I had no idea how many calories are in....

[lightand]

Glass of Ribena - 107 calories

I thick slice of brown bread and butter - 100

Even just 2fl of mead wine - 90

On the plus side
Cup of tea - 1

1 strawberry - 4

No wonder I have been struggling for months to lose up to 1 stone in weight.
I had decided today to start writing down everything I eat and drink.
It has already become a lot less of a mystery as to where the calories have been hiding themselves!
More strawberries and cups of tea for me, by the looks of things.

It is Tesco, Hearty Food, cheapest spaghetti. The thin stick variety, costs about 25p per packet of 500g.
It says, when cooked, 174 kcal per 100g.
Allow approx 75g person.

I thought I had about 50g or a little bit more, of the 500g packet. Admittedly didnt weigh, but I have happened to weigh my pasta portion a few months ago. I am quite a small person, and not the biggest eater.

You do need to weigh it. This is the nutritional info for it. Allow 75g per person is the dried weight not the cooked weight. As cooked weight it’s 170g (75g dried) as you will see in the pic. Don’t guestimate. Unless you’ve had about 10 strands of spaghetti you are way out.

I'm afraid you need to pay attention to the details, op. It's a pain, I know, but once you know then you know!

Basically avoid cooking with fats or sugar. Immediately it will cut the calories dramatically!

For reference- this is 100 cals worth of dried pasta. Each piece is only 3cm long and that’s a desert bowl so small.

When cooked, that would be almost 60g of cooked pasta (25g dried).

I put everything into MFP today. I decided the safest way was to fast until 2pm and to avoid bread and butter. And pasta. I ate 1200 calories and only 3 helpings of fruit and veg.

(we did have fish and chips for dinner)

I think if you were eating 3 meals a day on 1200 calories (which is probably what I would need to lose weight), then you have to be very creative and healthy. And probably hungry. Fasting seems easier. At least then I could have a glass of wine in the evening...

I do 1200 calories a day @HelenHywater and now in 3 weeks in sometimes I struggle to eat them all.

Oh dear.
Yes, didnt notice underneath the difference in calories between weight when uncooked, and when cooked.
I did wonder why people say pasta has a lot of calories.

What are examples of your meals @CornishGem1975 ? I would need to plan for next week (i've just jumped on the bandwagon this week with the food we had already menu planned).

I don't think I would have the willpower to eat miniscule portions of pasta or rice - i probably just need loads of veggies and protein.

@HelenHywater I use the recipe collections on BBC Good Food. They have sections for under 300, 400, 500 etc I try to stick to basic low cal lunches like soup with a few light snacks in the day so can eat my bulk for my main meal.

I don't do breakfast so that helps and I generally don't eat before 12 or after 8, so roughly doing 16:8 by default.

@HelenHywater

What are examples of your meals *@CornishGem1975* ? I would need to plan for next week (i've just jumped on the bandwagon this week with the food we had already menu planned).

I don't think I would have the willpower to eat miniscule portions of pasta or rice - i probably just need loads of veggies and protein.

I'm on MFP and 1200 calories

I love pasta and rice. What works for me is layering! I used to have a big flat pasta dish. Looked really obvious when I had a tiny bit of rice

Now I use a deep bowl - an ikea cereal bowl.

Had chilli last night. 1 cup of cooked rice, then a massive layer of broccoli and cauliflower then chilli on top

Feels like a huge portion but doesn't look like separate foods like it would on a flat plate if that makes sense

@lightand

Oh dear. Yes, didnt notice underneath the difference in calories between weight when uncooked, and when cooked. I did wonder why people say pasta has a lot of calories.

don't worry, it's all a learning curve.

@Theglassmakerofmurano I worked out my TDEE here (maintenance calories) then reduced that amount by 20% for weight loss.

tdeecalculator.net/
You do have to keep checking it as when you start losing the amounts change. I think I was eating around 1,400 to lose (sometimes 1,300 very occasionally 1,500)

I was just under 12 stone when I started, top end of healthy bmi, but a typical Apple shape so lots of unhealthy visceral fat and I looked like a Buddha

[quote BagLadyy]@ADragonCalledKeith

Calories are a red herring. Sure, you need to be in a deficit to lose weight, but if your insulin is high then your body won't burn fat as efficiently.

If you avoid sugar and give your body time to burn fat (fasting) then you will reduce your insulin levels and your body will burn the stored fat.

Your body can only either be storing fat or burning it. And insulin is like a lock on your fat cells.

Low sugar/carb like cheese/meat/leafy green veg etc does not raise insulin.[/quote]
This.

Cut the carbs: a bowl of pasta is, metabolically, a bowl of sugar 20 minutes deferred. Same with bread, rice, any cereal and starchy veg like sweet corn, peas and potatoes.

Instead eat eggs, fish, shellfish, meat and leafy vegetables.

Sorry if I’m repeating a question but my cereal box says 1600kjs per 100grm serving. Is that a lot? And 100grms surely that’s only enough to feed the Sylvannian family.

Also I used to eat 6t spoons of peanut butter and honey( on bread and straight from jar, yes I know) a day plus 4 eatsomemore biscuits. Is that really a lot.

@LesleyA

Sorry if I’m repeating a question but my cereal box says 1600kjs per 100grm serving. Is that a lot? And 100grms surely that’s only enough to feed the Sylvannian family.

Also I used to eat 6t spoons of peanut butter and honey( on bread and straight from jar, yes I know) a day plus 4 eatsomemore biscuits. Is that really a lot.

We tend to use the kcal value, which means 100g would be 368 calories. You might be surprised to know that a 'normal' portion of cereal is generally 30-40 grams.

6tsps of peanut butter is 190 calories.
6tsps of honey is 125 calories.

Thank you!! How many should a 50 yr old woman have a day?

For those of you with Prime, watch “Why are we fat”.

The amount of sugar food companies cram into foods is terrifying and the long term effects of consuming it is too.

@LesleyA

Thank you!! How many should a 50 yr old woman have a day?

Depends on your height, BMI and metabolism. And even then if they actually measure your TDEE it can vary by 700 Cal's between people with the same muscle / height / body fat stats. That's the role of metabolism, determined by hormones.

tdeecalculator.net/ - if you put your details in here, it will give you calorie values for maintaining your weight, losing weight or gaining wait, as applicable.

I don't much like that calculator @Lougle - it says I can only have 1079 calories a day to calculate a 500 calorie deficit!

I have been ignoring my calories from exercise but maybe I won't for these purposes.

I do think while this may be the only way to lose weight because it's very easy to underestimate your food and calorie intake , it does focus your mind on calories. And I can also see why people with disordered eating might become obsessed with exercise (and food).

Try the James smith academy tdee calculator it will give you your calories and breakdown of macros. Iv found this massively helpful and there are some free daily menus that are easy and has massively helped me shift the post baby shelf 😂

@HelenHywater yes, it's surprising how many calories are needed. It's why over 40s tend to struggle.

It's really helpful for me, because I can see how much extra DD1 needs to gain weight.

Watermelon was a revelation for me. 5 chunks are 90 cals whereas 7 strawberries or a mandarin are about 40 cals
Not worth the calories for me

@merrygoround88

Watermelon was a revelation for me. 5 chunks are 90 cals whereas 7 strawberries or a mandarin are about 40 cals Not worth the calories for me

. This thread is an eye opener. Sadly, it explains a lot

@HelenHywater 1k calories a day for 500 cal deficit is probably right. We all think 2000 cals a day is ok to maintain current weight but in your 40s unless you are heavily exercising, you will gain weight.

I’m in my 40s, 5ft 3 and to lose weight I need to be at max 1200 cals per day. It’s shitty but it’s all that works now