You all do realize that calories are just an estimate, not an absolute?

 I have been reading the posts here for some time now and I often see people saying how they had this many calories or that many calories.  In fact I just read one that said they had 30 to go to fill in there daily 1200 for the next day.

Well I think it needs said that all the calories listed for foods are just averages of larger samples and a serving of a food with 100 calories could be off by 20% +/- . Fruit for instance, can very because of size, if it was a good season, it's water content, how much of it you eat. Unless your weighing it out to the .001 gram it's just a good guess for crying out loud.

even activities aren't exact, many factors effect this. like heat or cold, hydration levels, excertion. You could burn 1000 calories doing an activity in the summer heat and only 800 on a cool day.

if you workout after eating, which by the way is fine, you need to realize your body is going to use that fuel first. In almost all cases your body will use the easiest fuel it can find to feed the muscles.

All I'm trying to say is this is not an exact science you should be looking at it from a healthy eating stand point and not sweat it to such detail.  Your just driving your self nuts for nothing, go for averages not specifics, if your lossing weight then your calorie intake is probally fine if not adjust it a little each week until you see a slow drop.

And weights don't stay the same day to day no matter how hard you try to balance everything out, one day up one day down.  Keep in in persrective people, eat a little less, work a little more and with patience it will work out in the end.

My apologies to those who truly struggle with a weight control problems that are not as simple as I'm saying, I know some problems are far more complex. 

It is true what you said. Unless you weigh every single morsels you eat. Still, an approximate is better than no gauge at all. And if you use the same margin of error, you should be at a semi-consistent range all the time. Which would work, I think. I used to approximate my intake (not even bothering counting), only when I started doing macro nutrition I count to get an idea/approximate percentage.

For some it is hard to just approximate without the aide of some calculators/ tools. Some can't even imagine what a cup visually look like. That is why there is CC tools :)

sweet tart, if I understand Leinad's post, she is emphasizing not stressing out if you are 30 under or over -- just to go for an average consumption.

I find it best to shoot for a range, rather than a fixed number.  Some days I'm at the lower end, some days at the higher end.  In fact, today I didn't even meet the lower end, was 72 calories short.  But no way am I going to eat another 72 calories when I am NOT hungry.

AMEN.

manwell, you are right.  The fact that so many are trying to be accurate to within such a degree is nuts!  The best you can hope is that you hit the range of, or just above what you are shooting for.  This way you know your body has the nutrients it needs to keep you healthy.

sweet, I'm not saying not to count, heck I'm compulsive about it but I build a hugh margin of error into my counts.  I try to hit 2000 or higher every day and I'm usually at 2500+

but to obsess over 30 calories is not good, that like one peice of hard candy, you would use that up walking to the kitchen.

That's what I figure, yeah. I mean, I tend to snack at work, like a piece of salami here, one sundried tomato there - never MUCH. And part of me wants to log that but then I realise, well I run helter-skelter all over the house after my puppy and stuff, so it probably all cancels out!

The only way to know with 100% accuracy how many calories you're taking in each day is to take a duplicate of everything you eat, throw it in a bomb calorimeter (don't we all have one of these in our kitchens? ;-) ) and measure the calories.  Since this is, of course, ridiculous, we rely on the "estimates" provided by websites like calorie count.   There's a certain amount of error in these estimates, as noted by leinad, but they're the best we've got.  

I agree that the best way to use the tools at calorie count, in my opinion, is to educate yourself about what foods are healthy, eat those as much as you can, and don't freak out over 30 calories here or there.

I know. I see people all the time freaked out that an extra 50 or so cals as a one off at lunch, of healthy food will make them fat. For a start, you dont burn exactly the amount you're told you do on these sites, and you dont burn the same every day! In fact, by eating a little more you may have more energy to burn more!

Its more about an overall trend. If you're 100 cals over everyday, and you're not losing weight, you may wanna get serious, but I lost most of my weight guessing food weights and equivs.

I do log snacks (as they often add up) and I do log little things, like 1 cal lollies (of which i have like 5 at a time) but not for cals, but for health (these ones are high fibre) Thats the only reason why I am so pedantic. I dont bother if I'm 100 cals out (unless i'm under, cos trying to put on weight) I just grab a snack and figure she'll be right

Herring, That's the other thing I'll have to post sometime is thinking about the health of what you eat.  Man some of these people are fishing for excuses to eat anything just because it's lower in calories than something healthy.  Someone posted that it too expensive, bull---- if your eating the right portions it ain't, our food bill hasn't changed since going healthy, yes the food is more but it lasts longer because your eating less of it.

LOL sorry but my favorite one is... OMG..." I chewed a piece of gum and I don?t know how to long it on CC... haha.." sorry couldn?t resist!

 I just try to take and average of what I put in my mouth everyday, it helps to too keep track so I know just where I?m at for the day. So far its working because since Jan. I have lost 13 lbs.

Thank you for the much-needed reality check!

I think the people who do get upset and worried and obsess with calories are probably suffering from eating disorders - if only borderline but to freak just because they had a almond and didn't log the darn thing and think they are going to gain a lb because of it are in need of help.

I have to play devil's advocate here.

Though I understand that the logging of calories can be taken WAY overboard, for some people it's very motivating.  If they stop logging what they consume, the slippery slope to excess calorie consumption begins.

Also, for many newcomers to the game, judging the caloric content of something is REALLY tough, and it's such an enlightening, eye-opening experience to log and realize how many calories are in certain foods.

Yes, logging each stick of gum is a bit much, but then again if it keeps people eating more healthy and lowering chronic disease risk factors, I really don't think that it is worse than the alternative.

cfink, it's not the posting or tracking calories I'm refering too.  It's the fact that they ask questions like, what do I eat, I only have 30 calories to go and I'll be over my limit! or something like, I ate a cookie and now I can't have dinner.

 I think they need to realize that 6 apples are all going to have different values, because they are all different sizes and 200+/- calories in a 2000 cal diet isn't going to be noticed.

I log everything in a loose binder, so I'm not against counting, I just want those out there that are obsessing to realize it's not that exact of a science.  Eating healthy is more important than how much!!!

I agree with leinad...

There is a difference of using a number to be a concious eater and then using that number of cals to an obsessive degree like he mentioned. 

The other thing here is, have you ever looked something up on cc and had the label right in front of you and it was off? That's annoying. I always round up to the nearest 100...

I have found that foods at different sites have different calorie amounts too!!

I always round up too!  I've wonder though, which would be better, round up and think you ate more, or round down and think you ate less.

I've been maintaining for some time now, and I can tell you, it's a struggle to find that range that feels good and seems to meet all my nutrient needs. 

Since discovering this website I have lost 14 pounds in just over 2 months.  Most of all I LOST 5 pounds over Christmas. I know that the numbers are not exact but close. It has helped me to see what I eat, the calories and fat each item contains. Just do the best you can, I think that is all we can hope for.

Thank you for posting this and for the great discussion that followed.

Now, no more posts saying OMG!  I ate a cookie!  Will I get FAT?

I have a weekly total calorie intake that I subtract my calories from daily. At the end of the week if I didn't go 500 under the goal or 1000 over the goal, I'm happy. The goal is my daily need as calculated in the tools, but the leeway is built in because I figure if I stay between my maintenance calories and my loosing calories (this is with exercise factored in correctly, too), then I will continue to loose. It may not be as fast as I want, but the important part is that I AM loosing weight slowly and inches faster. I may eat 700 calories today and then 2000 tomorrow and then 1300 the next day, it's fine. I don't sweat it. And each day/week is a new day/week. And we start from scratch at 0 calories.

200 calories seems like a lot if you are starting out. And maybe if it comes from eating 7 Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, habits should be re-evaluated. But there's no reason to freak. The next day, avoid eating them. Then, it's like you ate half that amount on each day, instead of eating all of them on one day. (Not really, I guess, but it's how I stay sane.)

[clairelaine, thanks for the inspiration in another thread. The week-based schedule is the least stressful calorie counting I've done.]

Not that i'm disagreeing with you, in fact I agree completely that stressing over every little calorie is not the way to go about things... Just saying 200+ calories a day is actually a fair amount for some people. Not trying to lose at the moment but when I first started I could not get a deficit of below 400 calories, which would put me at 1200... Eating those extra 200 and not paying attention would've pretty much doubled the time it took me to lose the weight (not that it's THAT much of a problem of course).

Just my two cents. :)