Honesty/Knowledge is the best policy

How honest are you with your count of calories?  Do you know exactly what you are eating?

I read a lot of posts here and it seems that there are a lot of people who claim they don't consume as many calories as they actually do.  I watched a show the other day on Discovery Channel (I think, it was DC) about the perception of calories for the average American.  It seems that people really have no idea what "counts" and what doesn't.  This show tracked the caloric intake of 5 overweight people, and asked the persons to do the same.  In each case there was a difference of in between 500 to 1000 calories per week (in some cases more) in what the person claimed they ate and what they did eat.

Little things like cream and sugar in coffee/tea, condiments, dressings, not paying attention to serving sizes, measuring serving sizes incorrectly and general dishonesty to what was being eaten all contributed to the caloric count disparity.

It was definitely enlightening.

I measure out everything I eat on a gram scale, and when I look it up on my food log in here I choose the "other" option and put it the weight in grams. If I have to eat something and can't weigh it, (like a banana on the go or an apple) I always choose to largest sized option. I'd rather estimate above my daily intake than below.

I admit I do not micromanage my food portions but I am losing almost 2 pounds a week so I am not too concenred about it. By exercising 5 times a week and watching my diet closely I am doing o.k. but if that changes I will have to monitor it more closely.

I'm pretty sure my calorie counts are accurate.  I bought a small kitchen scale that I use when eating at home.  And I've learned some tricks to visually estimating portion sizes (e.g. my glasses have stripes on them and I know which one is the "1 cup" marker). 

When eating out or with friends/family, I eyeball my portions - but I have the distinct advantage of having worked in a chem lab for almost a decade (more than a decade if you count teaching time) so I'm very good at knowing what 15 mL or 100 mL or 250 mL looks like.

like niikolai i weigh everything at home, and under estimate when out.  I also log everything, mayo mustard and cream and sugar.

What's the point if you are not honest with yourself

I don't count anymore, but when I did, I made it a point to be as honest and accurate as possible.  If I didn't know, I assumed high.  It helped a lot because now I can guesstimate a lot better and don't have to be so thorough.

I despise counting. and measuring. I only really count once a week or so to make sure I'm on the right track with what I'm eating, and I try to be quite diligent on those days.

Otherwise, I maintain a 1000 calorie deficit because I assume I underestimate a bit (so if I'm actually at an 800 calorie deficit, who cares?)

I usually guess higher just in case I am wrong. So far I've been losing weight successfully so I assume I'm doing it right! :)

I agree that most people have no idea how much they are consuming, including myself before I started coming on here and keeping track.  I think a lot of people on here have a better clue since they are really trying to loose weight.  It is funny though, now that I know what the calories are in somethings, I almost cringe when I see someone in my family eat something that I know is like a whole days worth of calories.  LOL.  I also measure/count everything including sugar and creamer in my one cup of tea and mustard and ketchup if I use them.  Every calorie counts and I do not want to misjudge.  I want to buy a small gram scale for the kitchen, I think that would help a lot since measuring cups are not always the best way to measure.

Thanks all for your posts!!  I love reading what other poeple think, makes this whole journey feel so much better and I am know now I am not alone!!

I have always guessed higher, just in case, and that almost led me to an ED. I lost 10 kg almost without noticing it :\

I guess for the most part. Today, I'm starting to think that this guessing thing is not working. In ten days I have not lost a whole pound -- and if my "guesstimates" are correct I'm running at least a 500 calorie deficit six days. Oh, well.

i count nearly everything and measure everything when i can, including cream, sugar, dressing, etc.

the one exception would be my altoid mints. i don't actually log those - but i know that three of them are ten calories. since i usually am under my calorie intake each day, i don't worry about those extra 10 calories.

it would be nice to be able to 'guesstimate' some serving sizes, for when you are eating out or away from home. for isntance, how big of a piece of chicken breast is 4 oz.??  i know there are some old standard guidelines but i cannot remember them . . .

I don't count tea or coffee (black) or splenda or sugarfree gum, Im pretty OCD about everything else though.

I eat a lot of processed foods, I know-- bad, but really it works for my lifestyle.  I also eat out a lot. So I guess on a lot of mine.  When I'm at home I do emasue the calorific things, but probably not as often as I should. 

I was losing weight, wlowly and steadily last spring, but I got off track, and I knew it.  I've still been counting, but I estimate on a lot of things. 

But!!! I recently found out my HRM was overestimating my calories burned by quite a bit.  So, I'm hoping that my new discovery that I'm not burning as much as I thought will help me get back on track. 

Even if it doesn't -- I'm so much healthier than I was 2-3 years ago.  I'm lighter, more fit, stronger, not smoking, and my cholesterol and blood pressure are fine. 

So, the weight thing is mostly for vanity, even though my BMI technically still says I'm overweight.  I still have a goal of losing about 20-25 more pounds, but it isn't near as important as continuing my healthy journey. 

Original Post by karozel:

But!!! I recently found out my HRM was overestimating my calories burned by quite a bit.  So, I'm hoping that my new discovery that I'm not burning as much as I thought will help me get back on track. 

How did you figure that out?

i log everything. it is clear than a dressing can be more calories than the whole bowl of veggies for salad, so it makes sense to log these. also i like the graphs and numbers, and knowing i have enough of vitamins etc

As accurate as I can be. Weigh everything, log everything. Can't know what I'm doing wrong if I don't even know what I'm doing.

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Original Post by karozel:

But!!! I recently found out my HRM was overestimating my calories burned by quite a bit.  So, I'm hoping that my new discovery that I'm not burning as much as I thought will help me get back on track. 

How did you figure that out?

Well, I thought it might be high because I would hear/read about other people's workouts and thought "Wow, my HRM says I burn lot more than that".

So last weekend I ws talking to the DH and he suggested I get a different one (the old one was a Timex, and the new one is a Polar F6).  He said he would like to use the old one and he doesn't care about the calories thing. 

So I got the new one, and yeah.... it says I burn about 300 in a 45 minute lifting session, where the old one would say 400-500 for about the same amount of exertion/time.

Sad, but true. At least now maybe I can do better with losing. 

I also weigh everything. I never used to get accurate counts on things because I would either estimate or use measuring cups. After I got a food scale, I realized how unaccurate that is, and now I go by the weight in grams. I don't eat a lot of processed food, so I use my scale many times throughout the day. I don't eat out very often, but when I do happen to I pick something nutritious and do my best to eyeball it and then add each of the separate components of the meal to my food log when I get home.

I weigh celery before I eat it.  I don't log things that really have no calories or sodium, like tea.  The way I figure, I gained weight by not knowing how much I was eating, even though I was eating mainly healthy things.  I refuse to make that mistake again.

I am as honest and accurate as I can be, which means weighing everything when at home, and "eye-ballling" it when not at home.  I have found that the eye-balling has gotten better after almost 3 months, partially because I practice at home -- I serve myself in the kitchen, on the scale, and I try to scoop, say, a half cup of rice and then verify the grams (I log the grams, not the half cup).

Even though I don't eat out that often, I still try to keep myself honest by ordering things I have a pretty good chance of being able to log the food items.  Unlike some others, I don't purposely try to high-ball meals out -- I try to get it right.  I believe I succeed, because the calorie deficit that shows up at the end of each month versus the average caloried intake for that month has been "rational".

One reason that I am a little OCD about the calorie logging is that it helps me get through the plateaus in my weight loss without having to feel that my plan needs to change  -- I know my plan is good, it is just that my crazy body likes to do things in fits and starts.  My weight didn't change for 13 days (I played with 1 pound for the entire time), then suddenly I dropped almost 3 pounds in the past 3 days.  Since I am only maintaining a 500 cal deficit, the trend will show that I had that deficit for the entire 16 days, but the scale sure didn't show it for the first 13!.