I have a question for all those calorie counters out there....do you allow yourself any "free" foods that you don't add into your calories for the day?? I was thinking of doing this with apples or some other food. I eat about 1700 calories a day, so I don't know if I would be eating too much if I allowed myself this. The only problem is that I hate worrying about the prospect of going hungry if I run out of calories. Any opinions are appreciated!!

Basically, calories are calories as far as weight loss is concerned. What you can do to keep from going hungry is eat smaller meals, more frequently, and also eat higher protein. Protein keeps you full longer. I'm doing BFL (6 small meals a day) and I rarely get hungry. When I do, it is always time for another mini meal.

Nope. Anything I eat, is counted, because everything has calories. Even things that are good for you need to be noted. For instance, and apple has between 80 and 100 calories. A medium banana has about 108. Not a lot, but added up it can be. If you allocate yourself 1700 cal per day, then eat an apple, you're exceeding your amount. My coffee creamer is 10 cal per tsp, and I drink several cups a day with creamer. Each one is noted, no exceptions, because that quickly adds up to 50 or so.

UnCafe, do you know what your caloric intake should be, according to your basal metabolic rate and all the requisite calculations, etc? Until I found out what mine was, I was seriously underestimating what my daily cal intake should be. Mine is about 1700, and there I was starving myself trying to keep it around 1200. Most days I fall between 1500 and 1600. You may need more calories than you are alloting yourself. I went crazy with hunger everyday, and couldn't sleep, until I found out where I ought to be in reality. My hardest task was spreading them out through the day so I wouldn't be starving at night. I'm still working onthat one.
F.

I don't count most green vegetables - they are so low in calories and I personally don't see how anyone could eat enough spinach, lettuce, broccoli, etc to where it would be a problem as far as fat loss is concerned. I mean, a cup of raw spinach (according to Fitday) has less than 7 calories! Besides, I'm sure we could all use extra veggies in our daily menus