight is close to my goal area, I don't measure, but just try to be mindful of what and how much I'm eating.

[caveats]

Second (or third, or whatever 🙂 ) the tip to WEIGH your food rather than measure by volume. Just like in baking, measuring weight is much more accurate than measuring volume.

Yes, it's a pain, but there really is no other method than to eat processed, pre-packaged food all the time to gauge whether you're really in your weight-loss range when it comes to your daily caloric intake. Studies have shown that even experienced nutrionists have a tendency to underestimate how many calories they're taking in per day when estimating.

Also echo the tip for food logging in MyFitnessPal. (Actually, I wouldn't have heard of Fitbit if it weren't for MFP.) I did this for 8 months really successfully, and there really is a much wider database available thanks to the crowdsourcing ability for users to add nutrition info from other sources. After a while, you'll get a much better idea of how much you're really eating when you eat "in the wild" without counting calories. The initial pain of learning how to do it properly is VERY worth it.

[julid]

If you are not weighing your food the chances you are overeating is high. Counting calories isn't hard, it just takes discipline