Am I eating enough/too much?

[Wasted Ink]

I’m on a calorie-counting diet at the moment - which I have had success on - the only problem is I only ‘guesstimate’ how many calories I’m eating. Here are examples of what I sometimes eat:

Breakfast: Two medium slices of wholegrain toast with reduced-calorie butter.
Lunch: Two slices of wholegrain bread with standard cheddar cheese and reduced calorie butter.
Dinner: low-fat pizza (just under 300 calories) with veggies and homemade chips in a small amount of olive oil.

Sometimes I alternate the toast with porridge, with a liberal amount of semi-skimmed milk and a spoon of Splenda. Occasionally lunch is a mozzarella Panini, with side salad and mayonnaise or soup and a wholemeal roll. Dinner varies, but I tend to alternate between a medium/large jacket potato and tuna or beans, or three veggie sausages, a liberal amount of mash and vegetables. My aim is to eat 1200-1500 a day, no more, and certainly no less. I have read that eating VLC can sometimes weaken organs and I really don’t want that to happen. As long as it’s over 1200, I guess I’m OK. I do take a multivitamin, too, which should help. So basically, I’m just wondering, do the kind of foods I’m eating sound like I am reaching the required caloric amount that I have set for myself. In addition - what is the best way to count calories - should I read every packet of food and record the amounts exactly? - or is my own method accurate enough, seeing as it’s working.

Replies appreciated.

 

[assj]

it sounds okay to me hunni, i am doing the same as you, so hope it works for me too. you sound like your eating the right foods, but maybe vary you evening meal a bit more? maybe make a chilli one time (which if you make enough could last 2 days) or maybe a mixed bean casserole (very nice indeed) just to get some more veg in.
do you have any snacks?
fruit is a good thing to scack on, i love to have an apple mid morning or even an orange, or a bowl of raspberries in the evening if i feel peckish. there are also lots of low cal alternatives to what you maybe use to snack on, snack a jacks, supermarket branded low cal crisps such as asda be good to yourself, weight watchers snacks such as chocolate rolls (i love them but i try not to have too many lol)
Hope i made sense to you lol i do tend to waffle sometimes.

keep it up your doing great.
Sara xxxxx

 

[CrazyBrit]

I can't really comment based on the example, 'cause the example makes it look like you eat a somewhat unbalanced diet on a daily basis. But I'm sure you're mixing it up with some fresh fruit and vegetables in there

Be very, very aware of just how many calories are in cheese, though. 100g of cheddar is something like 400 calories. I'd maybe start measuring rather than guesstimating until your guesstimates can be based on knowledge and experience.

1200 is a pretty good amount to shoot for, sometimes maybe with a 1500 day thrown in to stop the body getting too used to the situation.

Watch out for that mayo, too. It's evil

 

[Wasted Ink]

Thanks for the replies.

Oh, I have fresh veg almost everyday. I can't have much fruit, at the moment, however, because I'm on an acid-free diet on the doctor's orders. I have a problem with my stomach (possibly a stomach ulcer), so have to stay off everything that is remotely acidic or spicy.

 

[CrazyBrit]

Ahhh, that makes sense!
I think I'd cry if I had to stop eating spicy food...

 

[Aria]

This problem concerns me too, because although I try to keep track of the calorie content in everything, I tend to find myself over-estimating the calorie content, or adding calories onto foods that I don't need to add just to play it safe.
For example, according to the packet, a portion of my breakfast cereal with semi-skimmed milk is equal to 169 Calories. Even though I watch my portion size, I will still count my breakfast as 250-300 Cals each day, just in case.
It's only getting through to me recently that this can be quite dangerous, as I run the risk of eating way under 1200 Cals a day.

I am getting better with this though, and realising it would be 'safer' to eat 1400 Cals a day than struggle through on 1000 because I'm not confident enough in my counting.

 

[CrazyBrit]

I can understand rounding-up, but close to doubling your calorie estimates for everything you eat is extremely dangerous!