What do you count up in your calories if you buy something which doesn't have nutrition information printed on it and you go to online calorie counters and they vary from as little as 170 cals to a jaw-dropping 332 for exactly the same number of grams of the same food? That's enough difference for half a meal! It seems it would be logical to split the difference and go for about 250, but it's annoying not to be able to be accurate, activity is such an issue for me that 150cals over is really going to interfere with my weight loss.

How annoying that so many things are exempt from the requirements to publish nutrition information here in the UK, any restaurant food, anything picked up in individual units without external packaging (fruit & veg, single rolls or other bakery like cakes, deli counter, loose meat counter) and certain things which are considered to be sold loose even when they are not, for example if meat has come into the grocery store and been cut up and packaged on site that is "loose" meat. Knowledge is power, people don't have a clue what they are eating.

Most times I go with the higher number, or a middle number, just to be safe. It is annoying, though.

I just avoid eating things if I can't figure out a number I feel comfortable with.

this is what bothered me most about calorie counting. if i decide to commit to cal. counting later i will need a scale or eat mostly packaged food. i'm not cc now, but i have for short periods. most of the healthy produce i love is loose. no labels just good food. many would argue that's exactly what we SHOULD be eating, but without i label, i found myself prefering packaged food sometimes. it's easier. not junk, just healthy in a package.

i guess i would go with the med. or high amount of cal.

in the case of take away/restraunt(sp?) i would eat the lowest fat/cal item i could find, and try to bring my own lunch most of the time.

i wish i could be more help. if my exercise was limited i would ever lose, i'd gain or maintain every week. so kudos to you! it's hard!