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

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!

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.

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

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!

"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.

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.

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

"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

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