Calorie counting!?!?!?

[WendiJ]

Hi, new to here. Never calorie counted in my life and wondering where you find calorie details? Even in things like fruit

[Tall1732 Restart June 2023 Maintainer]

Hi if you find a app like lose it which I highly recommend after losing 19 kg since end of April with.

With this app you set the weight you wanna lose and the rate you wanna try and lose at and will set a daily calorie amount for you using age,height and weight. If you have a smart watch /phone can log the exercise on watch and go straight into watch taking off the extra calories burnt If required. With this app I scan food from shops and tells how many in items and my meals I make at home. I’m sure plenty of others around but do think having a app that tells you whet you have eaten and burned does help to keep you on the right road.

And thing you wanna know just ask.

[Flo-jo]

Hi WendiJ, I would think most people now a days use an app on their phone, there are lots of free apps. Personally I just use my fit bit app, I have heard others saying they are using my fitness pal, I’m guessing that has a calorie counter. I’m sure others may tell you what app is good, I actually haven’t looked into it as I have a fit bit watch and just use that. Sorry if that’s not much use I’m sure others will be along to point you in the right direction.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Hello and welcome, WendiJ 😊

When I was calorie counting, I bought myself a notebook and had pages for meat and fish/dairy/veg/fruit and so on. For each new ingredient, I googled "Calories in 100g of X" and made a note of it. It soon filled up. I also calorie counted my usual meals and noted them down. There are calorie counting apps: have a look in our Topic: Apps and Trackers for related posts.

On the other hand, you could try a plan like this that doesn't require any counting phcuk.org/wp-content/upload... Forum members follow a variety of different plans and will be happy to answer your questions about their choices.

You'll find all our groups and activities in Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh.... The Welcome message explians where to find Topics. A good place to start is with a weekly weigh-in, and the Daily Diary, where members share their meal plans.

This gives you a tour of the forum healthunlocked.com/?tour=true and, along with Pinned Posts, will show you how things work. Active participation can be a great boost to your own efforts so I hope you'll become an active member and we will see you joining in around the forum 😊

PS the app doesn’t give access to all parts of the forum so we advise everyone to get rid of the app and log on to the full website using the browser on their phone

[N-o-r-d-i Maintainer 64kg]

Hello, I use MyFitnessPal to record my food intake. You can search for different foods on there, you can scan barcodes of the products and you can also enter products if you don’t find something specific that you need. It also gives you analysis of macronutrients, to have a better idea of what sort of nutrition you are getting.

Lately there is quite a bit of advice around stating that calorie counting is not necessary and that it doesn’t work, as it’s what and when we eat, rather than how much. I personally find that calorie counting is useful for me, because it gives me a good idea what I’m consuming and controls my portions. Good luck with whatever you choose to follow!

[Hidden in reply to N-o-r-d-i]

I second MyFitnessPal. I used to use the fitbit app but found they didn’t have a lot of stuff if it wasn’t a common brand (and I use mostly own branded stuff). I started using MFP instead and it’s been great! It has loads of food and drink already on its database but it’s so easy to add your own stuff. I think I found it better because I use things like loose veg and pasta/rice so it was easy to add those by weight/measurement. I don’t really have to weigh anything anymore now because I’m familiar with how much I use as one portion. It was a great introduction to calorie counting but also gives nutritional information too

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

Good to hear from you Hidden

How are you getting on? We’ve not seen much of you around the forum 😊

[Hidden in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Hey IndigoBlue61 😊 I briefly joined a few months ago but kept forgetting to check in for weigh ins but I’ve finished the NHS 12 week plan app now so I’m coming back here for more accountability

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

That’s good to hear 😊

[UnitedRed]

Hi WendiJ , I’ve used the app “Lose It” for the past 3 months or so. It’s been good and pretty simple to use.

[Pebbles77 Visitor]

Good luck. Fruit is something we have to be aware of cos of the sugar in it

[Daiwalker]

Hi, I used an app called myfitnesspal to record my calories. It has a really good database and if I accessed it on my phone via their app, the camera would read the bar code to find the food. As far as apples etc. are concerned I would just use their database to search generic fruit "banana", "granny smith apple", "orange", etc.

I have a small set of salter scales on the kitchen side to weigh everything. It's so easy. If I make a meal, I save the meal as one of my meals in the app. If I batch make meals then I make the meal as one unit then divide the meal into however many real meals it makes (so if I make a batch of Bolognese for 4 meals I'll weigh it as one massive meal, but when I record what I eat, I record 0.25 of the meal I've previously recorded). That sounds way more complicated than it is!!

I've lost 35 lbs since 11th march and maintained the weight loss. Couple the calorie counting with daily exercise (like walking) and enjoy the weight loss journey!!

Oh, and I moved over to eating loads more fruit and vegetables.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Daiwalker]

Hello Daiwalker, are you wanting to lose weight and join the forum or are you just visiting? You're very welcome, either way

[Daiwalker in reply to BridgeGirl]

I just lost a load of weight and wanted to impart information on what I found worked for me. I'd steadily climbed weight-wise to 215 lbs and just considered that my "normal" weight. How wrong I was.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Daiwalker]

Thanks, Daiwalker, great work

[Tall1732 Restart June 2023 Maintainer in reply to Daiwalker]

Snap I do my bulk cooking for my lunches at work. My favourite is a turkey or beef low spag Bol with 5 % meat and whole meal pasta with loads of vegetables. It’s so tasty and filling and great knowing exactly what your eating.

[rjb112 Visitor]

I use cronometer.com and think it's great.

I weigh my food in grams on a digital scale and just input the food and the weight on cronometer.com which takes care of the rest.

It will keep a running total and tell you how many calories you consumed, as well as the specific nutrients consumed and how much of each nutrient.

I have found it to be extremely helpful.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone in reply to rjb112]

Hi and welcome, rjb112

If you're here for support while losing weight, all of the information you need about the forum can be found in Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... and I hope you'll be joining all the Events, Challenges and Clubs that we run, especially a weigh-in and the daily diary.

We've found active participation to be key to successful weight loss and, of course, it's a good way to get to know people, find inspiration and share support and encouragement.

Wishing you all the best

[rjb112 Visitor in reply to moreless]

Thanks very much moreless.

I've been losing weight this year (on purpose), so thanks very much.

I've found calorie counting to be very useful, because without that, I eat way too much and never lose any weight.

I will read what you just posted

[moreless Administrator 7 stone in reply to rjb112]

You're very welcome.

I'm delighted you've found something that works for you and hope to 'see' you around more often

[rjb112 Visitor in reply to moreless]

Thanks

[Rosiefd 2st 7lbs]

Hi Wendi download the My fitness app it does everything for you tells you all the food & drink calories helps you log it all down it is time consuming but it works also I found that when your preparing meals write down what your eating and cut your portions down I found 100g of most things on my plate eg.100g potatoes,100, veg worked for me to keep me within my daily allowance

Rosie

[KeeleyF]

try MyFitnessPal or NutraCheck apps. I prefer the latter but you only get a 7 day free trial. 😊

Good luck

[JeJul]

Use myfitnesspal (free app) or nutracheck (free trial period) to count calories. You'll need some scales or know the weights of your foods. Careful on packaging as often per 100g.

[JoyfulJayne Restart Dec 2023]

I use a fit bit app which is linked to my Fitbit watch ... I’m trying to stick to no more than 1400 calories a day 🌈

[elliebath Maintainer]

For the past six years I have used "myfitnesspal". For the first year it was to lose my excess weight, but I still use it whenever I need to keep a closer eye on maintaining my weight. It has a food and drink calculator, and a daily diary where you can log everything , if you want to. Plus useful tips, recipes and fitness info, if you want it.

You could use MFP for checking calories,carbs, fats etc, but when it comes to support and friendship I am a real fan of this NHS forum, which is fantastic !

[ElizabethsDream]

Hi. I like MyFitnessPal app on my phone. If you’re more old school you can find calorie books on Amazon. Even google will give answers on calories. Well done in taking the step 😁 xxx