Your right, there’s no way the labels can be 100% accurate. 1 chicken leg could have come from ‘peewee chicken’ and the next from ‘chicken o saurus’, they would be very different.
I think they’re there as a guide line, not an absolute.
How many of you watch calories?
PaulL
(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing)
#144
Nor is it easy to come up with a reliable accounting of energy expended.
And that entirely leaves out of the picture that carbohydrate and protein are only approximately 4 cals/g, and fat only approximately 9 cal/g.
ETA: And as Taubes points out, if we believe that calories are all that matter, we have to keep the imbalance between calories in and calories out to less than 20 calories, or we will be gaining or losing weight. Who can be that accurate?
Baytowvin
(TJ Borden)
#145
THANK YOU @PaulL!!! As flawed as counting intake is, the expended energy is really where it completely falls apart.
juice
(Running from stupidity)
#146
Yeah, as I’ve mentioned before, my Fitbit seems to assume that I’m a non-drug-enhanced Olympic runner[1] every time I move my feet.
[1] more unicorns
driver1973uk
(Bruce)
#147
The only time I watch my calories is when I pick them up to put them in my mouth, I don’t count them though! 
dittmarml
(MLD)
#148
If you like these, try switching out leafies for broccoli, broccolini, cauliflower for dark green leafies every now and again. I do kale, romaine, arugula, spinach, chard. For the kale spinach and chard try sautéeing them with olive oil and garlic. Another favorite is to make soup with bone broth, spinach, mushrooms, garlic, heavy cream and butter or ghee. If you want to get really sporty add chicken. Also if you have a blender you can make smoothies with leafies, a few berries, water, HWC, a bit of sweetener. Don’t know if any of that is appetizing…but some thoughts, anyway!
tdean
(Terence Dean)
#149
Yeah but a diver who is 1000ft down wouldn’t agree with that concept, he still needs to count how much oxygen he’s got left. 
Baytowvin
(TJ Borden)
#150
Okay, you got me. I will concede that all people living 1000 feet underwater SHOULD count calories. You happy?!!!
tdean
(Terence Dean)
#151
I’ll take it!! 
‘One small step for calorie counters, and one giant leap backwards for skeptics’
tdean
(Terence Dean)
#152
Add astronauts to your list!! 
Come on people help me out here, I’m on a roll!! 
islandlight
(Laurie)
#153
This thread seems to be going in other directions now, but anyway. . . .
No, I don’t count calories. I’ve never counted calories, even when trying to lose weight other ways, so I never developed the habit. There doesn’t seem to be much point in starting now, although it’s nice to know my approximate caloric intake just as a matter of interest.
On keto, I try to hit certain macro targets, and each of these implies a certain number of calories. So even if I were concerned about calories, counting wouldn’t be necessary. For example, in my case:
100 grams fat (@9 calories per gram) = 900 calories
70 grams protein (@4 calories per gram) = 280 calories
15 grams carbohydrate (@4 calories per gram) = 60 calories
TOTAL = 1240 calories
My fat and carb numbers do go up and down slightly from day to day, which affects the number. But as I say, I’m not counting calories.
Spincrazy76
(Sam)
#154
I’m fairly new to Keto so I do use an app to check on my macros. From listening to Keto podcasts it was recommended to just work on macros first and work on listening to your body. Eat when hungry etc. I found that at first I was over my calories but after a while I was not hungry all the time like I used to be. Now I eat maybe once or twice a day. Depending on my energy expenditure.
tdean
(Terence Dean)
#155
Have you noticed how difficult it gets to count calories when you’re close to your maximum intake for the day and its only lunch time?? That’s when calories get harder to count so you conveniently switch to the non-counting calorie mode and everything is fine again.
Works for me!!
TheWelshWalker
(Lindsey)
#156
I think one of my problems is that I eat out of boredom a lot not because I’m hungry. I need to figure out how to stop that but it’s easier said than done…
Rajseth
(Raj Seth)
#157
As a counterpoint, if the same 100 people were to
Eat when hungry
Eat to satiety
Not eat when not hungry
The results may be a lot different. In fact, IMO, that’s what many do and have success in reducing fat to healthy levels and repairing metabolism. Forcing an arbitrary number of calories is artificial and would force people to eat beyond satiety. I ate 5,500 a day for 3 days for the Feldman protocol and had to force the food in, and was sick of eating after only 3 days. Fasted 3 days just to recover!!
