Calorie count and meal size
Posted by wayneshep! on Jul 02, 2009 · Member since Nov 2008 · 379 posts
For those of you who count the calories in meals do you find yourself eating large amounts of low calorie food or a relatively small amount of medium to higher calorie food? I've recently been eating a lot of carrots and celery which are both pretty low in cal (especially the celery) so my meals have been relatively large.
I don't count calories, but I generally go for large meals. I like feeling sickeningly stuffed. So, like, I'll have a dry cup of oatmeal (with water of course!) or a whole can of beans - but plain oatmeal and plain beans. I don't know what constitutes low calories. Those two are probably 350 calories each, so I'd call them medium calorie meals.
It depends on what I'm feeling like. I don't really count calories either and stick to serving size (generally a 1/2 cup of grains/legumes/protein). I don't stick to any guidelines when it come to non-starchy vegetables, I eat as much as I want. If I want something really calorie dense (the vegan cookie I had from Whole Paycheck today), I'll compensate by eating less. I like feeling full in the evening cause I'm a notorious late-night eater, so I usually have a huge salad (literally 10 cups or so) for dinner.
That TOTALLY depends on what your nutritional goals are. If you need to lose eat, you should eat foods that are less dense in calories and more dense in nutrients (like veggies, for example). If you are maintaining or gaining weight, then you can afford to eat more calorie-dense foods.
For me, I'm losing weight. I don't count calories, but I mean I have a general working knowledge of the approximate calories in most things. I eat small meals throughout today. I eat whole-grain toast with peanut butter in the morning before my workout (fairly dense but slow to digest), a protein bar after, fruit/smoothie for an in-between meal, and something healthy (whether it's a bean dish or a tofu dish, etc, with lots of veggies and not a lot of fat or sugar, and a grain too) for dinner. But I also train very hard.
I don't think it's something to obsess about. In general it's better to eat the most of those foods which are low calorie density and high nutrient density. Things that aren't are your fats and sugars.
If I'm eating vegetables or fruit like you suggest, I'll usually eat bigger portions just knowing that I can because there are very few calories and the calories that ARE in it have zero or close to zero from fat. I mean you're fine if you're just eating to get full, but if you're just eating to eat and like pigging out that's different. Go ahead and eat all the veggies you want though. Plus, if you eat more of that, you'll eat smaller portions of the food following that, if there is any, such as pasta or other starchy foods.
Ideally, I fill half my plate (or more) with veggies, I snack on fruits between meals. I'll eat nuts or peanut butter as a snack if I feel VERY hungry and have a long time before I'll eat again.
I try to have small meals with several different foods, and then just snack all the time.
I guess I do eat a lot more if I'm eating fruits/veggies/healthy foods because I can afford to, and I don't think it's that "bad" if I eat a few too many calories one day.
I do count calories, even though I'm trying to get away from it. I don't think it's really helped me that much over the years. But having an awareness of calories can help, such as knowing which foods I shouldn't go crazy on! But I try to eat lots of mini-meals w/o too high of a calorie count each.
I do both. I think you have to figure out what works for you.
Yeah ideally you'll be eating balanced meals so you'll have a combination of foods on your plate anyway. I mean, if I'm having a salad plate I'll have lots of cucumber and tomato, spoonfuls of coleslaw or potato salad, just a few olives as they're very salty, whatever. You take an appropriate portion of any given food, if that makes sense.
I usually eat large amounts of low calorie food until dinner, which is when I usually have something pretty calorie dense like casseroles, burgers, pizzas etc along with a salad. However if I eat something with quite a few calories in it during the day (like today for example I had a couple of muffins with lunch) I will try to have more veggies for dinner and less carbs.
I used to be obsessed with counting calories though so I'm trying to get out of the habit. If you eat sensibly then you don't need to.