Do you count calories/macronutrients etc?

[moons]

Oliver and I just had a discussion about this and I'm curious as to where others stand.

Personally I've never seen the need - eat more to gain (if you don't gain, eat more again), eat less to lose. Eat protein with every meal, eat regularly.

I will let Oliver state his own opinion if he wants to, so I don't put words in his mouth (only chocolate covered strawberries).

So yeah - do you count calories? Do you aim for a macronutrient split (40/40/20 or whatever)?

 

[Rugby88]

Nah - used to and it drove me crazy - now I just have a rough idea...honestly if your not a professional athlete/bodybuilder dont worry about it....

 

[BigJim]

I counted calories while i was trying to lose a large amount of weight and it worked extremely well. Every 5kg or so i would work out my BMR and adjust my calorie intake accordingly.

After you have done this for a while though you start to know what you can and cant eat in order to maintain your weight. Then it becomes as easy as eat more/eat less.

I also made sure i was eating 4 times my BW in protein (400g or so daily) which i also think really helped.

After xmas when i start on my cut i will be counting calories once again due to having so much success with it previously.

I dont know much about the whole macro ratios, i just aim for 0 carbs, moderate fats and high as fuck protein

 

[Muu]

I don't count normally, but when dropping fat I will for sure. Like BigJim said, when you have a goal it makes it easier to adjust. It's annoying, measuring everythin, but the results far outweigh the time invested.

 

[IRON TANKS]

Not generally. I'd only count if I was prepping for a comp. After a while you have a good idea of how many calories you're eating anyway.

 

[Christian]

I Mentally work out protein per serving but that's it.. I know my body enough now that I can tell what it needs and when.

 

[Oli]

A calorie is a unit of energy which can bring up the temperature of 1ml of water a degree. If you eat more calories than you expend you will gain weight, if you eat less you will lose it, thus says the law of physics.

Nobody is saying you have to obsess over things - once you know what 300g of rice generally looks like you can generally pick it whenever you cook or eat out but you should probably sit down and try to work it out in the first place. Its easier because:
- You have to actually think and be accountable for what you ate that day
- You don't have the awesome situation where at the end of the month from 'guesstimating' you haven't gained 2-3kg or for those who want muscle got nowhere
- You don't have issues with things like going into a slight deficit and your metabolism shutting down (eg, eat 500 calories below maintenance for a while and your body will lower its energy expenditure).

Is it possible for someone whose not a competitive bodybuilder after and 10% to be relaxed about it? yes, because calories are an issue on a macro scale - you won't lose weight today because you ate 100 calories below maintenance. You might if you ate 500 less over a period of a week, month etc.

In conclusion - get a general ballpark for your calories and macros and from that learn to approximate your portions. This is leagues easier than guess checking.

 

[Kyle Aaron]

No, easier to steer as I go.

Eat good fresh food according to your appetite, and train for your goals. If after a month you are overall bigger or the same and wanted to be smaller, eat less; if smaller or the same and wanted to be bigger, eat more; if smaller or bigger or the same and wanted that, keep going as you're going.

Anything else is likely to make you crazy.

 

[leachy]

I feel like I am robbing myself if I don't count everything. I weigh all portions of meals, throw them in containers and eat when required. 40/30/30 split. Carbs for breakfast and post workout only. To be honest once you do it you just need to eat similar portions everyday. A little effort at the beginning will set you up for success. You should be able to work out your required calories for your goal (cut or gain) and have a meal plan in around 30 minutes. Not hard at all. Calorieking does all the work for the calories and macros of food. generally fat people underestimate how much they eat, and skinny people overestimate.

I've learnt to have protein with every meal, and that carbs shouldn't be eaten with fats, choose one or the other (in that given meal).

To those that say counting makes you crazy, i would rather have results after one month, then after one month of "guess work" having nothing to show for it.

 

[moons]

A little effort at the beginning will set you up for success. You should be able to work out your required calories for your goal (cut or gain) and have a meal plan in around 30 minutes. Not hard at all. Calorieking does all the work for the calories and macros of food. generally fat people underestimate how much they eat, and skinny people overestimate.

I've learnt to have protein with every meal, and that carbs shouldn't be eaten with fats, choose one or the other (in that given meal).

To those that say counting makes you crazy, i would rather have results after one month, then after one month of "guess work" having nothing to show for it.

I've gone from ~70kg to 97kg and, at another time, ~85kg to low 70s all without counting anything. Simply by eating more or less, as required.

I don't get the 'guess work' you and Oli refer to. If I am trying to get stronger / put on mass, I can tell I'm not eating enough because I will have not put on weight that week and my lifting will have suffered. You aren't 'guessing', you are using progress measures to assess if you need to eat more (or less, or are doing fine).

 

[Oli]

And how would you measure yourself after a week of training beyond novice stage? get on the scale and weigh 100-200g more? you realise taking a shit could put you off by 1kg right? also its possible to gain strength on a calorie deficit, wendler's pulling more than he ever did...

 

[leachy]

Moons, I just want to give myself the best chance for success. If I did the "get big eat more" scenario and after 12 weeks looked back and there was a possibility I could look better or be stronger then I would feel guilty. Like I said it does not take alot of effort to work out your meals, do that once and then you set. Some people might think it's boring but I eat chiken, fish and beef everyday.

Everyones different and has different goals.

 

[moons]

Accurate scales / keeping conditions the same / the fact that I.. don't weigh myself every week.

If you wanted to do things 'proper' you could always get out the measuring tape. (Again, I wouldn't do this every week)

As far as I'm aware Wendler is and has been on gear for a long, long time. In addition to the fact that I doubt he is training in a consistent caloric deficit - he makes it quite public that he is a fan of eating what he wants.

For the vast majority I still fail to see why counting calories and adhering to macronutrient splits is necessary. Eat good foods, more if you want to gain, less if you want to lose.

Edit: Leachy snuck his response in before mine, this was re:Olivers' post

 

[leachy]

You might be underestimating the human body moons. It does not process carbs an fats together efficiently and if you take your caloric intake to low your going to lose muscle and the opposite with fat, which no one wants. If you can do it right and effectively, why not?

Your point is valid for Joe blo who wants to keep healthy, but for people wanting to get bigger, stronger and leaner it takes just that 10% more effort.

 

[moons]

bigger, stronger and leaner it takes just that 10% more effort.

Like I said, I've done all these things without counting anything at all.

Different strokes, I suppose.

 

[eje]

www.calorieking.com.au every day for the last 16 weeks...works for me

 

[Oli]

Accurate scales / keeping conditions the same / the fact that I.. don't weigh myself every week.

Well then your at the mercy after you results after a month (even a month is too shorter timeframe for someone with 2+ years lifting experience imo). I can work out my calories in 2-3 minutes.

As far as I'm aware Wendler is and has been on gear for a long, long time. In addition to the fact that I doubt he is training in a consistent caloric deficit - he makes it quite public that he is a fan of eating what he wants.

Wendler is a notorious under eater, look at his diet its similar to mine. He's still getting stronger.

For the vast majority I still fail to see why counting calories and adhering to macronutrient splits is necessary. Eat good foods, more if you want to gain, less if you want to lose.

Because some of us dont want to wait 3 months to see if our guess checking has failed or not when we can get a ballpark figure in 2-3 minutes.

Weight loss
Protein = 1 x target LBM
Carbs = 1 x target LBM
Fat = 0.5 x target LBM

Maintenance
Protein = 1 x target LBM
Carbs = 1.5 x target LBM
Fat = 0.5 x target LBM

Weight Gain
Protein = 1 x target LBM
Carbs = 2 x target LBM
Fat = 0.5 x target LBM

You can adjust the protein/fat/carbs as you like but those are good ballpark figures.

 

[yeksetm]

I went from 117kg to 90kg by weighing / counting calories, it wasn't a pain in the ass for me but more so for my wife (she hated weighing everything). I never worried about ratios as long as I had a minimum of 1.5g of protien per pound and .5g of fat per pound.

I think I needed to be so analy retentive about what and how much I was eating otherwise I wouldn't have been able to shed the kilos. All in or nothing I reckon!

 

[NJA82]

I do for the most part, as Oliver said you should sit and learn what certain amounts of foods look like so you have a rough idea, its not something you need to do indefinitely but i spent around 2-3 months when i started getting really serious about my training and diet and using websites such as calorie king i prepped meals and used the digital kitchen scales just to check things and see what a portion size looks like. Once you have done this for a month or more you will soon adapt and know exactly whats in the food, how much its volume looks like for its weight etc. Once you learn all this if you keep consistent with your diet its piss easy to adjust the size of the meals to gain or lose weight.

I still will use the scales if im prepping a bowl of oats etc. i will measure out 70 or 100 grams and then measure out my water/milk so its the right consistency when its cooked but also so i know how many calories im getting as well and if i need to have a scoop of protein etc. to bump the protein count up for that meal. I dont really mind spending the extra time on certain meals weighing or checking the portion size to make sure its right. Kinda feels like your putting that extra effort in to get the best result possible, i get a kick out of it to be honest.

Each to his own.

 

[NJA82]

One more thing i forgot to add is IMO it is very important if you are gaining mass to calculate your calorie requirements every 1-2 kg you gain, i got stuck at 83kg for ages cause i wasnt eating enough, i thought i needed 2800-3000 or so cal a day cause when i was 78kg thats what i used to gain and it got me to 83 slowly, as soon as i re calculated and seen i needed 3600 or so cal to gain again i have since gotten up to 86kg in about 2 months with as minimal fat gain as i probably could have managed as well. This is where its important as well, eat LOTS and stupidly to gain and you will have a bitch of a time trying to cut.