Does this sound accurate?

Wasted Ink

Full Member
It's my first day back on CC and I'm feeling anxious over whether I'm counting my calories correctly. I'm aiming for 1600 a day.

First things first. I had porridge for breakfast this morning and measured out 4oz in a baby bottle. I assumed that it would be fairly low calorie, since it didn't look like much, but I've just looked it up on the internet and apparently that equals 133 grams, which is about 365 calories (178 cals per 50 grams.) Does this sound accurate or have I messed up the measuring? This is excluding milk. It seems a lot for what looked such a small amount of porridge oats.

Unforunately I was alseep when my dinner was being made, so I couldn't measure items individually. But based on the idea that 100 g of meat is about the size of a deck of cards, I've worked out that my pork chops should have come to about 410 (but I removed the fat, so how many calories should I call it with the fat removed?)

I also had:

A portion of mixed veg - 49 calories
Seven small roast potatoes - 228
One onion ring - 55 calories
3 TBS of gravy - 150 calories
Olive oil (to cook the potatoes) - 40 calories.

Dinner total: 882

These caloies seem really high, do you think I may be overestimating or do you think that perhaps I was under estimating before? I honestly expected my porridge to come out at about 240 (inc milk) and my dinner at about 700.

Thoughts?
 
First things first. I had porridge for breakfast this morning and measured out 4oz in a baby bottle. I assumed that it would be fairly low calorie, since it didn't look like much, but I've just looked it up on the internet and apparently that equals 133 grams, which is about 365 calories (178 cals per 50 grams.) Does this sound accurate or have I messed up the measuring? This is excluding milk. It seems a lot for what looked such a small amount of porridge oats.

Umm. I have about 30g of porridge oats which is a good amount. I add skimmed milk and a little sugar, and a handful of frozen berries. I zap in the m/wave then stir in a large desertspoon of greek yoghurt (not fat free stuff either). It comes to approx 200kcals and really is ample.

I've worked out that my pork chops should have come to about 410 (but I removed the fat, so how many calories should I call it with the fat removed?)

Hard to say, but I would have thought the average pork chop with fat removed would be about 200kcals.

3 TBS of gravy - 150 calories

Too high I reckon. Maybe 30kcals or could be a bit more. 150 is an awful lot unless you had it in a soup bowl ;)

What are you using to count your calories. Any software? Book? Or guessing?
 
Thanks for the reply! I'm wondering whether the bottle is accurate or not (as odd as that sounds.) As I mentioned, it is a baby bottle, but it does have a measure of oz on the side. The bowl that I put the porridge in was smaller than average and the portion didn't go up to the top.

Yes, I did wonder about the gravy. It seemed too high. Would that be 30kcals per TBS then, or for the whole thing (I'm guessing the former.) What I've been doing to calculate the calories is either read the packaging and look for how many calories for x amount of grams and work it out from there. With things that I’m not sure about (such as the pork chop) I’ve followed the rule that 100 grams of meat is about the same as a pack of cards (size-wise) and worked out the calories that way. I sometimes look things up online if their calories are not stated on the packaging (such as if I'm out.) The problem is, not all foods seem to have calorie content on them - or at least not stated in clear terms. I try not to guesstimate anything, but to an extent I feel I have to. I am going to invest in a good pair of digital kitchen scales, I think. I have some at the moment, but they are old and not entirely accurate. My main concern is eating too little/too much. In the past I’ve cut down on my calories without knowing exactly what I’m eating and I’ve ended up eating too little (less than 1200) or too much (1800 +) I’m pretty sure 1600 is a good amount for me given my weight, height and how long I’ve been losing weight. But I want to make sure I can be as accurate as possible about the numbers.
 
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