Counting those calories

This topic contains 5 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by Isothermicray 5 years, 11 months ago.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

MentalKitten

8:48 pm
17 Jan 19
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Just about to start this journey!. I’ve decided that my fast days will, like many others I’mm sure, be Mondays and Thursdays and I’m aiming to lose around 15-20kgs. Living in Greece, a lot of the food mentioned in the meals aren’t available as Greeks work on a seasonal diet, so certain vegetables aren’t available out of season. My question is therefore; whats the best way to find out how many calories are in food?
I’m wondering if it is just easier not to eat at all on my fast days, consuming only milk free tea and coffee.
Thoughts please.

CalifDreamer

10:07 pm
17 Jan 19
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Welcome to the 5:2 forum, MentalKitten. Many of us use myfitnesspal which you can find here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com It’s free for the basic version which is what I use. It has both fresh and packaged foods listed. You can even scan the bar code on the package for a lot of items. It keeps track of your daily calories and many nutrients. It’s easy to use and pretty intuitive. There are other apps as well that others will probably recommend here. I’ve never found a need for any others. And of course, you could just Google the name of the food and “calories” to find out the count. An inexpensive kitchen scale can come in handy for fresh foods.

Some people choose not to eat at all on fast days (FD). I find that difficult, so I eat 500 calories per day. I lost about 13 kg to reach my goal in 2017 and have been using 5:2 to maintain my weight ever since. I fast on Monday’s and Thursdays too, only occasionally changing the days to accommodate holidays or celebrations. It has become such a way of life that it’s almost automatic. I eat a little more on the 5 non-fast-days (NFD) than I did when I was losing weight.

I hope you enjoy this way of eating and find it as helpful as I have. I plan to continue it for maintenance indefinitely. I have too many skinny jeans now to have to go out and buy big sizes! 😁

Isothermicray

3:38 am
18 Jan 19
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Hi from sunny Brisbane Qld Australia
Just like MentalKitten I am looking for an accurate calorie chart.
I have searched for calories in a 100 gram fillet steak and found 6 or so different answers.
Tried the Myfittnesspal but its to in depth, looking for 1 slice of rye bread and had to go through 20 manufacturers and or suppliers.
So is there such a thing in this wide world of ours.
Could anyone point me in the right direction please 🙂

fasting_me

8:00 pm
18 Jan 19
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The website CalorieKing.com is what I use. for many items they list brand names, but if you go to specific ingredients [ex: spinach], it will give a list to choose from [ex: raw…cooked…cooked frozen] and you choose the one you want. then it has a drop-down [1 cup… 1 cup chopped…. oz…g…] and you can get the whole nutritional rundown. I use it when I calculate food values for my recipes. Recipes I want to use again, I make an index card and file it.
I just looked up ” Beef Sirloin lean& 1/2″ fat, raw, 100 g.” = 201 calories 12.4 g fat 20.3 g protein

I have lots of recipes to share. If you click my ‘handle,’ you will find my profile. There-in is the address of my blog which I use to help other Fasters with meal choices. All the nutrition is spelled out there too.

Good luck!

MentalKitten

9:36 pm
18 Jan 19
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Many thanks for the replies. I’ve had a look at CalorieKing and its a very useful site. Will certainly be using that to organise my eating. Also many thanks fasting_me, those recipes look great and I will definitely be using some of those.

Isothermicray

8:52 am
20 Jan 19
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Thanks for that Fasting-me will take you up on the recipe’s
Have a good day