Are there any ways to make calorie counting easier?
 

I dont know if this question has been asked before but for me counting is just so much and I am fairly new to it but I think that it will help me on my journey if I can stay with it. Was it overwelming for you when you started?

For those of you who have been counting for a while, what are some things that make it easier? WHat are some things that I should be careful about? Anything that you want to share would be really appreciated!

Do you have an iphone or ipod.The application for counting calories sounds very conveinent.

My words of wisdom would be to just stick with it. It takes a little time, but eventually it gets easier as it becomes part of a routine. There will be things that you'll eat a lot more often that then become easier to keep track of.

I used to keep a notebook, but now use sparkpeople.com to track all my food, there are other online sites to do it (most are free).

I'm a complete email/computer junkie... and whenever I log onto my computer, I leave fitday up as a tab, which makes me add onto everything. Also, I try to snack lightly every couple hours otherwise my appetite gets the worst of me. Sure, you don't feel 100% full after certain snacks, but preoccupying your time well between snacks helps. I use my classes to pace my snacks and force myself to walk back to my room before I can even snack. It helps limit my intake.

I do it electronically, by hand is too much work.

I use sparkpeople.com- I LOVE IT!

electronically for me too. not least because it taught me how careful of vits and mins I have to be with a restricted calorie budget.

I use www.livingstrong.com/mydailyplate. It has a huge database.

Leaning more on foods that are easier to count makes the whole process more comfortable. Also, if you cook for others, making your own meal in a different container makes things a bit easier. You can still eat the same thing as the rest of your family as long as you're very sure what went into that pot.

I asked something similar.

It does feel overwhelming! My b-day is coming up and I'm hoping to get a food scale, and eventually hoping I'll be able to eyeball portions better. I'm a bit worried I might become overly obsessive and start weighing everything though.

I liked the idea of just rounding off if I can't find the exact number of calories...counting an apple as 100 and not worrying over if it's small or large or how many oz. it is. As the poster who said that pointed out, we didn't gain weight from eating a little more or less of an apple (or lettuce, vegetables, fruits...)

When I have a better idea of about how many calories are in foods I eat the most often it'll probably be quicker to just jot down in a pad. Planning on the free sites is helpful to give you an idea what to eat but sometimes things come up that you didn't plan or you might not always be around a computer.

does the iphone app work on the ipod touch?

I think so Nelie....I dont have a touch though.But I was understanding that applications were universal for both.Let me know if you find out.

I use daily plate on livestrong and one thing I love is that you can create meals once and then just click on that meal and it will fill in all the calories. For example, I eat NF yogurt, granola and berries several times a week for breakfast. Instead of entering each one separatly, I created it once in saved meals and just have to click that whenever I eat it. Also, if there are things you eat often, (ie an orange), it will show up on the side of commonly consumed foods. One MAJOR thing about food recording is "forgetting" to write something down if you ate something bad. I used to do this all the time. But honestly, who are you cheating other than yourself? Just record it, pick yourself up, and eat on track for the next meal. It becomes addicting after a while. Now I record everything I eat religously during the work week and take weekends off, while still eating good. It has become a second nature for me and I'm sure it will for you as well once you do it for a couple weeks.

I write down everything i eat on a small notebook. I will take a few minutes every morning to figure out my meals for the day. Planning ahead of time helps me stay on track all day. I try and eat every few hours and divide my calories up...seems to be working for me:)

Logging your calories and using a food scale are the top two things that worked for me.

Also using a recipe analyzer.

Food scale and my Bodybugg (although GoWear it is the same device with slightly different measurements-more for less $ so I'd be likely to get GWF i starting up). But the next best would be one o the free sites that have been mentioned above. Also many foods are easier to weigh rather than measure and it is more accurate (and frequently you get more via weight than volume) : )

Good luck to you, you can do this!

Thank you for all your answers please keep them coming!

Fitday for me too.

And I'm going to agree with Kelly about eating foods that are easy to count. I don't feel like I eat the same things over and over but it's surprising how many foods that I eat are in "Recent Foods". And that could not be more simple.

Besides that, you can link fitday here and folks can go see what you're doing. Just in case you need some help -or- because you're so successful they want to emulate you ;)

I have a couple things:
1) Tools: I found my notebook and pencil were best because I'm not always near a computer. I also find the selecting of items very annoying on the computer programs. Methodology: I divide my paper to five categories (four meals and one exercise portion). Each meal is listed by ingredient. I have four columns. So, I track each item's calorie, main food group (veggie, fruit, protein, grain, calcium, and MUFA). I also count up how many servings of each food group I have eaten that day (i.e., 2-3 fruit, 3-6 veggies, 4 calcium, 7 protein, 2-3 grains, 4 MUFA). I'm tracking to be sure I always eat a calcium and protein each meal. I try to get several MUFAs a day (but I'm not eating enough calories yet to have a MUFA at each meal).

2) Learning: I found that this process of calorie counting was going back to the basics and learning from scratch. I had to manually look up each food item in my food guide, measure, and write it down. I had to learn what a portion equals for each food.

3) Changing: I also transformed my eating. I learned I had two choices: hard or easy. If I didn't have time to muck around, I just did old stand bys. Especially in the first few months. I knew all the info, knew it filled me, knew the containers to store in, etc.

If I wanted something out of the norm, it got hard. I couldn't eat just anything and write it down. I had to think if I had the calorie info in my guide. If not, I looked up on-line. Occassionally, I've added a few frequent favorites: canned beans, whole grains not listed, soy or tofu products.

But really, I simplified my eating. I found out about meal budgeting. I have to make my food portion for that 1/4 of my day's food last me until the next meal time.

I sometimes want a pizza at lunch. Well, I can only "afford" one slice of pizza and have to make a veggie salad on the side to make up the little remaining calories I have left. I also know this doesn't fill me for three or four hours. The real kicker for me is I can't afford dressing on the salad if I have pizza. Well, once I get all that out in my mind, I really don't want pizza anymore. Now I want to walk home because I know I have all the ingredients for a really yummy lunch that will make me happy, save money, fill me up, fit my calories, be healthy, and be easy to count.

These are my mental games I do when calorie counting the lazy way. I don't want to have to work through one thousand ingredients. I eat simply therefore I write simply. Ahh.

use "Lose-it" for the iphone or ipod touch (it will work for both). I swear this is the best thing ever...and it's free!!!

I LOVE the LoseIt! app.

Yes, and it's FREE!

These too.

I track my calories consumed on my iPod touch with my LoseIt! App. Then, I track my calories expended with my GoWear Fit (I upload one 'custom' food each day with all my information from the LoseIt! app) and that way I can SEE my calorie deficit. Measuring my portions is a HUGE help. I also try to only eat out where I can find nutrition information. That way, I can track my calories very accurately and easily.

Ok this thread was part of the reason I bought an ipod touch, although I've been thinking about it. Lose it! is definitely very simple to use. I am not sure I like that it tells me how many calories I have left to eat. It tells me I have 695 calories. That seems like a lot but not a lot at the same time :)

I use a pretty spiral notebook to write down what I eat and the calories. Sometimes I'll also include fats, sat. fats, carbs, and protein, fiber - making columns. Lately, it's just calories. I get my numbers from food labels, food scale, or calorieking.com . Calorie King is a great place to find out calories because you can get them in ounces, cups etc - all different amounts. This helps me for accuracy.

I like the spiral because it also leaves me a place to journal my feelings. Also, I can record different things like - where I ate (in front of TV, or at table, in car).

At the top of the page I'll have a W (for water - marking an x for every glass) SS - Stretching & Strengthening & an M (daily meditation). A good reminder of the things I want to do. Lately, I put down an F - to remind myself to put my fork down between bites and s-l-o-w down my eating.

After you've done it for a while, you'll know the calories, etc. by heart.

It's a very real way of living with food & the calories you eat.

Having a spiral works the best so it can open and lay flat etc.

When I first started counting calories, it was somewhat overwhelming. Now I repeat so many favorites and use so many prepackaged foods that I don't find it too much of a problem.

For me counting calories is the only way I can be totally honest with myself about how much I am eating, and writing my calories down is a very important part of that. A notebook by my favorite chair is easier for me than doing it on line.

There are several reasons that the notebook is essential. Most important is, as I said, it keeps me honest. Also, the daily ritual of entering my calories in my journal gives me something positive to do, and I find that sometimes, instead of going back for seconds, I pick up my journal and write down what I have just eaten and that keeps me occupied until that urge to put more food on my plate has passed.

I am so glad you asked this question because the responses you have received just show the different possible ways to do this and they have given me inspiration for additional things to try.

So if it is difficult at first, keep with it. It will get easier.

OMG!!! I use this app and I SWEAR by it. It's seriously the best app out there for calorie counting. I love this app, I've been using it for a week and already lost 3 pounds.

I love it because my iPhone goes everywhere with me so it's so much easier for me to keep track of my calories.

Ive been using mydailyplate and I must admitt it is getting better! Im trying to stick with it!

As a side note, I actually find that sometimes the thought of having to figure out and put in the nutritional information, especially for complicated foods, helps me not to eat something that I would have otherwise eaten even though I wasn't hungry.

It doesn't stop me from eating something if I really want to or if I'm hungry, but if I was going to eat just because the food was there, the work of having to figure out the nutritional value sometimes makes me think about why I want to eat something and helps me to decide that it's not really worth it.