Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

The easiest thing about pre-packaged meals is being able to read how many calories, carbs, protein, etc. it has.

But when you're cooking how exactly do you count everything? I mean if i have a quantity of specific veggies and/or pasta, etc. in something like a stirfry... do you just add all the calories and such for each ingredient together? This has puzzled me and has held me back from cooking.

Thanks in advance!

.Kyle.

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-Kyle-

Hey Kyle.

I almost never count my calories. I don't really believe in that concept, it's not only how much, but what you eat - quality instead of quantity.
I try to estimate what i eat and some days i write everything down, to check the real numbers.

When you cook, count only the important parts of your meal. Most veggies i'd count as zero, they are so low in calories. Count only grains, seeds, nuts etc., stuff high in calories. It's easier that way, and every caloric number you get is ALWAYS just an estimation!

When you try to bulk, counting calories is even less important than when you try to cut. Just eat When you gain fat too fast (not likely when you work out hard and are an ecto, as i'd say by your pic), simply eat less junk, like sugar and white flour products, and eat less in the evening.

The only number i keep an eye on is the protein total per day. It's more important to me than the calories and easier to count.
Calories should vary over the days anyway

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No one said it would be easy.

Most containers of food, such as pasta will have a proportionate measure of calories per cup. It just becomes a matter of reading everything and measuring your portions to fit you daily caloric needs. If you purchase a bulk ingredient such as fruit or unpackaged nuts, you can go to online sources like this http://www.ntwrks.com/~mikev/chart1.html which has all of the food sorted alphabetically. I hope this helps.

cool. thanks! both your replies really help.

the reason why im tryin to count the calories is to make sure im eating enough. i figure im suppose to double the regular 2k calorie diet if i want to gain. ive not been doing that... except for protein, i try and count how much protein i get. i hear its good to count carbs too, haven't been doing that either.

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-Kyle-

I recommend investing in a food scale. It makes it really easy to measure your portions, and more accurately than with just cups/teaspoons etc. Plus, the one I have lets you input the kind of food it is, then tells you how many cals are in that weight of food. For instance, if I put a whole apple on, it'll tell me it's 6oz and 120cal of apple, or whatever it may be. It's just an estimation still of course, but much more useful than just guessing

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