calories

ok so im gaining weight the reason for my concern is i dont really know how many calories i am having  ,i think i may be overestimating . i eat porrage at breakfast  30g im not sure how many calories this is , i also have cereal through out the day shreddies or ricechrispies out of a 500g box but i dont weight , i also just tip milk out of a 2litre carton . part of my reason was i was worried it would freak me out knowing and also because i get suck in having the same each day and if i have more i feel bad and panic. i also have boiled potatoes but i dont weigh them not sure what a portion is . the only things i really know the calorie content are are things like bread , yogurts or quorn burgers things in packets . i think i may need to start counting this . what do you guys think ?how do you get the right portion. sorry this may sound like im being stupid i just want to make sure im getting enough and i think the ed is telling im having more than i am thanks h x

Hey!

I reckon of you are gaining and gaining fast enough, then just carry on with what you're doing! It's really fantastic that you aren't weighing or counting and this is a much better way to eat and nourish your body than constant measuring and number figuring - what a drag! I promise you'll be fine as long as you eat enough food to gain weight and if you stop gaining then up the calories. Your menus look great to me, and if the portions are roughly 'normal person' sized than you most likely are getting 2500 calories or more.

Keep it up hun!! xxx

Also if you are in any shadow of a doubt that you are eating enough, then deffo just start eating more x

hey helen - i totally agree with smash - I don't count calories, instead I just try to make sure I eat normal volumes and a wide variety of food and to be honest the point at which I actually started gaining was when i stopped logging calories! But as smash said - if in doubt - add some more to what you are currently eating :)

thanks guys perhaps im just panicing over nothing

Hey Helen, if your eating decent portions and gaining consistently then I would be wary of trying to start counting calories. It can end up being obsessive, unfortunately Ive fallen into that trap and its a hard one to then get back out of. I think its great you can pour the bowl of cereal and not weigh or measure it, so as long as what you are doing is working then I wouldnt worry.

thanks betty i think my mind is telling me 2 things a that i will be overestermate and not getting enough or b ill lose cantrol and start eating to much what a contrast hey , probably the ed trying to put me off track again

the thing is, u really need to err on the side of underestimating and worse comes to worse, have MORE.  everything is skewed, portion sizes, hiunger/satiety cues, u need MORE than u think.

ERIN-u need MORE THAN A NORMAL PORTION, ur wanting to gain, ur not a normal healthy weight person now rt??

whatever u think is enough or a normal portion, ad to that, thats my suggestion.

agru - yeah you may be right but I have been gaining through increasing portion size, types of food and including snacks in my daily eating routine. Calorie counting just doesn't work for me but as i said - it may be beneficial/necessary for others.

oh, i actually meant in eyeballing portions, not counting cals, just basically, more more more

as in we have a distorted view of what portion size is? absolutely agree! I do use others to help me check this

Helen - I think it's great that you are not obsessively counting. That's awesome! However, instead of over-analysing how many calories you're eating, I'd suggest checking in with your body instead.

You've been writing a lot about being hungry. I'd suggest that you will know if you're eating enough if you keep eating at least the same amount but remember to let yourself eat to fullness every time you get hungry. If you are still hungry when you finish a meal, it's perfectly fine and normal to have seconds.

thanks meryl i think thats part of the problem i ve been finding it hard to give into the hunger i think i thought because my bodies siginals are off cue id be eating un intenially im gonna give it a go

how far are you from goal weight do u mind me asking? i think if you are at a sub 16 bmi then u do need to count

thats what i thought my bmi is 16

what has your rate of gain been?

averaging at about a pound but ive had a couple of slips and lost a pound in between not brill i know

hey, as long as the trend is in an upward drxn its all good :-)

and as long as it keeps going in an upward drxn its good. one thing that stands out is what meryl said. you are always talking about hunger. i wonder if you are very much underestimating cals.

i used to rigidly count cals. like with a digital scale and used to count everything including diet coke and sugarfree chewing gum. when i stopped and just tried to 'eat like a normal person' i was like you. i had a sachet of porridge (30g) potato veg and meat, and then beans and toast for tea. this all looked very normal and seemed like i was eating normally. but when i counted it - it was like 800 cals, tops.

so maybe for a day you should count accurately what you take in and see if you arent majorly underestimating.

thanks fidget how weridis that cause thats exactly what i had yesterday :) i did think i should count and i posted but everyone said i shouldnt worry h x

how are you feeling any better ?

Ok I am going to disagree with many here. This reason is that many can gain on lets say 1800 a day which is not enough to repair and gain in a good manner. That is my concern if you don't keep track in some way. I am not saying you are only eating that amount if overestimating but many may. So gain does not always mean enough due to slow metabolism,water,body confusion,etc. I really think an exchange meal plan can help one be flexible but not rigid and equals enough. Also you are hungry and I think one may be lack of calories but also dietary fat keeps you satisfied and you said that was an issue.

yeah, i agree with abbi on this.