This week I started counting for Real, and actually setting a limit.

First, to RockinRobin, I have been reading your posts for a while now and they are truly hitting home. One of your common questions is, "How are you going to get the weight off" or "What is your plan for losing it" I realized that my "plan" was just a mishmash of shoulds, or coulds.. That I really need to get some concrete plans in place or I am just going to wallow about. So I am now using the BL 30 day jump start, and I am setting my calories at a max of 1800. Your brutal, but crucial honesty continues to check me and inspire me, so thank you so much, and PLEASE keep it up!

I have some questions regarding the counting, For the whole group:

- For recipes with more ingredients, how do you tell what a "serving" is?
(example, whole wheat spaghetti with meatsauce)

- For splenda, if I use approx. 4-5 packets a day for various teas and such, count or don't count?

- When I am counting, do I adopt the theory of 'when in doubt, count'?

- What is a good percentage split for the calories (protein, carb,fat) or is that really subjective?

- Can you really "bank" calories? I suppose mathematically it is possible, but does it really work?

I really want to say thanks again to everyone in advance. I have read a ton of posts over the last month, and really feel like I have learned more from you all than any program could provide.

For recipes that have more ingredients other than single servings I still measure things out. For example for your spaghetti example I would leave the sauce/meat separate and then measure out your pasta and then measure out your meat sauce.

I personally wouldn't count the splenda packets but there are some that will say you should count it.

I think the split of calories is totally personal and based upon your own body. You can find plenty of information online that will help you figure it out!

As for banking calories I would say yes as long as those calories are used on good whole food. You shouldn't bank like 3000 calories so that you can have a double whopper and large fries for example, and you shouldn't bank at the expense of your everyday calories meaning your eating less on purpose so you can have something else later. It really is all a balancing act and you just have to figure out what will/wont work for you!

If you are interested in banking calories you really should think about calorie cycling instead.. here is a fantastic site for figuring that out..
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Good luck to you!

Allie

1) I measure it with a measuring cup, but it would be more accurate to use a food scale. Servings are listed on the boxes/jars usually in ounces/grams and volume (cups).

2) I don't eat splenda,but I believe it has 5 calories a packet, so I would count it.

3) when you are counting, you should count everything and make sure it's accurate. even if you are under, say the next time you are right on and then you stop losing because you've been eating the same thing every day but under counting. Count everything but vitamins/medicine.

4) I think protein/carbs are really subjective. I don't break it out. Some lose better on lower carbs, some on high carbs, some (like me) like to be in the middle to feel full. I don't count them, but I try to watch my bread/pasta as a little can be a lot of calories but not leave you feeling as full as say, a giant bowl of veggies with protein. I have to eat fat to feel full, but that's just me too. I think a small amount of non-animal / unsaturated fat is healthy.

5) If by bank calories you mean, go under one day and over the next, sure. Try to get an average over 5 days or a week that's your target calories (so multiply the daily target by 7 and make sure the week doesn't go over that). Some even say this is preferable to change up the number to keep your body guessing. Google calorie cycling, it's often done by bodybuilders to help lose fat.

Thanks!!! I will check out those websites!

First off, congratulations on making that start! Five pounds gone is excellent so far.

I'm still pretty new to all this too, but I might be able to help on a few of these questions.

- If the food I'm eating has serving sizes listed, I go by those. If not, I weigh out components separately (first the pasta, then the sauce, for instance). If it's a "composite" food that doesn't have nutritional information--meat loaf, for example--I use an online recipe calorie calculator like this one at Sparkpeople.com and enter in the entire quantities of ingredients, then divide by the appropriate number to get a serving size.

The easiest way to do that division is with a kitchen scale. If you don't have one yet, invest in one--they are great for portion control. Weigh your empty pot or baking dish in the beginning, add your stuff, do your cooking, weigh the final product, and do a little light math to determine what a sixth or an eighth of that meat loaf is--voila!

- I don't count Splenda, but I use very little artificial sweetener (maybe a packet or two twice a week). It wouldn't be a bad idea to keep track, though, if you use it daily.

- "When in doubt, count" seems like an excellent plan.

- Everyone's protein/carb/fat balance is different. For my body, something around 25/50/25% has worked well so far. If you thrive on low-carb plans, your numbers are going to look very different. The number I watch most is my protein intake; I don't want to let that one dip too low. I kinda let carbs and fats sort themselves out.

Hope that helps.

Right on the splenda box of those little packets it says that 4 packets is a "free" food. To me that would mean up to 4 packets is 0 calories but after that it is calories.. i have yet to find out how much though I plan to google it here in a second! I was making "lemonade" for the gym this morning and noticed it on the box!

Good answers so far. I just thought I'd add something about carb/fat/protein. I think it really is different for everyone. When my weightloss started slowing down a few weeks ago I decided to try decreasing my carb intake. I've dropped it by about half, and that's made my fat count go up, but I'm losing more weekly for sure. I would just keep track of what you do decided to do, and then if you have a stall in weightloss you could try changing up those numbers to see if it gets things going again.

splenda= 4 cals per packet
whther or not you count it is up to you... BUT....... your body still counts it even if you dont