I’m wondering if it’s just me or not but for about the past four years I have been counting calories every day. It just comes naturally now and I can’t turn it off. It’s almost annoying because I can’t help but think of how many calories the food was I just ate and add it to my total for the day.
yes.
haha, yeah man, i do the same thing. Like I spent the last few years bulking, then cutting, then bulking that I’m always thinking subconsciously of the caloric make-up of everything that I am eating. I’ll be at a restaurant with my girl, eating a piece of bread and i’m like “well, this is probably like 70 calories, mostly carbs a little fat, maybe 1-2 grams protein.”
It can’t be stopped!!!
yep.
gotta love microsoft excel!
yup. if not, I know that while i eat frequently I wouldn’t be eating enough at each meal.
lately I’ve been getting a little over 4,000 cals a day and not gaining weight, figured I’ll stick at this level another week and see if any changes occur.
it’s frustrating as hell though since it costs quite a bit to eat this much “healthy” food
Yes, and I wish I had done it 9 years ago when I started out. Oh well.
Gotta do it man. Just like jehova said, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be eating enough.
Yes, but not super strictly. I use ranges (usually a 100-200 calorie allowance)
When you were just getting the hang of counting calories did you use a scale or something to measure out food?
[quote]mch60360 wrote:
When you were just getting the hang of counting calories did you use a scale or something to measure out food? [/quote]
nutritional labels. and fitday. calculates caloric intake for me.
For muscle gain purposes I don’t see the point, but to each his own. Being meticulous with a pre contest type diet is another story but it seems like busy work to me.
You guys that are counting calories, are you eating the same amount everyday or does it change between off days vs leg days vs chest day vs whatever?
I count calories and it changes pretty much every day. I find the fact that I count calories is what allows me to switch things up and know I’m still within my target ranges.
I have an excel spreadsheet which give me the total carbs, protein, fats, (in both grams and percentage of total calories) and calories of every meal, as well as the totals for the entire day. At the top I have a “menu” of the foods I typically eat in the serving sizes I typically eat them.
At the end of every week I total things up and get my average caloric intake for the week.
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
yup. if not, I know that while i eat frequently I wouldn’t be eating enough at each meal.
lately I’ve been getting a little over 4,000 cals a day and not gaining weight, figured I’ll stick at this level another week and see if any changes occur.
it’s frustrating as hell though since it costs quite a bit to eat this much “healthy” food[/quote]
Yea, and it’s only getting more expensive. I count, but only loosely, now. I pretty much eat the same thing all the time now, so it’s not that hard.
DJ
[quote]Scott M wrote:
For muscle gain purposes I don’t see the point, but to each his own. Being meticulous with a pre contest type diet is another story but it seems like busy work to me.
You guys that are counting calories, are you eating the same amount everyday or does it change between off days vs leg days vs chest day vs whatever?[/quote]
Scott,
How do you keep track of if you are eating enough to grow without calculating calories?
[quote]sloh wrote:
Scott,
How do you keep track of if you are eating enough to grow without calculating calories?
[/quote]
To be fair, I do count protein grams(and it’s a lot). I just try not to OCD about this sort of stuff. I’m eating 6-7 high protein meals a day, I eat as much as I need at that current time to consistently trash my logbook in the gym and improve my look from month to month. That’s about it.
I used to. I don’t anymore.
[quote]Scott M wrote:
For muscle gain purposes I don’t see the point[/quote]
I somewhat agree, but I would recommend that most beginners (in particular, the ones starting out on the smaller side) count calories for AT LEAST a month or two. Why? Because people new to lifting (and eating) really don’t, for the most part, have a clue at just how much eating it takes, and are terrible at ballparking their caloric/nutrient needs at the start of their training.
Seriously - check the forums. Most people who are struggling to gain weight yet claim they “eat everything in sight” are, when they map it all out, eating 2 - 2.5k in calories per day on average. Measuring and planning, at least in the early stages, is what it takes for most people to be able to get a sense of just how much they need.
Once they get that concept, however, they can move away from it, not only with a better understanding of the mentality of eating like a bear but also with a keener eye in regards to gauging how much they are getting in on a day-to-day basis.
I don’t anymore simply because I caught on to it quickly (I think), and am able to see the scale move up without a spreadsheet in front of me. Some people need that, some don’t - to each, their own.
Some people just need that kick in the ass when they see their weight stalling.
As far as cutting - I don’t know. I haven’t decided to do it, yet, but I can imagine I would be a little more observant of my calories than just what my eyes and gut are telling me.
hell yea, fitday.com is my shit
Nope, I count macronutrients!
For beginners I see a function but for someone who’s been in the game for a little while I don’t. If people look at it more like this…
This is my basic diet template, I eat roughly the same amount of food at around the same times everyday. I am gaining muscle at a consistent rate and not putting on too much fat or maybe I’m getting leaner. My diet is perfect as is, no changes will be made.
or
I haven’t been putting on muscle lately so therefore something needs to be stepped up. Post workout carbs maybe, maybe healthy fats added to some meals to bump up calories easily. I will make this tweak alone and monitor my progress after.
or
I have been gaining muscle but too much fat so therefore I need to take something down such as carbohydrates or add something such as cardio/more cardio. I will make this tweak alone and monitor my progress after.
…they’d be making much more consistent progress towards their goals.
Outcome based decision making based on observations and feedback be it waist measurement, the scale, bodyfat, upper arm measurement, whatever. People should check out Berardi’s Tailor Made Nutrition article series because that in my opinion was some of the best stuff this site ever put out but wasn’t popular. Why not? Because he asked people to A) stick to their diet for one month before they even thought about changing things and be 90% strict(how many people do that?) and B) it asked people to do this outcome based decision making on their own.