Calorie Counting and Diet Questions

[sonny4753]

Short and sweet how do you folks find the time to know exactly how many calories you are consuming daily? I have been lifting etc., for years and follow a strict eating regiment, but I have yet to figure out a way I can gauge exactly the amount of calories and their breakdowns daily.

I mean do all of you walk around with measuring cups on your hip? LOL J/K but really how do you do it?

I've read all the articles about planning, planning, etc., but really with a 50 hour work week, I just don't where you can do all that. I've done it before but after a week or so things just don't continue as planned. It is life, stuff comes up...

Need help with this one. I am fine with working out, and my diet is good, but I just have NO IDEA how one can calculate to such granularity without living out of the kitchen and NOT working.

Here is an example of my day:

First wake up: 8-10 oz OJ, and Whey Protein (help with glycogen stores), 8-10 oz coffee w/skim milk

B-fast: 7-8 egg whites (usually hard boiled), bowl of Uncle Sam's cereal w/skim milk, V-8, bannana.

Snack: Lowfat Cottage Cheese, with 1 tbsp of Flax Oil

Lunch: Lean Roast beef, 1 slice provolone, lettuce, peppers on french bread or whole wheat, yogurt, pretzels.

Snack: MRP

Pre workout: 1 cup oatmeal, 30-40 G whey protein, 1 G of BCAA, 2.5 G of L-Argnine, and 8 oz coffee (black)

Post workout: 40 G whey protein, 60 G carbs, 10 G fat (shake)

Dinner: Grilled fish (salmon), steak (flank), or chicken [for the most part], with veggies, and some carb (either basmati rice or yam).

Snack: shake (40 G protein blend in water)

Bed: ZMA and 4 G of L-Argnine.


That is a round about day for me...should I get a digital scale?

Also I am ALWAYS hungry, never ever stops! I can eat an entire meal and be STARVING 30 mins later. WTF? Why? I don't get it!

I am never satisfied, never! I've eaten 1 cup of oatmeal, and a 40 G protein shake and am STARVING 10 mins later, what gives?????????

[wildstang]

4 me i got majority of info showing calorie content, protein content online at various sights per oz servings and printed them out 4 reference. i actually keep a food diary of what i eat and know if i can have that extra portion of what i want if the cals dont add up.
as far as always hungry too many possabilitys to start guessing but lets just say if your happy with your diet now and can live with the fat content you have you must be doing something right. otherwise if your goal is to lose fat then you know you need to start dropping 500 cal a meal and if nothing comes off in a week drop another 500 untill you start showing progress in simplest terms i can use. 4 the constant hunger cravings can snack and nibble on as much things such as raw carrots, celery, green veggies in general and really cant go wrong with the complex carbs from them even.

[pliny_2001]

I'll just jump out and say it: what's the problem? Is it that you don't know the calorie content - if so, it'll probably be listed on the container the food came in. If not, they're easy enough to find online.

I mean, if that's your diet, it doesn't look like you need to try to determine how many calories/fat/protein/carbs were in your favorite Chinese takeout - all of those foods are fairly straight-forward.

If it's simply a time issue, there are a number of online calculators that'll do most of the work for you - I haven't used them, but a brief search of EFF should bring up some experiences others have had.

How did I do it (while working, and in law school? with a girlfriend? and exercising 5x a week?)? I figured out the various components of a few basic parts of meals, and I pretty much only ate those components in various configurations. That also made my life a lot easier, so it was win-win. And life never really got in the way - I might have to make a "10 beers, 20 chicken wings, and a rack of ribs" entry every now and then, but it's not that tough to make a mental note of it; it's not like the calorie content from a pint of Newcastle varies between bars.

If you can make the time to workout, you can make the time to get your diet tight. And the bonus is, once you figure out what food, and what portion of it, is appropriate, you never really need to do it again - you'll always be able to stay on your dietary targets.

[Belsicilia]

The guys here have given you great advice, so not alot I can add. But what has worked for me in terms of tracking calories, and nutrient ratios : ie carbs, protein and fat is fitday.com

Check that site out. Its free, and you can use it to count every calorie you put in your mouth. The database is pretty extensive so you will find that most foods you are eating are there. It will calculate just about everything. Hope this helps!

Piera

[MsMarvel]

Unless I am on a serious trim down, I don't count exact calories. I just make sure I eat clean frequent meals with lots of good protein and good carbs. When on a trim down, yes all my meals are measured out and I carry my insulated lunch bag with me everywhere.

As far as the hunger, you could try adding more fiber to your diet (veggies, veggies and more veggies with every meal). And depending on your weight and goals, add more carbs (whole wheat bread/pasta/brown rice, beans) to you early meals. Another thing I do is take my ZMA 1 hour before bedtime and then have a casine shake just before I go to bed - helps fill my tummy so I can sleep

Couple other things you may also consider, skip the french bread and stick to whole grains. Even pretzels are usually made from white, over processed floor. Cut the fat from the post work out as it will slow down the absorption of the protein, what type of carbs are u using post work out? You want something that is fast absorbing like dextose.

[Italianangel]

fitday.com.........calorieking these are just 2 free sites you can use to log your cals to see what youa re doing when you just eat...........then adjust from there. after a short spell you get the hang of it.

[mooshue]

i have to say if you cant log your work, then you aren't that serious about the results. If its just to maintain and make you feel good, then keep going the way you are.
You have to take the time to eat right? Then keep a pen and paper while you are eating and write it down. Take a day when you are off and log it all into one of the diary programs. Fitday and calorieking are great, most major foods are already in there so all you need to worry about is how much you stuffed down. Theres even pocket versions of some diary programs you can load on your smartphone to keep your food log, then just sync it up with your pc when you get home. I could go on and on.

BTW, heres a very rough estimate of what you described there for your daily food intake. I had to guess at most stuff as you didnt really specify brands or how much of anything was in your foods but heres the breakdown.
Fat 53.6g 483 Calories
Carbs 377.8g 1511 calories
Protein 260g 1044 cals

Sodium 4217mg
Sugar 123.4 g
Fiber 47.2g

not sure of your goals, but if i ate that many carbs id blow up like a baloon with all of that sodium.