How accurate are Americans at estimating calories?

http://survata.com/blog/how-accurate-are-americans-at-estimating-calories/

by ckelly • 14 years ago

37 75 14 years ago

Sure, these probably aren't necessary for people whose parents taught them proper portion size and diet control. But some of us grew up with parents who still fight eating disorders. Two tools were instrumental in teaching myself how much to eat:

1. Calorie counting app. I use MyFitness daily and record everything in it. The app gives me one number -- how many calories are remaining for today -- on which I can focus and remember. Other apps are probably as good, I've never tried. This really helped me learn how to control my portions and stay honest with myself.

2. Calorie counts on menus. When looking at fast food, I'll remember how many calories are remaining for today, and I'll often change my choices. I've chosen the 300-calorie cheeseburger over the 600-calorie double cheeseburger many times, mostly because the difference was listed on the menu.

One of my goals was to change how I thought about food -- instead of being a magic elixir, it became a game: I have 2000 calories to spend today, but if I spend 600 calories on this burger, I won't be able to afford the 400 calories of beer I want to drink tonight. This is because I've already budgeted 1600 calories across my other meals. I've lost 80 lbs this way and maintained this lower weight for months.

CodeCube3• 14 years ago

Congrats on meeting your goals!

bjourne3• 14 years ago

That sounds like a great idea and I've been looking for something similar to try and lose weight. But if you eat out a lot and the calorie count is not written on the menue, how are you going to record it? For example, if you order chicken with rice, that may be a fairly healthy choice except if there's to much cream and butter in the sauce.

Eating healthy definitely is hard. Also can you link to the app? My google-fu is failing me.

streptomycin• 14 years ago

Calorie estimates are never perfect, but a rough estimate is much better than nothing.

drm237• 14 years ago

Looks like http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps

rwmj• 14 years ago

I think the fact you're looking at fast food menus could be the problem. Cook food from scratch -- it's fun and healthy.

danielgrieve• 14 years ago

Don't assume as much, as recent as today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20713985

stephengillie3• 14 years ago

My mom cooked from scratch. She fried chicken, put lots of butter in the mashed potatoes, put butter in vegetables, always had gravy, etc. But "it was ok because they're low-sodium low-cholesterol heart-healthy home-cooked recipes".

Just cooking from scratch by itself doesn't solve the problem. You have to ensure you're using healthy ingredients.

bad_user5• 14 years ago

IMHO, calorie counting is not as important as carbs and fats counting on menus.

One of our greatest problems with dieting is that calories are not really equal and the effect food has on you really depends a lot on your particular metabolism. Maybe if you eat more than 2000 daily calories worth of stake and diary you get fat, but I can eat more than that without any effects whatsoever, while a single cookie ads 2 pounds on me (my body retains a lot of water after eating sugar).

And it's a problem because the common advice given to people doesn't work so well. Which is why dieting hasn't really caught on.

Personally I separate foods in dangerous (for me) and non-dangerous. I measure my weight every morning and I know precisely what types of food lead me to gain weight. For the non-dangerous kind I have no restrictions and eat as much as I please, as long as I don't combine it with the dangerous kind ... whenever I do that, I starve myself a little (for a day or so, eating some fruit and a yogurt), then it's back to normal.

Btw, I lost 44 pounds this year after cutting my sugar intake drastically + a dissociated diet that lasted for 4 months. Right now I'm happy that the diet is over and my weight has stabilized to the point that I eat whatever I like, except snacks (which I never liked anyway) and sugars. Of course I don't overeat, because I don't feel the need to do that anymore - somehow giving up on sugar has cut into my appetite.

lrm2423• 14 years ago

Calories are the only determinant as to whether you gain or lose weight. It's thermodynamics. 3500 calories deficit or surplus is approximately equal to 1 lb of body weight lost or gained.

Your body burns X calories per day to feed itself. If you eat less than this number, you will lose weight. Period. If you eat more than this number, you will gain weight. Period. Your TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure can be easily estimated if your are so inclined, but it isn't necessary. Want to lose weight? Start at 2,000 calories per day. Monitor your weight across 4 weeks. If you aren't losing at a rate you're happy with, drop it to 1,800 calories per day. Repeat.

If you want to lose 5 lbs, you need a net deficit over time of 3500 * 5 = 17,500 calories.

Good/bad foods play a different role in your overall health, for example by impacting your level of water retention or satiety.

jaredsohn3• 14 years ago

Shouldn't you expect to lose that water weight at some point though? Longer term weight gain should be calories in - calories out. What you eat might affect how full you feel (which could cause you to overeat in some circumstances), and macros matter if you're trying to build/maintain muscle.

My understanding is that peoples' weight problems are that they underestimate the calories of what they eat (related to specific foods or portions or forgetting details like the butter used for cooking) or overestimate that caloric effects of exercise.

klochner2• 14 years ago

Water weight may make it harder to track your "true" weight, but that shouldn't affect your eating decisions.

More specifically, your water retention will fluctuate up and down within a narrow band depending on your diet, but you will never put on 40 pounds of water weight.

It's similar to limiting your how much water you drink so that you don't have all the liquid in your belly making you heavier.

Shorel• 14 years ago

IMHO fats is too generic.

Do you mean unsaturated, polyunsaturated or saturated fats?

Margarine or butter?

The answer is just as significant for any diet as the carbohydrates quantity.

drivebyacct2• 14 years ago

How did you determine your target caloric intake value? I recently graduated and had a moment of self-realization as to how poor my diet was the last semester off campus and without a meal plan. I'm determined to do something about it, but health and fitness have never been my strong suit.

jaredsohn3• 14 years ago

Use a calorie calculator such as http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm or http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/ and then adjust based on if you want to gain or lose weight.

Also, check out the reddit/r/fitness FAQ: http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/Fitness for answers to other questions you're likely to have next.

indiecore7• 14 years ago

This would be insanely helpful for those of us who are cutting/bulking and want to keep track of exact amounts. Even better would be listing macro-nutrients along with the calorie count.

CodeCube3• 14 years ago

But at that point it becomes a UX issue. There's only so much space on a printed menu. Calories are an easy to print, single data point.

indiecore7• 14 years ago

QR codes?

"For nutritional information check our website or scan this [qr code]"

wpietri2• 14 years ago

Sigh. The OK Cupid "Let's look at the data" posts were so great that it's depressing to see other companies try to get attention by half-assing their way through a little research and coming up with a surprising conclusion.

Protip: When the conclusions of your amateur study contradict a peer-reviewed study done by professionals, your first thought should not be: gosh, those eggheads were wrong! Instead it's time to re-check your study design.

Roybatty• 14 years ago

What "we need" is oversight by another federal government agency that can issue us smart cards that are mandated by grocery stores and will help us in deciding what we can buy and how much.

I hear Michael Bloomberg has already invested in a startup.

KeliNorth• 14 years ago

Recently the places I've lived have all had calorie counts on menus. It's very helpful. That way, when presented with a choice between a 400 calorie meal for $10 and a 1200 calorie meal for $10, I know which one will give me more calorie for my buck.

Yes, some of us use it to get more calories, not less. It's just far too helpful to know exactly how many calories you're getting. It's not just for people dieting or wanting to eat less.

sliverstorm• 14 years ago

Yup, I'm in this boat! I regularly use the calorie count to maximize my Cal/$. I have a hard time keeping weight on.

parfe• 14 years ago

>Recently the places I've lived have all had calorie counts on menus.

The Affordable Care Act required displaying calorie counts across the entire United States. http://www.fda.gov/food/labelingnutrition/ucm217762.htm

Wasn't a coincidence you saw those counts in all the recent places you've lived (assuming you live in the US).

alxndr• 14 years ago

"Estimates for fast food calories were significantly misguided – but in both directions! Apparently we have been misled by those oh-so-catchy jingles."

So, the short answer is: Yes.

gav• 14 years ago

Living in NYC I've definitely appreciated seeing the number of calories on the menu; I'd like to see it everywhere and not just chains.

I'm much more likely to order something with a lower amount of calories. If there are three choices: 400, 600, and 800 calories, I'll pick the middle and feel better about the choice. I now know that a large combo meal at McDonalds is easily 3/4 of what my daily intake would be.

Secondly, it shows up the hidden calories. How many people realize that the 20oz of soda with their meal adds an addition 200-250 calories? Or that an venti eggnog latte at Starbucks is a scary 610 calories.

I think restaurants are a big culprit. You have no idea how good or bad the food you are ordering is.

treerock• 14 years ago

One concern may be how easy would it be for a small restaurant to do this? Large chains with highly standardised processes probably have this information to hand. But for small restaurants, even if they analysed every meal before putting it on the menu, how do you know the chef wasn't a bit heavy handed with the cream that day.

The differences may be small enough to be negligible, but it could still be costly for small restaurants that are already operating under tight margins.

jakubp• 14 years ago

What is the purpose of calorie counting for humans exactly? Most people don't get fat/slim/strong/weak because they ate too much/too little [calories]. It's what you eat.

Adirael3• 14 years ago

You eat X calories, you use Y calories. If X > Y most of the difference is stored (as fat), if Y > X your body burn the energy stored (fat, at some point, but it depends).

It's simple math and it's scientifically proven. 2000 kcal are 2000kcal, it doesn't matter if they come from a single burger or 10kg of lettuce.

It's not what you eat, it is how much you eat.

indiecore7• 14 years ago

To be fair a lot of people are REALLY bad a measuring and estimating both how much they eat and how much they exercise.

UnFleshedOne• 14 years ago

I'd say it does matter, 10 kg of lettuce will take forever to digest and will require way more energy. Individual metabolism quirks will also affect how much of it comes out of the other end relatively intact.

johnward2• 14 years ago

Calories do matter. It just so happens that when we make bad choices of food we take in much larger amounts of calories. Sure you can say certain macronutrients are better for building muscle/losing fat but in the end a caloric deficit will cause you to lose weight. I'm eating much more volume of food right now but still losing weight. It's hard to pack on calories eating just chicken, brown rice, and veggies. I could get 1 big mac and take in more calories than my entire day of chicken/rice.

rpsw• 14 years ago

I can see your point, but I hope you are eating more than 550 calories a day (amount of calories in a Big Mac in the US).

legitsource2• 14 years ago

Some people can eat anything and naturally regulate their caloric intake.

Other people can eat whole foods (meat, vegetables, fruits, etc.) and keep a stable weight.

Others have an appetite that isn't well linked to their caloric intake and try to use external markers to guide what they should eat.

As long as it works, go for it.

rb2k_• 14 years ago

Calories help, but especially for high-fat, low-carb diets they are pretty useless (see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4892592 )

john61• 14 years ago

What is really underestimated and forgotten are the calories of the daily casually snacks and drinks.

drx• 14 years ago

Interesting to see some evidence for my anecdotal experience that people severely overestimate McDonald's calorie counts (not to mention unhealthiness).

People look at me like I'm a crazy person when I tell them you could eat 4 cheeseburgers a day and still lose weight (provided you don't each much else, granted, but still).

I wonder if McDonald's ever ran any research on whether trying to reanchor their food as healthy would boost or hurt their sales.

ssharp• 14 years ago

Two points:

1) The minute your food touches a deep fryer, I think all bets on accurate estimates are off. My guess is that people don't know how much worse fried chicken sandwiches are for you compared to grilled chicken. A big part of fast food is deep fried french fries, which are mostly sold in "large" sizes due to value meals. There is also the soda element. I don't think most people realize how many calories are in the soda they get at fast food places, again, most likely in a "large" size.

2) A cheeseburger from McDonald's isn't that bad. But sandwiches like burgers have lots of ways to start pilling up the calories. Add an extra slice of cheese, toss on some mayonaise, maybe a little bacon. Pretty soon, you're hitting or going past the 1k calorie level.

So yes, a cheeseburger from McDonald's isn't that a bad (300 calories). A Angus Bacon Burger with large fries and a coke is a pretty bad meal (1600 calories).

jonathanmoore• 14 years ago

Having a calorie count on the menu is helpful. The state of California started requiring this a few years ago and it has influenced what I order.

As an example, before the calorie count I would occasionally go for a tuna sandwich at Subway. I knew that the sandwich wasn't a healthy choice, but after seeing 1,000+ calories next to it on the menu I stopped ordering it. When you see items on the menu in the 1,000+ range and others half of that for the same portion it should influence your chooses.

R_Edward• 14 years ago

Calorie counts on menus is a good start, but it's not enough. It doesn't mean anything to the average American consumer that there are 1800 calories in that Starbuck's Mochaccino he just bought. Contextualize it with an Ad Council campaign to tell people that sedentary middle-aged people (for example) need to consume roughly 10 calories daily per pound of weight they want to maintain. You weigh 180? And you just bought that 1800-calorie candy coffee? Congratulations! you've achieved your maintenance goal for today. Any further calories you consume will be added to your waistline at 3500 calories per pound.

Then remind everyone that a sedentary lifestyle is a choice, and not a very wise one at that. Get your cardio on, and you'll burn through those excess pounds. Maybe even enable yourself to have something besides a Mochaccino each day. Get some resistance training going, and you'll need to ramp your daily intake up just to maintain all that lean muscle mass.

Of course, your mileage may vary; insult a doctor before beginning any weight-loss regimen; and if it hurts when you do that, don't do that.

lrm2423• 14 years ago

Exactly. Few people understand what their calorie budget is and have no way to relate their intact decisions to that budget. Losing weight is simple: eat less than what your body needs to maintain itself. In doing so your body will pull from the energy reserves that it has (fat and muscle) to make up the difference.

legitsource2• 14 years ago

Knowing what to do and doing it are very different things. It took a major macronutrient shift after at least a year of trying to diet and failing before I finally got on my way to losing weight.

I knew I was done for the day, but boredom, stress, and hunger made it only a matter of time before I would crack. A week of eating well, then cracking and eating anything I could get my hands on, then repeat.

calinet6• 14 years ago

See that gigantic logo at the top of the page that says "Survata"—it should be a link to your main web site.

In fact, such a link does not exist anywhere on your blog. You need to add one, or a few if possible.

Jesus. You'd think this was rocket surgery or something.

stcredzero• 14 years ago

1) estimate calories 2) add them up to too much 3) eat anyway and enjoy 4) drive back and resume sedentary lifestyle

debacle2• 14 years ago

This article is rife with boloney statistical analysis and hand-waving, comes to conflicting conclusions at different points in the article, and really doesn't say anything.

ckelly2• 14 years ago

Hi, OP here. We love feedback on our posts, so happy to hear your thoughts on conflicting conclusions - either here or at contact@survata.com. Thanks.

debacle2• 14 years ago

I'm glad that you collected this kind of statistical data - it's important, because caloric intake can really be misjudged (even if you are using a calculator).

I'd probably ask that you provide the data, so a better statistical analysis can be done on it than what was provided, and also that, in the future, you present statistics more scientifically. As others have noted, there seems to be some discrepancies with your reported calorie counts and what companies have reported - you should also address those.

jaredsohn3• 14 years ago

A good resource for understanding calories and their effect on weight:

http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/Fitness

How accurate are Americans at estimating calories?

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