What does 200 calories look like?

[Cron]

Click on the picture, to get a view of the portion in relation to a plate:
What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

For most people, 1800 calories ( or less for people losing weight ) would be reasonable, so a meal might be about 600 calories......or 3 of those choices.

I think the value of these pictures is not so much in getting a perspective about which foods to choose over others, but to have a concrete image in your mind about what constitutes going overboard with certain foods.

I was shocked with the tiny amounts of Hershey Kisses or dinner rolls needed to get 200 calories.
I have inhaled similar quantities as in the picture without giving it any thought. This is a big deal as 250 calories a day can either mean gaining or losing 26 pounds over the course of a year.

[Donn]

Originally Posted by Cron

Click on the picture, to get a view of the portion in relation to a plate:
What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

For most people, 1800 calories ( or less for people losing weight ) would be reasonable, so a meal might be about 600 calories......or 3 of those choices.

I think the value of these pictures is not so much in getting a perspective about which foods to choose over others, but to have a concrete image in your mind about what constitutes going overboard with certain foods.

I was shocked with the tiny amounts of Hershey Kisses or dinner rolls needed to get 200 calories.
I have inhaled similar quantities as in the picture without giving it any thought. This is a big deal as 250 calories a day can either mean gaining or losing 26 pounds over the course of a year.

Great stuff Cron; it was an eye opener for me. I thought 2000 calories was a maintenance diet for me but I gain weight on it. You've provides some insight for me. Great stuff.

[SmellyOrc]

According to some calorie calculators, I have to eat ~2800 to ~3200 calories a day just to stay at my current weight, which is borderline underweight, imagine what I have to eat to gain weight.... I surely have some eating to do! Great pictures, btw.

[Cron]

You aren't the first person to notice that calorie recommendations are way too high. I think it is sort like the situation with the RDA, they formulate a recommendation after smooshing all different kinds of people together. I also think it these numbers may simply be out of date. They were probably set when people were physically active for a living,and did things in their spare time rather than sitting.

A cheap way to get an accurate idea of your optimum level of calories is to record the calories of all you eat for about 3 weeks, weighing in weekly, and seeing how much it takes to keep you at your weight.

[SmellyOrc]

Originally Posted by Cron

A cheap way to get an accurate idea of your optimum level of calories is to record the calories of all you eat for about 3 weeks, weighing in weekly, and seeing how much it takes to keep you at your weight.

I would if I knew how to calculate the amount of calories that's in my dinner And no, I'm not gonna buy an old scale to weigh my plate on ;D
Anyway, for like the last 2 years (14-16), I've maintained my weight, but I've grown. Hence why I'm borderline psycho...errr underweight. Gotta find out how to add more meals to my day, so I can gain weight and muscles (I'm definitely an ectomorph). Being underweight ain't healthy

[Fusebox]

Okay im going to ask a newb question.

Is there a direct correlation between joules and calories? Food labels always list kilojoules and ingredients never calories.

[Matthew Shea]

They're different units to measure the same thing. 1 calorie = 4.1868 kilojoules.

[Fusebox]

aah cool. thanks.