Night Elf Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I'm used to the Weight Watchers system where I use a food's calories, fat, and fiber to calculate points. I'd like to count calories without the WW program but am unsure how to do it. Do I really just look at the calories total? Or am I supposed to be doing something with the other nutritional facts as well? I'd like to eat no more than 1800 calories a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB in NJ Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Calories per serving times how many servings you're eating. That's it! Nutrition is a separate issue. For instance: a snickers bar has what? 350 calories? When nutritionists talk about "emtpy" calories, this is the stuff they're talking about. You consumed 350 calories, but what did you get in return? Sugar. That's it. Whereas if you had 2 pieces of ezekiel bread with a smear of natural peanut butter, an apple, and an 8-oz. glass of lite chocolate soy milk, you may come up with the same 350 calories, but you got a LOT in return: protein, fiber, essential fats. BTW, I pulled these numbers out of my head. I have no clue how many calories are in a snickers bar. I choose to live in ignorance of such things. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I don't count calories, I count portions. I use a book called Strong Women Stay Slim and for me it works. Portions have an approximate number of calories. The hard thing is to figure out portions. She doesn't have a plan for 1800 calories. But 2000 calories is 3 dairy, 6 protien,8 grain, 5 vegetable, 4 fruit and 8 etra. 1600 calories is 3 dairy, 5 protien, 6 grain, 4 veg, 3 fruit, 6 extras. When I was running a lot, I was comsuming 2000 a day (according to portion sizes) and lost weight. Right now I'm not running a lot and am doing the 1600 a day and am losing weight. She even says if you are very active to start at 2000 calories. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy in IL Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I just discovered this site - http://www.thedailyplate.com. It has lots of tools. It will determine how many calories you need to consume to reach your goals. You can track your food and your exercise on it. It has graphs of your weight loss, calories, and exercise. It has pie charts of your calories distribution - how much came from fat, protein, and carbs. Very handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula in MS Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 If you want to count calories, join sparkpeople. You enter what you ate and how much and it calculates the calories. You could always pick up a paper back calorie book, but sparkpeople is free. It only takes a few weeks to get an idea of what the calories are in your usual foods. There used to be food guidelines that you could use like a serving of fruit (small apple, 1 c. strawberries, 1/2 c. juice, 1/2 banana) is roughly 60 calories. This helps to estimate, but I can't remember them all. Maybe someone else can help. Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 I recommend www.sparkpeople.com There's a WTM group there too. I have been having lots of success there (dropped over 5 pounds since I joined!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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