Is there anything you don't count?
 

I used to not count my morning cup of coffee because I use SF Creamer (15 cals per Tbsp) and then I realized that I use like 1/2 C of creamer so my morning cup of joe is like 120 cals! So now I count that, but sometimes I'll have a dollop of FF sour cream (-15 cals) or something like that and I don't count it. I know it all adds up and this could result in some sabotaging, but is there anything you don't count?

If it's not water, it's food. That's the philosophy I live by anyways. I count every bite. (I count carbs but the program I use (sparkpeople.com) also tracks the calories as well.

When I was getting down and dirty and losing, losing, losing there was nothing, absolutely nothing I didn't count. As you lose (as a c counter) your success depends solely on creating the all important deficit of burning MORE calories than you are taking in.

I see you are new on your journey. You have so much to be excited about and I am excited for you. Do nothing that may counteract your decision for health. As I began one of the biggest motivators I had was seeing the number drop on the scale. Those were days before anyone knew I was doing anything to become more fit. I couldn't get into a smaller size for a couple of months. But still, I knew the number was dropping.

In summary, yes count it--every lick, drink, bite or dip.

I do count everything I eat, but there are some things that I just estimate in my counts. For example, I do not measure out an exact tablespoon of ketchup or mustard. For things like that, I just round up and put down 25 calories.

Now for things like salad dressing that are high calorie, I would meausre it out exactly. But if it's pretty low cal and I'm only using a bit, I feel okay with just putting an estimate. I'd feel crazy if I had to measure every teaspoon of mustard or weigh every apple. :dizzy:

I try to count everything, but I don't necessarily weigh or measure everything. Proteins and starches all get weighed unless it's something like a slice of bread and then I go by the package. Most veggies don't - I use Fitday to track and I'll generally use their "one medium radish" type entry. I do weigh carrots though, because I eat a lot of them and want to make sure I am properly counting them. For something like a splash of milk in my tea, I'll usually just count an ounce without measuring it out. I don't weigh fruit every time, but I try to do it periodically, to make sure I'm still eyeballing a "medium apple" correctly and not letting the sizes creep up without noticing.

I also estimate things like low-calorie vegetables, condiments, etc. Sometimes I'll neglect to count veggies in a recipe if they're small amounts and low calories - half a cup of chopped bell pepper split among 4 servings may not be worth the time it takes to search for it.

But otherwise, I try to count it all. Sometimes I forget to log a stick of gum or a cup of Crystal Light or the 15 calories of cream in my coffee, but I get most of it in there. I also overestimate things all the time so it evens out.

I count absolutely everything. If I have a 1/2 tablespoon of mustard it's counted. I have become anal about how many calories I consume because I'm going to get to my size 10 and I will maintain it the rest of my life.

i count everything, and i just got back into counting calories... where before i'd like skip one or two things if i ate it.. but this time i'm strict and have lost 5lbs in 3 days!
but one thing i DONT count, i buy an energy drink like twice a week for my late classes at school (on the days i work before school) but i grab the 'no calorie, sugar free' one, so i don't bother counting it. plus it hasn't affected my weight anyway! other than that, even my crystal light (5cal) i count :)

If Im nibbling on something like 3 grapes, or take a small bite of something I don't count it. I don't think its worth the hassle. Also if I eat 1 starburst or 2 jellybeans I dont count it. Also I don't count ketchup or seasonings. I also don't weigh my food, my food scale is broked so I just guesstimate which works out fine

I count almost everything... even small amounts of veggies and ketchup and what not. Some things I over estimate just in case, like lettuce etc. The thing is, I don't count my gum. It's only 5 calories a stick and I have about 5 a day :o haha that's a lot. Anyway that's 25 calories but I KNOW I make up for it through over estimation and rounding up of so many foods. Plus, you burn more calories chewing it (supposedly 11/hour) than there are in the gum. So there, that's literally the one thing I don't count. I'll admit it lol :devil:

I try to count everything but admit there are times things get left off.

Remember, that 20 cal nibble here and there can add up. Five 20 cal nibbles is 100 calories!

I don't count veggies except for potato. I don't eat back any of my calories after exercising so I figure it evens out.
I might start counting them in the future if I find my weightloss slowing down without reason.

this makes me want to get back to logging my calories better! it is true a couple calories here and there do add up. one thing i do do is measure my servings... like if total cereal is 100 calories for 3/4 cup...i measure 2 3/4 cup of milk and then measure 1 cup of milk. i think that is very accurate. i think everyone has to guesstimate some thing though!

I count everything but my gum, and even then I mentally add it to my tally but don't record it. It's 5cals for 2 pieces and I typically eat about 3-4 a day. So 10 cals.

I count everything except for soy sauce. (random, I know.) With as much as I love ketchup I HAVE to count that! :) I agree that every 20 calorie bite adds up and that just a few nibbles here and there can tack on an extra 100 calories. That's why in my FitDay tracker I made an entry for 100 calories. :) If I think I had an extra bite or two of something that might add up, I just throw in that extra 100 calories in my tracker for the day to make it even out. :)

I am just getting started, so it's harder for me to look everything up every time I eat something new. I measure out portions so that I am getting the recommended serving size on the package, and for the most part I keep track of everything I put in my mouth, but get a little loosey goosey with the numbers when I'm throwing together a salad, esp. if it's nothing but greens, cukes and tomatoes with just a few 10cal spritzes of spray dressing. I do watch those mouthfuls, and will throw 100 cals in my food log if I've had a few that I didn't count otherwise. But one trick that I do is while I am watching tv I do crunches, pushups, and leg lifts as a little extra work in addition to my regular workout for that day. I hope that this bonus resistance work will even out any mouthfuls not accounted for during the day. As a plus, I feel like I'm building a little bit of muscle while I do it.

I tend to write down everything I eat, and on somethings I round way up on the calories. If I have a hershey kiss to just take the edge off of my sweet tooth I will put down 100 calories. I KNOW it isn't that much. lol. But it makes me feel like I was a good girl and fess'd up what I was doing. If I'm not trying to hide it than I won't feel really guilty about it.

minijaxgrl i agree! i do the same thing.. i round up, and if i'm not sure, i add a few extra calories on top of the food!

btw, if you ever get a chance, go search for the chocolate covered pretzels in the 100 calorie snack bags! they take my chocolate craving right out! and plenty to eat in 100 calories!! much better than just one hershey kiss ;)

There's room in my calorie plan for a little leeway, so I don't count the following things: diet soda/lemonade, black coffee, sugarfree gum, sugarfree jello, and celery. If I've had several 5-15 c. servings of those items in one day (like if I chewed a whole pack of gum, and had two big 20 oz Diet Rockstar energy drinks) I might count them, or at least count an extra 100 c. at the end of the day, but I don't lose sleep if I don't remember- 100-200 extra calories once in a while isn't enough to make me gain weight, or even stop losing it.

I leave 20 calories per day for gum, sugar free cough drops (I've had a cold) and mustard and wasabi paste. lol!!!!

I read a post here on 3fc where a lady said " cows get fat on grass ". Sorry I can't remember where I saw it. Anyways, when ever I think I won't count something I say to myself...cows get fat eating GRASS! And then I go on and write the calories down. Hope whomever I am quoting isn't mad!

I count everything, because skipping things here and there eventually leads to me being lazy and estimating --> and this eventually leads to me saying "screw it, who knows what my total is" and eating something bad.

:)

I count everything, but like most people, I guestimate on things like condiments. I also eyeball and overestimate a bit on veggies. I lost my scale in my move, so I really need to get back to weighing food again.

And the talk about jello reminds me I should pick some up.

I forgot- I also don't count mustard.

I don't count lettuce, unless I am having a really big salad. But if I put lettuce on a sandwich or something, I don't count it.

I actually don't count my morning jelly bean multivitamins or tablespoon of smoothie-flavored flax seed oil, and together they're about 100 calories. I figure I want to make sure I take these regardless of what else is going on, so I "ignore" the calories.... though in the back of my head I know to try to shoot below my target a little to make up for it.

I don't count spices or small amounts of low calorie veggies when I throw them in a recipe. I usually keep a pretty good mental tally though so I will just throw on those extra 50 cals at the end of the day in my head. I also have a random calorie entry in my fitday log. I usually use that for a bowl of veggies or something that I may only eat once so I don't want to create a custom entry. I just edit the calorie amount to suit the food. I am starting to round my calories up but I find it hard sometimes. I used to try to calculate calories exactly and even cheat at times by marking them as just a bit less. I figured I am only fooling myself and I better fess up. I am doing a little better but its a learning process :)

I don't count my calcium chews. It's only 40cal./day, though.

Funny ... never thought about it that way, but I don't count the 1 1/2 oz of 2% milk I put in my coffee in the morning. Doesn't seem to bother me either way - still losing.

I don't count medicines and I usually don't count seaweed.

ETA: I forgot to include herbs in my list of things I don't count.

Anything else that has calories gets counted.

I count everything. I find it is easy with a nutritional software, there are many to chose from. I set mine up with a "daily intake" that has everything I eat/drink every day, like my coffee, creamer, vitamins, etc. If for any reason I didn't have it, it is easy to go in and delete it.

I do estimate many foods, I don't weigh fruit, I use generic counts unless the fruit is larger than normal. I estimate very low calorie foods like lettuce, but always measure the other salad ingredients.

I have found that estimating too much leads to dishonesty in calorie counting, even though it isn't an exact count anyways and I soon stop losing.
You'll soon know which foods need attentive measuring and which can have an estimated calc. Everything gets a number though, even diet cola.

The only thing I don't count is water.

I am pretty good about counting everything, the things I think I usually skip out on would be my crystal light (5 calories) my gum and my vitamin that I take has 10 calories, its a chewable one lol

I count everything! No matter what! :)