How do you count calories?

I know that if the package of crackers says 150 calories for 5 crackers, I get that. But what about stuff I make at home?

Like spaghetti or tuna cakes, stuff I make and combine ingredients?

Do I count calories in little stuff, like seasoning and herbs?

I go to the calorie sites and some times what they say is often three times what the amount of the package says? What gives?

I am doing my best here but when I count calories, or try to, like today, I feel light headed and icky. I know I am not eating enough but what am I to do? I can't figure out what the calories are for stuff I make at home, so I eat very little then get feeling ickified.

Kati,
I use Fitday to keep track. I always create a custom food if the calories on the package are significantly different from the Fitday database. As for recipes, I enter each ingredient separately, and calculate how much of the whole I ate. If it is a recipe that I make often, I will then create a custom food for it. Example: Tonight I made a baked vegetable dish and served it over rice. I ate 1/6th of the dish. I entered 1/6th of a bag of mixed veggies, 1/6th of a can of Progresso Mushroom soup, 1/6th of the rice that I cooked, 1/6th of the portabella mushrooms I added, 1/6th of the feta cheese that I sprinkled on top.

I hope that helps! I find using a database like fitday really makes it pretty easy.

For stuff I make (and I make a lot of stuff), I add up the calories and other nutritional data for each individual ingredient, then divide by the number of servings to calculate the calories, etc. per serving. I created a spreadsheet to do this, but there are several websites that will do it for you. Try calorie-count.com or fitwatch.com (both require free registration to use their recipe analyzer).

For packaged food, I always go with what the package says, rather than what the online calculators say. I figure that the manufacturer is most likely to have the most accurate information about their product. Sometimes the online calculators are giving nutrition data for a different size serving, a different brand, a different preparation (i.e., the package gives calories for the uncooked food but the online calculator is giving calories for cooked product), or are just plain wrong (and, once in a while, the package is wrong).

Last year when I was cooking with a crock-pot, I had a cookbook for diabetics (Fix it and forget it). At the end of the recipe it gave the food exchanges, as well as the nutritional value. The top of the recipe gave the serving size (eg feeds 10, rather then the weight). After I prepared the batch, I quickly divided it up into the serving size and place everything in the freezer.

So..when preparing your own recipes, count up the TOTAL calories of each ingredient, then divide your serving size into that

I've used fitday too, and made custom foods for my usual recipes. Then the second time I make it, I already have it in the database. Don't get hung up on spices, etc. If you're putting something worth less than 25 calories or so into a recipe that will make several servings, it really doesn't make that big a difference. I tend to obsess over things, so if I let myself worry about every little calorie, I'd go nuts. Some days you might go a little over your count, others you might make a mistake the other way. You can't ever really know EXACTLY how many calories you've consumed, it's always going to be an estimate. So take it for what it's worth, but try to focus on eating healthy foods in appropriate portions. But if you are feeling lightheaded and icky and know you haven't eaten enough, then I wouldn't get so hung up on the number. One sure way to go off plan is to starve yourself.

I tend to use fitday's calorie amounts, even for recipes. I figure it's a "close enough" sort of thing. I don't make custom foods very often. If it looks completely off the chart from what I expect, I may do some fine-tuning. But usually I don't bother.

Fitday is a tool. It's all about healthy choices, lower carbs, and limited calories for me. So if Fitday is off about something, it's consistently off about that thing. I use it to watch trends, not do in-depth analysis. For me, for now, that's enough.

Maybe after I lose a chunk-o'-weight, and I stall, and I need more details about why, I can see putting recipes into the system.

But at this point, just limiting my calories, and seeing the big-ticket items, calorie-wise, pointed out to me, is enough.

Thanks for the links BlueToBlue...good to know.

I also just add all the ingredients that go in the pot and then divide by servings. My problem is when I don't know the servings - say a pot of chili. To figure that one out, I got a new pan and transfered it to it, 1 cup at a time. Then I knew how many 1 cup servings were there. But Chili is also one of my favorite things to make in the winter, so it mattered that I got it right. Sometimes just getting close is good enough, you know? Otherwise this can all drive you crazy!

I am starting to get tempted just to buy 21 lean cuisines each week. Heh

Kati, it really is not so difficult. I personally use calorie king book. As had already been stated total up all calories and divide by number of servings. I like using a book instead of online as I can do it anytime, anywhere, the results are the same. Remember you are probably NOt using recipes that have 75 ingredients and most recipes serve 4 or 6 or 8, simple numbers to divide.

That was kinda funny.

FresnoBeeDude (and others) had a great idea. It's NEVER occurred to me to actually divide the whole meal into servings. Guess I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree, eh?