how to count calories???

[selmaS]

I am trying to lose weight, but have issues and exercise is at a minimum...so if I were to count calories, how do u start?......is it very time consuming? I need to start somewhere and would like some guidedance.

Thanks
"selma"

[selmaS]

I truely appreciate you sharing this info.......I do not fell so alone this way....thanks.

"selma"

[redkim]

Anytime, good luck!  There are some good support forums on there as well!

A lot of times on the site you will get duplicates entered by different people with conflicting information.  Try to do an average and compare.

What helped me was putting together a list of food I commonly eat in my spreadsheet.  It helps me plan my calorie intake and what I will eat for the day.

[selmaS]

I looked at the site....and am going to join!!!

Thanks again!

"selma"

[redkim]

Dailyplate is a website which has a free service to track the food you ear.  They have a huge directory of food's to search, say you wanted to know the calorie info for White Rice, or a Tall Carmel Frappachino from Starbucks...you just type the food into their search database and it gives you the calroie, fat, etc content.  Under your free user profile you can track the foods you eat every day.  Breakfast, lunch, midday snack, dinner, late night snack etc.  It's great!!!  

Yes, you can buy a small kitchen scale...

[selmaS]

what is dailyplate.com?.....I have measure cups...no scale.....u mean a small one for food.....?lol...omg I can get soooooooooo confused......I will check the .com site.


Thanks
"selma"

[redkim]

I use the dailyplate . com.  You can search food and then I have a spreadsheet (you can get a journal) and I keep track of what I eat that way.   I have used the spreadsheet for over a year and the boddybugg only two months.  I always try to overestimate, rather then under.

It's also good to measure everything...get a scale and measuring cups.  

[selmaS]

the cost is too much at present, and walking I can do some, but not enuff for it to benefit me.....I am glad u found something like that , that works for u.....my problem is I do not understand how to figure out how many calories I just ate.....not everything is calculated to the point where I am clear on how to manage this way.


"selma"

[redkim]

Selma are you able to walk?  I recently got a bodybugg, it's an arm band that calculates how many caloried you expend daily.  It tells you the number of calories burned each minute of the day (you wear it).  So I know how many I am burning sitting at my desk, figure skating, walking, watching tv, etc.  It also has a food journal and will calculate your surplus or deficit.  I will log my food through out the day and will upload my calories burned when I get home, prior to dinner.  It will estimate how many calories I will burn doing nothing for the rest of the day and I have a goal of 500 calorie deficit.  So I know if I come home and I have burned 1200 calories (and will burn a total of 1900 for the rest of the day doing nothing) and I have taken in 900 calories that I can eat 500 more calories that day and still have a deficit of 500.

The boddybug is expensive:  $200 for the armband and $99 a year for the online subscription.  It does take most of the guess work out of counting though!

Good luck!

[selmaS]

Thank u ALL! for ur responce and info...I will try all that was suggested.


Good luck to each on ur challage of weight loss.

Godspeed
"selma"

[Niffer991]

All the above people are recommending excellent ideas, but I am going to give you a quick teaching so you better understand what to eat. Every gram of protein and carbs are equal to 4 calories, but every gram of fat is equal to 9 calories, which shows why we should chose our fats wisely.

Secondly, protein should be 12-20% of your daily caloric intake, carbohydrates should be 65%, and fat 20-25% (less than 10% saturated fat).

Good Luck

[TrudieC]

Another free tool is s p a r k p e o p l e  d o t  c o m.  I use it to put in what I eat and it calculates the calories, fat, etc. and gives me guidelines based on my current weight and target.  It has recipes and suggests meal plans but you can just put in what you ate.  I then take my calories for the day and add them to my weight tracker in MedHelp and then come here for all my weightloss support.  Good luck!

[Skailark]

Hi Selma! I found this information on the blog about jurnaling for weight loss success.


http://www.ranaesheart.com/2008/07/journaling-for-weight-loss-success.html

This article explians about benefits of journaling and provides the tools needed for counting calories. Hope you find it useful!