does anyone add up all the calories on all the packages after they go shopping?

[peterm28]

I just did something for the first time. My fridge was pretty empty (I've eaten everything since the last time I really went shopping) and, tired of knowing if I'm under/overestimating my daily Calories, I decided to add up the total Calories on everything on my entire shopping trip, since my fridge was pretty empty and I also have to stock up since stores are closed over the holidays here so I purchased lots of food. This was easy to do by just multiplying across the package size and Calories times the number of each type of package (when I bought multiple of the same package), as I put everything away. Only a couple of pieces of fruits/vegetables didn't come with nutritional labels.

I don't usually eat at fast food, and I'd have to add in anything I ate at anyone else's house, but this seems to be a pretty definitive way for me to get a total. The only thing I didn't buy that I'll be eating some of is a bit of cooking oil, sugar-free ketchup, mustard, and assorted condiments like pickles, Worcestershire sauce, spices, salt, artificial sweetener, and I still had a bit of oatmeal left.

Does anyone else track your Calories this way (adding everything up across all of your packages of food when you get home), then divide out by how long it takes to get through everything? Is this a good approach?

[AdamWW]

nope... thats... just weird

[peterm28]

nope... thats... just weird

all right. To me the main benefit is that I don't have a kitchen scale nor measure portion sizes exactly, and it seems I could be misjudging my Calories. I can't weigh every single food every time I have a few tablespoons of something for a snack, or a rice cake (actually puffed wheat cake) or something. In fact, I must say it's very perplexing to me how other people know their Calories very exactly. (people will say like they're eating 250 Cal below maintenance - I'm like, how do you know that??)

[AdamWW]

all right. To me the main benefit is that I don't have a kitchen scale nor measure portion sizes exactly, and it seems I could be misjudging my Calories. I can't weigh every single food every time I have a few tablespoons of something for a snack, or a rice cake (actually puffed wheat cake) or something. In fact, I must say it's very perplexing to me how other people know their Calories very exactly. (people will say like they're eating 250 Cal below maintenance - I'm like, how do you know that??)

People don't know calories exactly, everything is a ballpark, including food labels as they're allowed to be off by 20%.

[air2fakie]

all right. To me the main benefit is that I don't have a kitchen scale nor measure portion sizes exactly, and it seems I could be misjudging my Calories. I can't weigh every single food every time I have a few tablespoons of something for a snack, or a rice cake (actually puffed wheat cake) or something. In fact, I must say it's very perplexing to me how other people know their Calories very exactly. (people will say like they're eating 250 Cal below maintenance - I'm like, how do you know that??)

How do you do these 30-day "drastic cutting/recomp to lose weight while building tons of muscle" experiments if you don't have a way to calculate one of the main variables (calories) within any range of accuracy?

I set myself out for a 30 day drastic cutting challenge: I wanted to be at a roughly 1100 Calorie deficit a day (so that would be a total loss of 9.4 lbs of fat).

I'm like, how did you know that?

[CommitmentRulz]

So, You have to finish EVERYTHING at pretty much the same time, or eat nothing but rice cakes and say, eggs until you use all that up, then start again?

And like air2fakie said, how in the world do you set a daily calorie total/count when after 40 days of your "experiment" you say you have no accurate way to determine calories?

The only thing I didn't buy that I'll be eating some of is a bit of cooking oil, sugar-free ketchup, mustard, and assorted condiments like pickles, Worcestershire sauce, spices, salt, artificial sweetener, and I still had a bit of oatmeal left.

And every bit of that stuff has calories that count...

[Xavaneptus]

I once tried to calculate all the calories I have to burn in total to reach my ideal weight. I seem to have forgotten the number, I think it was discouraging.

[boo99]

No

I just eat all of it

[peterm28]

How do you do these 30-day "drastic cutting/recomp to lose weight while building tons of muscle" experiments if you don't have a way to calculate one of the main variables (calories) within any range of accuracy?

I'm like, how did you know that?

I can tell you how I arrived at my *goal* of 1100 Calories per day: I looked at how much aerobics I was willing to do, how many watts I could push on those machines and what calorie loss they reported, and tried to base it on calculations based on bodyfat percentage (as estimated by this forum from my pictures), basic calculation about the possible fat loss rate and Calorie deficit I'd need, and extensive comparison with the transformation videos and timelines of other people who started with much more fat.

In this second experiment (which I'll summarize in a week or two I think) I have much less stamina than in the first experiment. Several times I wasn't able to go to the gym, and once I took a nap prior to the gym, despite having slept more than enough, and by the time I woke up the gym was closed.

The goal is just a rough goal. I can try to make it more scientific but as someone said even the Calories are guesswork: 20% guesswork on 2000 Calories is 400 Calories; about the same as someone's deficit.

So it is all very hard to track accurately. However, I feel pretty confident in certain minimums and maximums. (For example adding up the total number of Calories I've bought, to know how much food I've eaten at home; or, if you look at the watts on machines that allow you to set resistance very high, there is a physical minimum amount of work to be done.)

My results did not match my predictions exactly. I'll summarize them soon. By the way my gym is closed on several days of this last challenge, so I might have to add a few days, as I also want to show a pumped and somewhat dehydrated result as well as a fair unflexed unpumped result.

So, You have to finish EVERYTHING at pretty much the same time, or eat nothing but rice cakes and say, eggs until you use all that up, then start again?

And like air2fakie said, how in the world do you set a daily calorie total/count when after 40 days of your "experiment" you say you have no accurate way to determine calories?

And every bit of that stuff has calories that count...

Yes that's the idea. It is possible to finish everything at the same time: just don't go shopping until you've eaten everything. I've pretty much done that, though I still had some eggs and some oatmeal from last time.

All this is possible because at the moment most of my protein comes from powder, so I essentially just eat to give myself vegetables, fiber, etc (so that I don't just have constipation/diarrhea and protein farts, which is what I would expect to happen on a liquid diet of just protein powder). I am fine with eating everything that I've bought.

Anyway I've added up the total number of Calories that I've just bought. I should be able to divide that into the number of days until I eat it all again, to know how much I've been eating at home. (Of course, when I eat outside my home I'll still have to estimate.)

I will say that my results are not really matching my predictions, sometimes in a positive sense. (For example I predicted that I would overall get weaker, but I've gotten stronger.)

I'll summarize all this at the end of this second experiment. You can also judge the progress based on the pictures. Not every transformation is "great" and I've seen ones that I wouldn't want for myself, but I personally am very happy with my progress.

It's taking a lot of time though and is becoming harder due to energy and motivation.

[TolerantLactose]

I eat cereal with a measuring spoon.

[Mrpb]

I don't have a kitchen scale nor measure portion sizes exactly, and it seems I could be misjudging my Calories.

If you want to track your intake you should buy a scale. You can find one for less than $10.

Once you get in to the routine you'll find that it's super easy to weigh everything you eat.

[peterm28]

If you want to track your intake you should buy a scale. You can find one for less than $10.

Once you get in to the routine you'll find that it's super easy to weigh everything you eat.

All right.

[faithbrah]

If you want to track your intake you should buy a scale. You can find one for less than $10.

Once you get in to the routine you'll find that it's super easy to weigh everything you eat.

no scale crew checking in. i measure my rice, oatmeal etc. with a 1 dl measuring cup. when buying bread i always buy the ones that tell you how many calories there are per slice. things like peanut butter and milk get guesstimated but it's been working so far. 1/10 would recommend

[Mrpb]

no scale crew checking in. i measure my rice, oatmeal etc. with a 1 dl measuring cup. when buying bread i always buy the ones that tell you how many calories there are per slice. things like peanut butter and milk get guesstimated but it's been working so far. 1/10 would recommend

Measuring cups are inaccurate. If you're ok with unnecessary inaccuracy that's fine. Personally I think a scale is well worth the small investment. It will be more accurate. 11/10 would recommend.