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#1
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Precision of calorie counting
Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or
do you shoot for the target? How big a range? If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. TIA |
#2
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Precision of calorie counting
On Jul 7, 10:34 pm, "em" wrote:
Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or do you shoot for the target? How big a range? If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. TIA I shoot for 1200 calories and don't allow myself to go above 1400. Usually I'm within 1200 - 1350. I tried to follow a 1500 calorie plan, but it didn't work. I was eating too much I think, and it set off my cravings. It was because I was always having to find things that were 100-150 calories to "round out" my meals, but everything was more than that. I couldn't stay within any normal limit. I was all over the place when I was trying for 1500, so my doctor gave his blessing for 1200 as long as it's "real food" which, since I cook, it is. Even so, it's exercise that has helped me most. And cutting out most sources of sugar. And discovering my lactose intolerance (all this means is, I take Dairy Digest or some such thing before I eat anything with Dairy in it, not hard). Hope that helps you. Good for you that you're taking care of yourself! But don't sweat the small stuff. It's the big stuff that matters. Like is it a meal of fries and deep fried chicken fingers dripping with sauce? If so, it doesn't matter if you have it weighed out, you won't be able to eat much of it anyway, and later you'll be hungry. Save that stuff for your Monthly Cheat Meal. When I began, I had to lose over 100 lbs! I am now 1/4 of the way there, and it has taken me years to get here. Have patience and persistence and faith. Best wishes! |
#3
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Precision of calorie counting
wrote in message ps.com... On Jul 7, 10:34 pm, "em" wrote: Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or do you shoot for the target? How big a range? If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. TIA I generally try to aim for around 12 cal x current bodyweight - 1500. This is with exercise that exceeds 3500 calories per week though. If I were doing less exercise, I'd be shooting for closer to 1200. Anyways, when I'm really trying to lose weight, I try to get around a 500 calorie per day deficit, with about half coming from cutting calories, and half from exercise. My bmr is 1650 (measured at a medical school). The problem is, "estimating" calorie intake can be very subjective, unless you are eating pre-packaged foods. So, when I estimate, I can pretty much be sure I'm underestimating by 10-20%. That's just human nature - I'd rather think I was eating less than I really am. |
#4
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Precision of calorie counting
On Jul 7, 9:34 pm, "em" wrote:
Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or do you shoot for the target? How big a range? If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. TIA This will sound awful to some folks, but at this point I've pretty much stopped counting calories. With as much riding as I'm doing, I find it hard to sit down and figure, "hmm, 3500 calories for that ride, so I can eat...." Neil 385/245/220 |
#5
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Precision of calorie counting
TIA This will sound awful to some folks, but at this point I've pretty much stopped counting calories. With as much riding as I'm doing, I find it hard to sit down and figure, "hmm, 3500 calories for that ride, so I can eat...." Neil 385/245/220 I agree, I am not to into counting calories anymore, I would say I am more into your way of life. I stay away from junk food and i do jsut fine with some good exercise (http://workin-out.blogspot.com/). I have one cheat meal a week and that helps me keep going and not get to sick of no ice cream and chips! |
#6
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Precision of calorie counting
"The Historian" wrote in message oups.com... On Jul 7, 9:34 pm, "em" wrote: Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or do you shoot for the target? How big a range? If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. TIA This will sound awful to some folks, but at this point I've pretty much stopped counting calories. With as much riding as I'm doing, I find it hard to sit down and figure, "hmm, 3500 calories for that ride, so I can eat...." Neil 385/245/220 I agree. I do count calories, but not every day... Sort of just often enough to do a reality check. I have found that if I am reasonable in my eating and exercise often and well, it's a none issue. It is amazing to me though how easy it is to eat as much as I burn. When I started really cycling this year, with those 3000 calorie rides, I was so hungry I would eat quite a lot more than I normally do. If I gave myself free reign to eat, I'm sure I could have eaten all 3000 of those extra calories. |
#7
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Precision of calorie counting
On Jul 8, 9:19 am, "determined" wrote:
"The Historian" wrote in message oups.com... On Jul 7, 9:34 pm, "em" wrote: Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or do you shoot for the target? How big a range? If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. TIA This will sound awful to some folks, but at this point I've pretty much stopped counting calories. With as much riding as I'm doing, I find it hard to sit down and figure, "hmm, 3500 calories for that ride, so I can eat...." Neil 385/245/220 I agree. I do count calories, but not every day... Sort of just often enough to do a reality check. I have found that if I am reasonable in my eating and exercise often and well, it's a none issue. It is amazing to me though how easy it is to eat as much as I burn. When I started really cycling this year, with those 3000 calorie rides, I was so hungry I would eat quite a lot more than I normally do. If I gave myself free reign to eat, I'm sure I could have eaten all 3000 of those extra calories. In my case, I probably have. :-) Of course it could be just that I'm getting close to goal weight. I'm at 245 as of last week. My doctor suggests 210-225 for me, as does every guy at my gym. My quads have grown so much that I had to stop wearing a pair of bike shorts because they don't fit over my legs anymore. And I have to be carrying around about 10 pounds of loose skin. |
#8
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Precision of calorie counting
em wrote:
Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or do you shoot for the target? A range. How big a range? -10%/+20% 2000 calories/day is the mean with 1800 and 2400 being the low and high. Currently I also keep track of macronutrient ratio (carbohydrate, protein, fat percentages). I shoot for a 40/40/20 ratio (40% carbohydrate/40% protein/20% fat), but there are acceptable ranges there too. I lift weights vigorously and believe in a protein heavy diet. That means the protein percentage often hits 50% with carbohydrate dipping to 35% and fat to 15%. If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I weigh everything, so if I want to hit a target I can be within +/-50 calories of it by keeping a running total and adjusting portions at the last meal or two (I eat six meals per day). I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. +/-5% is very tight control. That will require strict weighing even if well planned. I weigh everything out to the gram, but it's more for the sake of accurate data (I keep a diet journal) than super tight control. In other words, if a portion is a little more of less than usual, that's okay. Relative hunger levels play into it as well. There are days when I'm not as hungry and don't mind reducing portions a bit, whereas there are other days, usually higher activity days, where I'm hungry and eat a bit more. That flexibility is nice and helps make the whole way of eating more tolerable. The bottom line as far as I'm concerned is whether the strategy is working in general and how much perceived effort is there in sticking to it. I don't believe that super strict control is better than loose control where both average out the same. In fact, a looser approach might be easier to stick with in the long run. However, in the beginning, it might be better to employ tight control in order to ingrain consistency in portion sizes and meal appearance. And of course motivation is high when the rate of progress is good. The real test comes when progress slows down or stops temporarily (aka stall or plateau). That's when high effort ways of eating (those with more meals, more measuring, more documenting, and more rules) start to look like they aren't worth it. The hope is that the goal is reached before that happens, but so often that isn't the case. TIA |
#9
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Precision of calorie counting
"The Historian" wrote in message oups.com... On Jul 7, 9:34 pm, "em" wrote: Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or do you shoot for the target? How big a range? If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. TIA This will sound awful to some folks, but at this point I've pretty much stopped counting calories. With as much riding as I'm doing, I find it hard to sit down and figure, "hmm, 3500 calories for that ride, so I can eat...." Neil 385/245/220 I find it hard to count calories during the biking season, too. I try to stick with the basic diet and only add extra calories to fuel the rides. So far this seems to work for me. Beverly 177 / 143 / ~140 since 1996 |
#10
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Precision of calorie counting
I found I would not eat a consistent amount of calories each day. It jumped
high and low. However, with Fitday software, I could watch a weekly average and adjust the average with effort over time. "em" wrote in message ... Just wondering, for those who count, do you try to stay within a range, or do you shoot for the target? How big a range? If you shoot for a specific target, about how close do you get to it? I'm curious because I'm trying to lay out a meal plan, and unless I want to weigh things out to a tiny fraction, there's some amount of daily slop, maybe 5% or so. TIA |
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