Sunday, November 27, 2011

Counting Calories

How many calories are in a radish?


Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 
1 large (1" to 1-1/4" dia) (9.0 g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 
1
Calories from Fat 
0
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 
0.0g
0%
Saturated Fat 
0.0g
0%
Cholesterol 
0mg
0%
Sodium 
4mg
0%
Total Carbohydrates 
0.3g
0%
Dietary Fiber 
0.1g
1%
Sugars 
0.2g
Protein 
0.1g
Vitamin A 0%Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 0%Iron 0%
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

So how many radishes can you eat in a day and not explode? Well, that depends on the total amount of mass you carry around. I can tell you for a 215 pound man it is approximately 30-40. However, your breath will be unbearable to others around you. Please don't belch in anyone's direction. They will most likely pass out.

This past month I have been trying my hand at counting calories. It is a work in progress but I think you can safely say that unless you are verrrrrrryyyyy diligent about every calorie you will not see a significant weight.loss.

I downloaded a couple of calorie counting apps for the iPhone and started counting calories for every meal and snack. Now I and my wife are the only two in our house that presently are watching the quality and quantity of consumption. It adds a degree of difficulty in preparing and consuming low-calorie foods. So smaller portions are what becomes the normal. And that makes it harder to live with when your body wants more calories to burn than you are deliberately giving it.

Both MyFitnessPal and MyNetDiary work about the same and gave me an inventory of items, meals and restaurant references to count calories. Some items are not included so both give you a bar code option to scan in the product code. It instantly gives you are the nutrition and calorie information you want. In addition, I found a great app for tracking your walking and running information. Pedometer GPS Free gives you a map of the route you took, calorie burning count, elevation readout, time, speed and many more features. between these three apps I have successfully gained 5 pounds.

Now, I'm not saying these are bad apps or that not useful apps because they are. What I am saying is that I don't seem to have what it takes to count calories correctly and need to take an advanced math class or that I am not diligent enough to stay on track with the tools I have. I really thought that I could do the calorie counting and loose those 20 extra pounds I wanted to loose.

I am looking into the next dietary adventure and will be reporting on what i find soon. There is one that looks at the acidity and alkalinity of foods. Maybe that is a winner. They are telling me that certain foods are more acidic than others. That tends to be better, I think. Then again, maybe chocolate mousse is the answer.