How do I calculate calories in a recipe?

[Nograts]

So I weighed myself yesterday... 166 lbs @ 5'7". So needless to say I'm starting a serious cut. I've eaten 1500 calories the past two days but I need help on how to calculate recipes that my wife makes. If she makes something like chicken with onions and mushrooms how do i calculate that? I have a food scale..but i can't weigh individual components once they're in there.

Also while I'm asking this what are some go-to's for you guys trying to cut out there for shit that fills your gut but is low calorie? I've been eating like 4 soups a day (like 180 cals each and very filling) but they cost like 2 bucks each. Any tips?

 

[blackdogdeek]

protein:
egg whites (I buy them at target)
cold cuts (turkey, ham)
sirloin
canned tuna
grilled chicken
boneless pork loin
cottage cheese

carbs:
white rice
white bread
small bags of chips or 1 oz portions

Regarding the calories in food, can't you weigh everything before it gets added to the recipe then calculate the total calories and then weigh your portion to determine the calories in the portion?

 

[giantpandaman2]

I use this website.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

Takes a little while to figure out but once you do it has tons of good empirical info.

 

[Scarpozzi]

When it comes to calorie counting in recipes, the stuff that matters most is fats (oils), sugar, and processed carbohydrates (flour/bread). Those three things account for most of the bad calories in your diet. If you have recipes that are mostly vegetables and/or lean protein, you can eat more volume. Just remember that counting calories is a great way to become aware of your intake, but it's not an exact science by any means....nor is your burn rate. Your best bet is to generalize the best you can and don't get too hung up on nailing it down 100%.

Myfitnesspal does all this for you and helps you track your daily food in a food diary.

You can use their recipe calculator too. Setup an account/download the app then go here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Enter the ingredients into wolframalpha. It'll spit out the nutritional info.

Example:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?...+eggs+++1+cup+of+bbq+sauce+++tsp+black+pepper

recipe calculator is another alternative:
http://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Just do rough estimates, then consistently log your intake and weigh yourself for a couple of weeks.
The only surefire way to see if you're doing it right.

Sites like MyFitnessPal help with figuring out the content of food, but don't get too hung up on the minutiae.

This ain't no get-rich-quick scheme and you should be setting your sights on 2-2.5lb max _real_ loss per week, which already means a daily caloric deficit of 1,000 - 1,250 (a lot!).

 

[rga]

For things like mushrooms and onions, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

100g of raw mushrooms for example, has 22 calories, with 3.5g of carbs (1g of fiber), 0.5g fat.

100g of raw onion has 42 calories, no fat, 10g of carbs (1.5g of fiber), 1g of protein.

If you're flavouring food with sauces, frying them in oil, etc. then measure the number of tablespoons/teaspoons you're using of each.

If you want to stay at 1500 calories per day and feel full most of the time, I would recommend go-to foods that are high in protein and moderate-to-high in fat. Meat, nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, cottage/cheese, etc. Vegetables high in fiber will also help you stay full - romaine lettuce, baby/spinach, broccoli, etc.