• Keep up to date with Ausbb via Twitter and Facebook. Please add us!
  • Join the Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding forum

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

    The Ausbb - Australian BodyBuilding forum is dedicated to no nonsense muscle and strength building. If you need advice that works, you have come to the right place. This forum focuses on building strength and muscle using the basics. You will also find that the Ausbb- Australian Bodybuilding Forum stresses encouragement and respect. Trolls and name calling are not allowed here. No matter what your personal goals are, you will be given effective advice that produces results.

    Please consider registering. It takes 30 seconds, and will allow you to get the most out of the forum.

Easy methods for counting calories

DKD

Private Dancer
I'm interested in the mechanics of how guys here count their daily calorie intake. I would enjoy the precision of knowing exactly what amount of fuel/garbage is going into me, but I've always thought its way too much of a hassle to bother with.

I'd appreciate if anyone could share their methods. What do you use? Scales for weighing food, check calorie tables on websites etc? How exactly do you do it? If I can find a relatively hassle-free method I may start using it.
 
I use My Fitness Pal app for tracking. There is a food database on there but I cross reference macros with Calorie King book when putting my meal plan together. I have mini digital kitchen scales but make sure all my food for work is packed in my lunch bag each night.
 
fitday.com is free to sign up. What i do is load all my foods that i eat into it and after a while just remember how much things are and no longer needs to use it. I use it now just as a one off to look something up.

It breaks down all the macros and lots of micros too.
 
I'm old style, pen and paper for me.
I just write down most of the foods I eat with the macro breakdowns, and then write out a daily meal plan.
I usually stick with the same calories and macros per set meal, but just change the foods sometimes when I feel like something different.
Must use a food scale for accuracy.

It can seem complicated and confusing, even frustrating at the start when trying to get the numbers to work, but after a while, it becomes very easy through practice.
 
i used to use fitday but then i found myfitnesspal for my iphone which is better coz i can scan food barcodes for the nutritional info and i do it all on my phone rather than on thePC at home. often though i just use my head and estimate im pretty familiar with all the foods i eat
 
I am hopeless when it comes to maths so I created a spreadsheet.

The first page is an overall summery which has a calc to work out my calorie requirements for my goals, each meal macro and calorie breakdown and my totals macros and calories for the day, with pie charts to help it become easily visuial.

Then the next 6 pages are my meals which I have planned to eat each day.
Each meal page has a row for each ingreedient the ingreedients macro breakdown how many grams of each engreedient which is in the meal then total macros and calories and a pie chart of my macros for the meal to make it easily visuial.

Then I have a page for the macros of all engreedience I eat, (which are taken from myfitness pal) which I copy and paste into the meal page to create meals.
When creating my meals for the week I flick back and forward from the totals page to ensure im not lacking in any macro area. I add a little here and there untill its exactly wat I think I need.

I think kitchen scales are a must.

My body has changed after creating this spreadsheet a year and a half ago. Some people say im obsessive about it and simply cant understand why im so anal about it. I dont think its obsessive at all and cant understand why they would not do it or atleast try to understand nutrition a bit more.
I guess its easier to be a fatso and unhealthy and let a fast food store or canteen controll what they eat, their health and how they look and feel.
 
I use myfitnesspal also.

I will weigh stuff at home sometimes but generally I can eye ball most of the things that I eat regularly these days.
 
Ive used a few programs.

Found myfitnesspal.com to be the best, Set up custom macros on coputer and then just use the phone app.

Some things you cant find and need to add, Which isent always 100% accurate.

the barcode scanner is great.
 
I gave it a go, for a couple of days, but cbf entering in every meal every day. Life's too short for that shit.

I did punch in some regular things I consume, so I do have a much better understanding of my intake each day. Previously I had nfi how many calories I was consuming.
 
I downloaded my fitness pal it today and entered todays meals so far. I must admit its a bit of a pain in the arse to enter everything in but im sure ill get better at it soon enough.

I love the scanner though... have been scanning everything i can find around the office it even reconnised the salt and pepper :p
 
I weigh stuff that I eat most times, but I am getting to the point that I eye ball things now. But generally I always weigh my meat as I don't want to be down on my protein.
 
once you start to eat similar foods, you can just quick add, from day before ect ect

Its like breathing for me now, Bad habbit though i cant sit and eat my meal without logging it,

or i will log while food is cooking,

helps when you make somethign aswome and you can go back and look at how much of something you used. :)
 
Top