How do you count your calories?

I assume most people add the food to their accounts once they've eaten them but I was wondering if anyone creates a food plan for the day. Have you ever added what you thought you were going to eat all day and then stuck to it? Today I decided to log all my meals and then tweak it as the day went on. For instance I already entered the pasta I am planning on eating tonight and the piece of cake I have sitting in my fridge. I feel like now I know what I can eat in order to maintain a healthy calorie intake and therefore it seems to be helping me not overeat.

Anyways. Just wondering how YOU do it.

 I completely plan out my meals each day, but I leave some room to make changes too because my school doesn't always have the foods they say that they do.

Hi.  Yes that is pretty much how I do it.  I plan the day at breakfast.  I usually have room to add something as I feel the need to or if "something" comes up.

This is the maintaining forum, and I am a firm believer that people who are in maintenance should give up counting as soon as possible after hitting their goal weight.

dm84, I realize that everyone is different and everyone has different beliefs and abilities to maintain a weight loss.  I respect that.  At the same token, I ask, out of curiosity, why are you in the calorie count forums if you do not count calories ?  Did you at some point count calories and have a negative experience?  I am just trying to understand your position.  I respect your point of view, I just don't really understand it.

Thanks and have a great day.

I used to count religiously and it worked out extremely well for me in terms of losing weight.

But when I hit my goal weight, I saw a nutritionist because I was worried about my sanity in terms of counting everything. She told me to stop counting since I wasn't trying to lose weight anymore. At first I logged everything until I hit my new allowance for the day, but then I realized she was right - that counting every single thing for the rest of my life would not be healthy.

Remember, this is not the weight loss forum, where counting is the whole point. Counting is a tool to reach goal weight, not a way to maintain it for the rest of your life.

And yes, I know half the people here disagree with me. I still frequent these forums to give out advice about losing weight and maintaining it. I also like the food forums because people are always posting new finds.

Good to see your advice David, but perhaps everyone is not as good at estimating your daily intake as you might be :)

I usually just log it as I eat it, ha ha, or I log up what I'm taking to work to eat. The other day I logged up some dinner, but decided to have something else, so I just changed it.

Sometimes I eat, then put it in later, so for me it just depends on the situation. I think the planning ahead idea can be a very positive and helpful thing.

Original Post by figurethefat:

Good to see your advice David, but perhaps everyone is not as good at estimating your daily intake as you might be :)

I usually just log it as I eat it, ha ha, or I log up what I'm taking to work to eat. The other day I logged up some dinner, but decided to have something else, so I just changed it.

Sometimes I eat, then put it in later, so for me it just depends on the situation. I think the planning ahead idea can be a very positive and helpful thing.

 To some extent I still plan ahead, but only vaguely.

When I was counting I would literally plan every single thing I was eating, the night before.  

Hi dm84.  May I say thank you for explaining your position.  I really do appreciate where you are coming from.  

For me personally, I have a doctor who has told me to just stay at 1200 calories - for life; the nutrionist I speak with recommends 1400 calories - period.  I look at BMR equations and the mayoclinic.com site and I would roughly average between 1500 - 1700 calories.  Can you see why I am conflicted ?

I look around the maintaining forums to see what has worked the best for the majority of people.  I even reach out and ask, because this is so very new to  me.

Trial and error seems the best approach.  I hope that at some point I will have enough confidence in knowing what calorie averages best for maintaining and be able to let go of counting.

Thanks again dm84 for your point of view. Thank you figurethefat for your input as well.

Thank you sarajane for allowing me the chance to speak on your thread.

Have a great day everyone.

Original Post by dm84:

I used to count religiously and it worked out extremely well for me in terms of losing weight.

But when I hit my goal weight, I saw a nutritionist because I was worried about my sanity in terms of counting everything. She told me to stop counting since I wasn't trying to lose weight anymore. At first I logged everything until I hit my new allowance for the day, but then I realized she was right - that counting every single thing for the rest of my life would not be healthy.

Remember, this is not the weight loss forum, where counting is the whole point. Counting is a tool to reach goal weight, not a way to maintain it for the rest of your life.

And yes, I know half the people here disagree with me. I still frequent these forums to give out advice about losing weight and maintaining it. I also like the food forums because people are always posting new finds.

I agree with you, for once. XP Continuously counting calories is a pain and I don't want to see myself in 30 years still doing it for maintenance. If you eat healthy, up a pound or down a pound every month isn't going to affect your life oh-so-dramatically, you know?

I absolutely LOVE counting calories.

For once in my life I don't have to feel guilty for eating something that may not be ultra-healthy but is still within my calories.  If I wasn't counting I'd never be quite sure and wouldn't be able to enjoy the food so much.  Guilt was one of the driving factors for my overeating.

I'll always have an obsessive compulsive overeating disorder but at least now what I'm putting in my body isn't too much, and I'm thin!

I usually plan out my entire day and log in advance.  I don't like surprises!  The way I do it is by food groups.  I log my servings - 5 veggies & fruit, 3 whole grains, 3 proteins, 3 or 4 dairy, 3 fats, making sure I have all the stuff on hand.  Then I check the Analysis and see if I'm missing anything.  Finally, I add discretionary items like treats and condiments until I reach my calorie limit of 1450 to lose or 1800 to maintain. 

I go back and tweak it if my plans change, for instance if I go out to lunch or something.

Original Post by nads27:

I absolutely LOVE counting calories.

For once in my life I don't have to feel guilty for eating something that may not be ultra-healthy but is still within my calories.  If I wasn't counting I'd never be quite sure and wouldn't be able to enjoy the food so much.  Guilt was one of the driving factors for my overeating.

I'll always have an obsessive compulsive overeating disorder but at least now what I'm putting in my body isn't too much, and I'm thin!

Not to be mean, but it sounds like you're ignoring the root of the problem and using a band aid solution instead.

I was a compulsive overeater too, but when I lost weight, I wanted to rid myself of that, because I didn't see the point in becoming thin unless I could learn how to control myself without relying on a computer to do it for me for the rest of my life.

Have you ever tried not counting? Just curious.

I am maintaining weight but I need to count my calories. That's how I gained weight in the first place...being mindless and clueless of how much I was taking in. I also enter all my food in my logs so that I know if I'm getting the recommended amount of fat, carbs, and protein. I think counting calories for life is actually the best solution for me and others...maybe not on the computer everday...but counting them nontheless. There are a lot of overweight, unhealthy people in this country and I am going to try my hardest to not be. If this works for me...so be it.

Original Post by caitling:

I completely plan out my meals each day, but I leave some room to make changes too because my school doesn't always have the foods they say that they do.

Same here caitling, I plan out at the beginning of the day but it can always come out of hand and the school cantine doesn't always have what I want :[ Binging is the biggest problem I'm facing ATM and trying to get away from. Any ideas?

I eat, then count the calories.  Or in most cases, I enter the recipe, then eat...

sarjane,

Like you if I have something I know I am planning on having during the day I will log it in first. That way I can work around it the rest of the day if it is something special with extra calories.

My breakfast is usually pretty much the same each day and varies only by about 40 calories one way or the other. Lunch is often my big meal of the day so then once I have had lunch I know how many calories I have left for my afternoon and evening. Depending if I have something planned for dinner that will take a sizeable portion of my remaining calories or not I decide on my snacks. If I have already gotten in all my veggies for the day after eating lunch, and I don't have plans for something like salmon steaks on the BBQ for dinner, I like to have multiple snacks thru the afternoon and evening. Crackers with peanut butter, pineapple spears and strawberries, dates with almonds etc

Just wondered - all you who are maintaining, do you still count calories?

I used to count them freakishly in my "first year" of maintaining but now it's sort of...like...a rough estimate. I know I'm definately not going over a specific number (i.e. 1900 or 2000) but I'm keeping track.

On workdays I pack my food and log everything in before I leave. That way I make sure I have a good balance and keep my sodium, fiber, or sugar levels in check. If I feel hungry at the end of the day, I make my snack choice something that fits in or improves the balance. If I'm low on fats, peanut butter. If I'm low on protein, turkey. 

I like logging and weighing food in because I'm still fairly new at it and don't feel like I have a good grasp on eyeballing or estimating good balances and portions yet. But I am learning all I can and plan to eventually stop logging and weighing. Just not ready now.

I have only been maintaining for a few months so I am still figuring it all out. I still log and count for the most part but I don't panic if say I am on vacation and can't log.  I am getting more comfortable with estimating and planning my food for the day.  After 14 months of counting, logging, measuring and weighing I can pretty much eyeball the right portion size.  Sometimes for high calorie meats I will estimate the portion and then weigh just to check myself.  So far so good. 

new to this, just hit my goal weight yesterday. but i seriously can't deal with counting calories every day. in fact when i was losing weight, i would give it a rest for a couple of days, either estimating or making up for it the following days.  but i do believe that i will need to spot check myself.

we have to spot check a few processes at work as things can get out of hand, so why not apply that to my dieting practices as well. many times at work, you think you are ok, but then find out you have been over or under estimating or you were completely wrong in the beginning. so i think my plan, once i get the hang of eating on my maintenance calories (so a couple more months) is to do a count every 3 or 4 days.

but ive come to the realization that i will have to sort of eat like im on a diet for the rest of my life. not a strict diet, but i can't go back to the way i ate before.

the little squirrels in my head have started to  turn the wheels in my head to 'flesh out' a maintenance plan for myself.