Counting calories

[barbhero]

Hey guys i was just wondering how you all count calories (or if you do at all). I never really keep track closely, just drink my milk and eat as much as I can. When I get back from my break I want to try and start tracking this a little more closely to make sure I'm getting adequate calories,

I'm just wondering how you guys keep track of this stuff...computer programs, pen & paper, etc. I saw some computer programs that have calories and stuff programmed in for most foods, that part seems nice but also seems like a pain in the ass to get to the computer everytime I eat something. It seems like it would be easy for me to say I'll remember to put it in at the end of the day and then forget.

But then keeping track with pen and paper and having to calculate calories off a chart like this one http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcom...k/sr17a208.pdf
also seems like a pain in the ass.

For those of you who are meticulous about counting calories what do you find works best?

[Eric K]

Google "USDA my pyramid tracker." The USDA is garbage for healthy food recommendations, but that tracker is fairly easy to use, and accurate enough, I think. I think it's a good goal to try to get the "unhappy" faces for total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol intake to know that I'm eating well.

[MazdaMatt]

That's pretty funny.

I just estimate when I care to. It isn't that fucking hard and since I generally eat "similar" stuff every day (at least in quantity and type of food) it gives me an idea of where I'm at every few weeks. I actually meant to add up what I've been eating recently to figure out how I'm doing. Will do tonight.

[Draft]

www.fitday.com

[forgeforth]

When I'm creating an artificial growth spurt, I don't need to keep track of my calories because I smother my face with everything all the time. It's easy and requires little to no thought. When I'm working on body recomposition, I keep track of macros as opposed to calories. I'm done worrying about calories, mostly because it's a bother, not to mention the fact that you'll pretty much always overestimate what you're eating and undereat, especially when you begin to obsess over fat loss. Besides, the calorie labels usually found on foods conform to the product's serving size, which is not uniform across all users. I can't even tell you what 100g looks like a bowl. So I just focus on protein intake and time my carbs so that I'm eating most of them in the morning, pre and post workout. I let the fats take care of themselves and keep an eye on the proteins.

I don't know, man. If you're in an anabolic state and you have to worry about eating enough calories or fats, then chances are you're doing something wrong. I gained 40 pounds in approximately 6 weeks. People were convinced I was on steroids.

That's why the milk helps. Lots of guaranteed calories right there.

[LimieJosh]

A novice shouldnt need to count calories, just simply use progress (on the bar and on the scale) to determine if enough is being consumed. If not, eat more.

I tend to be fairly routine in my eating, but will still track it occasionally as I have a tendency to lapse back into too little protein and calories unless I'm consciously trying. For that, I use dailyburn.com

[AidenBloodaxe]

It becomes '2nd nature' after several days of doing it. I've counted my macros & calories(via journal) for almost two years now. All you need to do is read the labels on the food you usually eat for the first week or less & from there you can either remember the content of your staples, look back in your log or use your experience of similar foods to estimate. When you eat fast food, most places have a website with the nutritional value of their meals on, if you're a pedant like me. Remember though; labels, websites & your stomach for that matter are never going to be 100% accurate so if you're eating borderline surplus when trying to gain weight & you're not, it's probably because of the variation in nutritional content or ability of your body is different to what you have down on the paper, the same goes for losing weight or maintaining it. Also, it's possible to gain weight on a caloric deficit or lose it on a surplus, shit is never as it seems.

[Marotta]

I just keep a decent estimate going throughout the day, like nearest 500cal or so.

[Marotta]

It becomes '2nd nature' after several days of doing it. I've counted my macros & calories(via journal) for almost two years now. All you need to do is read the labels on the food you usually eat for the first week or less & from there you can either remember the content of your staples, look back in your log or use your experience of similar foods to estimate. When you eat fast food, most places have a website with the nutritional value of their meals on, if you're a pedant like me. Remember though; labels, websites & your stomach for that matter are never going to be 100% accurate so if you're eating borderline surplus when trying to gain weight & you're not, it's probably because of the variation in nutritional content or ability of your body is different to what you have down on the paper, the same goes for losing weight or maintaining it. Also, it's possible to gain weight on a caloric deficit or lose it on a surplus, shit is never as it seems.

You can't gain weight on a deficit.

[MazdaMatt]

You can't gain weight on a deficit.

Obivously he means if you stop pooping. Obviously.