Counting Calories

[Klytemnest]

So I've been on this exercise kick lately. I go to the gym and burn between 600 and 1100 calories about 4 times a week. Woo-hoo!

So, since I have been thinking about Calories, I decided to just record everything I consume during the day. Boy, I consume a lot more Calories than I thought I did. All I have eaten today is this:

Half a cup of teff, prepared in two cups organic vanilla soy milk, half a cup of Muesli, prepared in jasmine green tea, and two bananas mixed in. Sounds pretty light doesn't it? Soy milk, grains, fruit... Well, look at the grand total:

Calories: 1065 (sweet jesus!)
Total Fat: 13 g
Sat. Fat: 2.1
Sodium: 444 mg
Carbs: 223 g
Fiber: 27 g
Protein: 32 g
Vit A: 35 %
Vit C: 66 %
Calcium: 78 %
Iron: 82 %
Vit D: 60 %
Vit E: 67 %
Thiamin: 63 %
Riboflavin: 129 %
Vit B6: 122 %
Folate: 84 %
Vit B 12: 126 %

I am pretty happy with the vitamins and minerals, but, sweet mother, I have already conmsumed over 1000 calories??? And 13 grams of fat! Maybe I should use green tea to prepare the teff in? The soy milk gives it a nice thinkness and creaminess, but, also 7 grams of fat!

So now I have to go to the gym and work out for over an hour to burn off breakfast! Oh, man...

Have any of you tried counting Calories/nutrients during the day? How did you do?

[missbettie]

I have counted Calories before. I always find that when I do I start to become obsessed with food and start to do worse and start hating my body.

I know other people really excell and start to get healthy when they do it though, i think several people on here use fitday.com and love it!

[Healthy]

I never was a calorie counting person. When I ate 100 percent raw foods I used Fit Day dot com to see if I was getting all the right nutrients, and I was astonished to see that I was eating over 4,000 calories some days and still losing weight!

That said, I truly believe that all calories are not created equal. A 100 calorie banana may go right through you, but a 100 calorie piece of non-vegan lard donut will lay in your stomach for days!

Plus, some days your body may need more calories than others (for women, possibly during the menstral cycle) ...

I'm sure it works for a lot of people, but I don't believe in that method at all.

[Casper]

If you are very active you can consume alot of calories and still lose weight.

[sugarmouse]

Go on the lets get fit and healthy together thread! We all help each other therE

[Shells]

I have in the past, but it's not a good thing for me. I get OCD about the whole thing and my calories keep getting less and less until someone has to snap me out of it. But ah... it could be healthy for other people, I'm sure. I'm just better off having no idea and being 10 pounds overweight.

[Klytemnest]

I have in the past, but it's not a good thing for me. I get OCD about the whole thing and my calories keep getting less and less until someone has to snap me out of it. But ah... it could be healthy for other people, I'm sure. I'm just better off having no idea and being 10 pounds overweight.

I appreciate the warning not to obsess about Calories. I decided to do it just to see if indeed I am eating well and getting my nutrients, now that I am a vegan. I mean, everyone tells me that it is easy to get everything one needs on a vegan diet, but I just wanted to see for myself whether MY vegan diet was balanced.

Just to make sure I did not overeat, I went to the gym twice. I burnt a total of 1400 Calories at the gym today. How about that? That'll make up for tomorrow, when I will have no time to exercise...

Rami

[paragonx]

I count calories, fat, carbs, protein, calcium, iron, fiber, sugars and sodium. I do this - Monday through Friday. And yes i am borderline obsessed with it. I was at about 1600 cals per day but since i started working out about 4 months ago i bumped it up to 1800-2000 a day. I feel this is a good level for me. I can do my workouts (5 times a week) and not feel weak or tired. Workouts include 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of free weights.

I keep a database in Excel of any foods that i eat and then paste them in a daily workbook also in excel. I can email it to you if you like. Let me know.

Ann

[absentmindedfan]

Just cut out all refined sugars, fats and flours. Eat only wholegrain, low GI foods with lots of fruit and veg. If you want chocolate have a hot chocolate as it's still a cocoa kick without so much fat. Don't fry things or add oil, eats nuts, seeds and avocados as your fat sources and lots and lots of fruit and veg, as raw as you can manage. Avoid processed foods - go for tofu or tempeh rather than veggie sausages etc. Keep your salt level low.

Then exercise, eat when you're hungry (I eat 6 smaller meals a day, so breakfast, lunch, dinner and 3 snacks of fruit or nuts), go for 60% carbs, 15% fat, 25% protein as a rough balance and you'll be fine.

[veggiemaya]

I have counted Calories before. I always find that when I do I start to become obsessed with food and start to do worse and start hating my body.

I know other people really excell and start to get healthy when they do it though, i think several people on here use fitday.com and love it!

i completely agree with you! i have been somewhat obsessive about my weight ever since i dropped about 45 lbs back when i was around 18. i grew up my entire life being overweight and the thought of being that again can frighten me. so when i start to really focus on recording what i eat, counting every little calorie...i wind up thinking about food so much, that i am still not any better off. i have noticed that becoming vegan can also be extremely beneficial to keeping the weight down. as long as you dont pig out on all the delicious dessert and junk foods, that is. i have lightened up on focusing on every calorie or gram of fat. i find that as long as it is natural, and i don't go overboard on the portions, i can keep myself at a fine weight. although...i must admit, i do exercise about 1 1/2 hours a day..maybe 5-6 days a week. (gotta obsess over something, right?)

[Arabfrancophile]

:

Half a cup of teff,

What is teff?......peace, Mike

[bryzee86]

seems to be some kind of grain:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teff

[Arabfrancophile]

Thank you for the link; Bryzee, it looks like Teff has an amazing nutritional value. I guess it's another new thing I have to look for on my next trip to Whole Foods.

[Klytemnest]

Thank you for the link; Bryzee, it looks like Teff has an amazing nutritional value. I guess it's another new thing I have to look for on my next trip to Whole Foods.

I love my teff! It takes about 20 minutes to cook, but I think it is well worth the time. I simmer it in vanilla-flavored soy milk, sweetened with some stevia and cinnamon. Sometimes I use green tea with vanilla soy creamer instead of soy milk. Then I add a combination of slivered almonds, goji berries, banana, apple, frozen strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, or sweet cherries... It's just delectable! And indeed quite nutritious. Lots of fiber and protein.

It's a bit pricey, but hey, it's worth it. Enjoy.

[eve]

absentmindedfan, I like your food regimen, perhaps because it is exactly the same as mine! And I certainly never count calories or anything else.

[pavotrouge]

I don't see what's wrong about 1000 calories for breakfast when you're living an extremely active lifestyle and excercise this much.

One shoud consume about 1/3 of their daily calories at breakfast, so depending on your height, it might be perfectly all right, considering the average, non-active male already needs about 2,400 calories a day.