Actual calorie consumption compared to perceived

I record as accurately as I can the number of calories I take in a day.  However, I base the total I log on the label and/or Web totals given BEFORE cooking and before consuming.  The truth is, as I perceive it, that I am actually not consuming as many calories as I log nor is my body  utilizing as many calories as I log.  This is from Wikipedia:

"The amount of food energy in a particular food could be measured by completely burning the dried food in a bomb calorimeter, a method known as direct calorimetry .  However, the values given on food labels are not determined this way, because it overestimates the amount of energy that the human digestive system can extract, by also burning dietary fiber. Moreover, not all food energy eaten is actually resorbed by the body (fecal and urinal losses). Instead, standardized chemical tests or an analysis of the recipe using reference tables for common ingredients are used to estimate the product's digestible constituents(protein, carbohydrate, fat, etc.) These results are then converted into an equivalent energy value based on a standardized table of energy densities."

I realize that Wikipedia is not always accurate, but assuming the above is true, I am wondering how close to accurate I have been in logging my calories, if when a bunch of raw ingredients are mixed, baked/cooked, and then eaten.  And I wonder if some recipes that give a total number of calories have taken into consideration "the product's digestible constituents."

Almost everything you eat or your burn rate is an estimate, but I don't think they are dangerously off to the point where you end up consuming 500+ or 500less calories than you thought.

I've been calorie counting for close to 10months now and I measure just about everything and I've never been shocked or thought that the numbers weren't right. 

I have heard that they temperature or way food is cooked manipulates the burn rate, but like I said, I don't think it's enough to worry about. Just keep eating right, measuring your food and stay active. I overestimate all the food I eat by a little bit just in case anyways.

Thanks for the advice.  Guess I will keep overestimating, too.

It's probably true that the numbers are a little off for everything, but as long as you're achieving your goal (maintenance or weight loss) then the nutrition info probably isn't dramatically off.

Personally, I purposefully overestimate all the time. I'd rather eat less than I think I'm eating than accidentally eat more.

As long as you are consistent, then you will be fine in the long run. 

When I started out, for example, I was using 3 different sites for calorie info.  Now, I just use CC. 

Between my last weigh-ins, I calculated that based on the calories and exercise I logged (all according to CC), I should have lost 9.6lbs.  When I weighed today, it was 10 even.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, as someone already said calories are an estimate to a degree.

I figure if I feel healthy and "right" and my weight stays steady (I am trying to maintain) I'm fine.  I still log my food for nutritional purposes instead of calorie counting.  I do not log my activity.  My body knows best and I trust it.