Calorie Counting Again

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Beginner

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Please bear with me while I'm getting started. I've only been counting calories for around a week now and am still trying to get it right. Here is a simple chili recipe I cooked earlier in the week and how I figured the calories:

111 ounce can chili beans
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 pound ground beef (cooked, drained, and rinsed)

Chili beans - 1/2 cup servings, 50 calories per serving, 24 total servings per can

Diced tomatoes - 1/2 cup servings, 3.5 calories per serving, 3.5 total servings per can (2 cans)

1 pound ground beef - 100 gram servings, 259 calories per serving, 8 total servings after cooking (was measured as a little under 1/2 cup for 100 grams)






1) Found total calories per food item
chili beans - 50 calories per serving
x 24 servings per can
1200 total calories per can

diced tomatoes - 25 calories per serving
x 7 total servings for 2 cans
175 total calories for 2 cans

ground beef - 259 calories per serving
x 8 total servings
2072 total calories

2) Added all calories

1200 Chili
175 tomatoes
2072 ground beef
3447 total calories for cooking

3) Add all servings

24 chili
7 tomatoes
8 ground beef
39 total servings for pot

4) Divided total calories by total servings
3447/39 = 88.4 calories per serving (rounded)

I bagged 39 bags of chili at 1/2 cup servings and froze them to eat throughout the month for the family.

This is the only way I know to calculate calories when I'm not cooking foods that are pre calculated.

Would someone please look over this and tell me if I did it correctly?

Thanks much.
 
Beginner said:
Please bear with me while I'm getting started. I've only been counting calories for around a week now and am still trying to get it right. Here is a simple chili recipe I cooked earlier in the week and how I figured the calories:

111 ounce can chili beans
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 pound ground beef (cooked, drained, and rinsed)

Chili beans - 1/2 cup servings, 50 calories per serving, 24 total servings per can

Diced tomatoes - 1/2 cup servings, 3.5 calories per serving, 3.5 total servings per can (2 cans)

1 pound ground beef - 100 gram servings, 259 calories per serving, 8 total servings after cooking (was measured as a little under 1/2 cup for 100 grams)






1) Found total calories per food item
chili beans - 50 calories per serving
x 24 servings per can
1200 total calories per can

diced tomatoes - 25 calories per serving
x 7 total servings for 2 cans
175 total calories for 2 cans

ground beef - 259 calories per serving
x 8 total servings
2072 total calories

2) Added all calories

1200 Chili
175 tomatoes
2072 ground beef
3447 total calories for cooking

3) Add all servings

24 chili
7 tomatoes
8 ground beef
39 total servings for pot

4) Divided total calories by total servings
3447/39 = 88.4 calories per serving (rounded)

I bagged 39 bags of chili at 1/2 cup servings and froze them to eat throughout the month for the family.

This is the only way I know to calculate calories when I'm not cooking foods that are pre calculated.

Would someone please look over this and tell me if I did it correctly?

Thanks much.
Click to expand...

Congrats for being serious enough to count all this out

But, you went by the stated servings on the packages instead of the actual proportions in the chili.

I would do it this way:

Get all ingredients into common terms: 111 oz beans, 29 oz tomatoes, 16 oz beef.

Then add them up for total ounces: 111+29+16=156 oz.

If you add water, weigh the water too (fluid oz. don't = oz, so yes, weigh it) and add that to the total oz. number


Then divide to find percentages: 111/156=71% Beans, 29/156=19% Tomatoes, 16/156=10% beef



OK, so you cook away some water with the beef, but all the calories are still there, this will be close, but obviously not exact (you can never be perfectly exact)

Then say you eat 20 oz total, then you multiply 20 by all the percentages:
20 x 0.71=14.2 oz beans
20 x 0.19=3.8 oz tomatoes
20 x 0.10=2 oz beef

Now get a fitday account (fitday.com) and create each item as a custom food and simply enter the amounts you came up with

That's how I do it
 
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P.S.

Instead of relying on draining and rinsing the ground beef, just use extra lean (96% lean) ground beef. That way you are truly limiting unhealthy fats and you lose fewer ounces from oil and water cooking out
 
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How lovely! Thank you for the help. I've never been much good in math. I'll try to do it like this from now on. I cook chili, homemade vegetable soups, etc about once a month and was having a hard time with the calorie count.
 
What have you determined your daily calorie requirements to be?
Have you started a training routine?

What are your goals?

I am thoroughly impressed with how meticulous you are in determining the calories in foods you prepare----------this needs one thing:



ROCK ON!


Best wishes



Chillen
 
I use to help figure out calories in my diet, and there is also a recipe tool that you can use to help calculate the calories in your meals. As long as you can find the ingredients or substantial equivalent in their database, you can get a good estimate for your home-cooked recipes.
 
Reply

Chillen said:
What have you determined your daily calorie requirements to be?
Have you started a training routine?

What are your goals?

I am thoroughly impressed with how meticulous you are in determining the calories in foods you prepare----------this needs one thing:



ROCK ON!


Best wishes



Chillen
Click to expand...


Thank you. From what I've calculated from my height, weight, and physical activity, my calorie intake -should- be 3336.7 per day without the calorie deficit. I've subtracted 1000 calories from that and currently aim for 2336.7 calories per day. All this relies on if I have my activity rate right. I used the formula you posted and chose "moderately active". I currently walk 1 mile per morning for 6 days out of a week with 5 pound weights on each ankle. I also use a workout DVD called Taebo Total Body Fat Blaster, or something like that. I'll admit to not being able to do EXACTLY everything they do. But, I do as much as I can and last throughout the entire one hour workout. This is done 6 days a week as well. I don't go to a gym. I live in a small town and would have to drive 30 minutes just to get to one. Not to mention the fact that we live on a budget. I'm a single mother.

My other daily activities are simple homemaker related. I don't work at a physically demanding job.

Would you say I have my calories calculated correctly?


Edit: I forgot to answer your question about my goals. Currently, I am 6'1" tall and my weight is around 300 pounds. My only goals are reaching a healthy weight for my height and maintaining that weight.
 
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Beginner said:
Would you say I have my calories calculated correctly?
Click to expand...
Chillen is more well versed than I at figuring your metabolic rate, but the simplest way to know you are correct is to weigh yourself every week. I recommend weighing first thing in the morning on an empty stomach with similar (or no) clothing every time.. At a 1000 calorie deficit per day you should lose 2 lbs a week. You will likely lose more than that the first few weeks because you may lose a lot of water, but it should level out.
 
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Bookworm54 said:
I use to help figure out calories in my diet, and there is also a recipe tool that you can use to help calculate the calories in your meals. As long as you can find the ingredients or substantial equivalent in their database, you can get a good estimate for your home-cooked recipes.
Click to expand...


That site seems to be extremely helpful. I appreciate your posting it for me.
 
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