Gutted that calories are in EVERYTHING!

[JustGotTheJaundice]

Lighthearted rant, been on MJ for a while now and getting to the stage where I'm really putting in the effort to overhaul my eating habits for when I reach goal.
I've been logging (absolutely accurately) on MyFitnessPal every single thing that has passed my lips in the last 4 weeks. I've been reading labels, weighing everything and not cheating at all. I realise I need about 1500 calories a day to lose about 1 or 1.5lbs a week (thanks, dysfunctioning thyroid).
But I'm amazed by how many calories are in EVERYTHING. I've clearly been underestimating them by about 20%. For 20 years. No wonder I got so fat!
Saying "oh yes that's about 150 calories" when in reality it's closer to 200.
Do "normal" people just know the correct amounts? And where did I get my ideas from anyway?

I don't think "normal" people are better at estimating calories, and it's not something that people specifically learn in order to stay a healthy weight. I think they mostly don't have an emotional relationship with food, and are more likely to be able to eat until they are full and then stop. That fullness feeling kicks in at a point before they over eat. Or, they eat less the following day(s) as they still feel full.

It is very easy to over eat by what seems a small amount, which done consistently will lead to continual weight gain. And then once you are obese, your body is then affected by the obesity which makes it harder to consume fewer calories.

I think I know the correct amounts, but that’s only because I’m older and in my day everyone was aiming to eat no more than 1000 calories a day. There are plenty of threads elsewhere on MN saying that was symptomatic of disordered eating etc etc., although I’ve never been anorexic or bulimic. It did mean though that I had a very accurate mental picture of how many calories were in things.
I think the biggest single factor in making this difficult to judge nowadays has been the extraordinary increase in portion sizes over the last 40? years. Cupcakes are now 3 times the size they used to be. A scone used to be about 5 or 6 cm in diameter. Now they are as big as a baby’s head. No wonder people are confused about how many calories are in foods, when an afternoon snack can comprise about half of an entire day’s intake.

Of course no one is forced to eat these things but when I go to a certain well known garden centre chain cafe I’m quite repelled by their gigantic scones and so on. And I do love a scone with clotted cream and jam! Just not one that’s as big as a football!! (Slight exaggeration).

It's 1200 deficit for me to lose 1lb a week and has been for around 8 months of my journey, before then it was 1300! I have an office job and I was prediabetic too so i actually have to eat less and eat less carbs and more protein. I'm used to it now after 11 months but it's not fun!

I think a lot of people under estimate op, it’s really common. Portion size, snacks, oils and fats used in cooking, drinks etc, or they think the treats they had on a sat don’t count, they do. It’s average cals over a week. So yes, underestimating I think is really common.

I don't usually post on weight threads but this came up.
I don't think "normal" people have a clue about calories. Don't these drugs reduce your appetite?
I'm not sure how helpful it is to try and eat according to calories, wouldn't it be better to eat whatever food you enjoy but just smaller amounts?

@BareGrylls the injections supress appetite yes, to help you maintain a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. The real hard work is changing your mindset and relationship with food. It's no good going from 2 large meals at mcdonalds to just a happy meal. As soon as you come off the jabs you'll go back to the large meals. You have to adapt your whole lifestyle and diet and feelings regarding food in order to maintain all that loss. Otherwise it was pointless 🤷🏻‍♀️
So instead of a mcdonalds at all, make yourself a chicken breast with salad or veg.

OP I massively underestimated 😬 by ridiculous amounts. As soon as I started counting my calories I was gobsmacked. Do you know how many calories are in a a greggs pasty?? And I would have 2 at a time! I must have had my head in the sand for years because I had no clue x

I’ve never caloric counted but tried it once for one day. My god the amount of calories in butter! I added up my meal, realised I’d forgotten the butter, added it, the calories doubled!!

Yes I reckon a lot of people forget or ignore the oil that went in the pan or the little bits they ate while cooking.

The question is about people who are a healthy weight, and whether or not they are calculating calories all the time. I don’t think most of them are.

I'm not sure "normal people" (what does that even mean!) think about calories.

I don't think people without food issues do tbh.

I have also lost 44lbs on mounjaro without thinking about calories!

I’ve only calorie counted for an odd week here and there over the last 14 months on Mounjaro, when I’ve been slow to lose or plateauing. Just for a sanity check to make sure I’m definitely under my TDEE by enough.

Most normal people probably don't think about calories at all. I don't. If I do think about food in that way, I think about things like salt and sugar content and ultra-processing. Of course calories are in everything though. They aren't like an ingredient you can remove or leave out They are just the energy value in food!

It is really shocking how many calories are in some foods compared to others.

eg nuts - you are told to eat them to be healthy but they are crazy calorific!

1000 calories a day is way too low to be healthy... how much lower is it than your BMR?
If you want to optimally maintain all bodily functions (e.g hair growth) then your calorie allowance shouldn't be too much lower than your BMR.

https://tdeecalculator.net/
https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ (I prefer this one as you can set the amount of carbs and protein)

I don't count calories because it just distracts from what you really need to do which is change your mindset.
Real food, low carb and 1gm of protein (at least) for every kg you weigh. Oh, and cut out sugar. Concentrating on protein has been a game changer for me. Finally, at 55, I feel like I may just get there this time.
No need to choose low fat, and I've been advised not to, just be aware of the sugar content of what you use. For example, while I'm still using milk in my tea, I know that cream would actually be better. Sugar effects womens hormones and is one of the hidden dangers, not so much the calorie content.

Doing this in combination with MJ has been unexpectedly easy. Once I got past the first week of no sugar (more like consciously cutting out everything I could, I'm not perfect lol ) I am not craving it. I can honestly say that I am enjoying this change which I never thought I would ever feel. It's just always been a chore before though, I think for me, it is doing it in combination that works. WLI and change of mindset and eating habits

@CJsGoldfish definitely don’t go for low fat! That’s where sugar hides!

Ive never counted calories but I’m losing a lot of weight on mj because I’ve totally changed my diet to low carb Mediterranean and I love it.

I used to think nothing of eating a family bag of crisps in front of the tv but wouldn’t dream of it now.

I also know I now recognise that I’m inherently greedy which helps me put a stop to it.

I'm doing the same.

I was trying to restart keto / low carb before starting MJ, but couldn't get it together.

Sugar is my downfall - I end up in a cycle making bad food choices

I also agree with portion size issues. I lost 20kg years ago with WeightWatchers and found I could eat a small cupcake once in a while while now they are as big as a baby's head and half of it is frosting.

The other issue is alcohol, so many empty calories and "wine o'clock" got normal so that's 500kcl per day on top of what you eat.

I do eat some chocolate and have the odd biscuit but so far I don't crave it anymore so I hope I am able to keep that feeling. I found I don't really like sweet things at the moment.

But it's definitely a change of food choices. More protein, less carbs for me, we never have been a big processed food family but I also look more closely at fast choices, I plan emergencies better aka I have something in the freezer instead of ordering a take away.

I don’t always count calories (although I will have phases of doing it on MFP if I need to get some control) but I do have a general awareness of how many calories are in typical foods that are a downfall for me like a glass of wine or a chocolate hobnob and conversely I know which foods (like a bowl of green salad no dressing) are basically calorie free and I will habitually be somewhat aware of limiting the bad stuff eg choose wine or pudding but not both, cut back the next day and just have soup or a salad if I have been out for dinner. For me it’s mainly about breaking bad habits like the evening glass of wine and nibbles or breakfast pastry and being aware that whilst those are OK from time to time they should not be for every day.

I dont have a clue about calories I just know what foods are healthy and which ones arent. I know what snacks are full of sugar etc. I also know that the more active I am the more I can eat whereas if I'm having a lazy day or week I'll need to watch my intake a bit more.

That's why you just eat a small portion of them. They are healthy so it's good to have them in your diet but in moderation.

But a small portion is subjective. That’s the issue. 10 walnuts, 15 cashews, or 40 peanuts. Is an healthy portion, and about 200 cals and 15grams of fat. Which is about 10 percent of an average bag of peanuts.

Most people eat way more than that, way,way more.

They’d eat a quarter of the bag and think they had a relatively small portion, when in fact they had just downed nearly 700 cals and 50 g of fat. It’s really easy to do. And not sit and count them and add the cals and fat content up.

nuts are healthy in small portions, but one of the easiest foods to over eat. Same with peanut butter, a table spoon, which is actually very small as levelled off, is 100 cals and 8 g of fat.

orher high fat foods, olive oil or butter, people add to their cooking, one level table spoon of olive oil is 120 cals. And folks free pour, not sit and measure one level table spoon of oil. A 100 cals in the same of butter. It all adds up,

a couple of table spoons of oil or butter to your cooking, a couple of handfuls of nuts, and you’re prob looking at close to a thousand extra cals.

Listed calories can legally be off by 10%.
MFP is notoriously wrong on many entries.
Nutracheck and Cronometer are known to be more accurate.

couple of table spoons of oil or butter to your cooking, a couple of handfuls of nuts, and you’re prob looking at close to a thousand extra cals

This is literally why I’m not the weight I’d like to be.