I just dont get it keeping track of calories eaten??

I read this over and over and over.. How in the world do u track and keep up with how many calories u take in.. Okay for example just say i grilled a piece of chicken, had corn, and toast how do i know how many calories is that..  then breakfast egg and bacon etc etc.. i mean do u do this. i would like to track how many caloires i take in.. So lets say i went to a place that sells only protein shakes .. lets say there 200 caloires each is if i had 3 thats 600calories for the whole day correct??  So then where does this excercise stuff come in where im reading people have to intake 1000 calories to burn this and that? or they wont lose if the go below there calorie intake.. CAN SOMEONE IN LIGHTING ME.. hate to sound like an idoit.. just need help understanding.. thanks

I like to use thedailyplate.com to track my caloric intake and exercise. Its very user friendly~takes a little bit to get things set up, but then its a breeze! I know others use fitday.com or sparkpeople.com, but after trying all of the out, thedailyplate has been the best for me (I use the free version and it has everything needed). You can track foods seperately, like 4oz of chicken, or you can "create a meal" for example I eat the same salad every day~lettuce, 2oz deli chicken, 1oz mild cheddar cheese, croutons and ranch~so I made my own meal for this and its only 1 click for the entire salad. Check it out and hope it helps!!!!

Buy a book that gives you an estimate for calories, protein, etc.  (Atkins has a pretty good one.) and become a label reader.  You can also Google for sites that track calories for you.

Hope this helps.

Sherry

The farther out I get, the more important I see the need to continue logging.  I recentlly was taking in more calories than I should because I no longer needed all my protein shakes and am able to eat food again.  It took logging my calories and when I saw how many I had one day, wow I was shocked!  Calories are very important to watch after you lose all the weight.  I don't worry about getting protein in because I eat high protein foods and supplement...  but it concerns me going over my daily limit.  If I want to eat something, I plug it into the daily plate...  if it looks too high, I change it to something else so that it does not mess up my planning and my day.

hey there

I can't count calories either don't feel bad.... you can use a free website  www.dailyplate.com, there you just jot in your food and it calculate eveyrthing..hope that help

I'm too thin and if I didn't keep track of how much at ate calorie and protein wise, I'd lose more weight. I have to count. It would be worse if I had muscle...I'd burn more and have to eat more. I already eat all friggin day long...I'd have to quit my job just so I could eat all day long..Sheesh.

How I did was at home. I cooked up a chicken breast for dinner and then cut it up. Put some into my food scale until I had four ounces and then dumped it on my plate to see what it looked like. You do that enough times and you KNOW how much you have there. Hubby has gotten so good he can cut me a piece of meat and say "that's about 3 ounces" and so when I weigh it and it's EXACTLY 3 ounces. And I measure stuff like potatoes and peas for a while until I got good at knowing how much is on my plate.

Then you can go to dailyplate or fitday and figure out how many calories are in what things.

This was really a good thread for me.  I too feel like the origional poster.  Keeping track to sooooo difficult for me.  I did register for the daily plate, but have not used it.  I did have a gain on my second year check up, so I see I NEED to keep track.  I just purchased a scale, and an icecream maker - Eggface has some neat protein recipes that I am dying to try.  So, here we go.  In it for the long haul! 
Have a great rest of the summer:)