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I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

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Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#141

Post by devmor »

jonplackett wrote: post #108
devmor wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who lost nearly 100lbs (about 45kg) calorie counting and working out, this was a big part of it. It also just made me cognizant of my bad eating habits. I’d absent-mindedly snack on something, go to log it, then think “wait, why am I eating this right now?” and stop. It’s essential educating yourself on nutrition through habit.

Great achievement well done! Out of curiosity, did you track macros too and what calorie deficit did you aim for, and how long did it take?

Yes, macros were key as I was doing a pretty intensive 4-day HIIT program at the time.

I actually aimed strictly for my maintenance calories as I was burning 700-900cal in exercise per workout day. Was very hard work, but rewarding.

It took about a year to drop that much weight, normally I think it would take longer but I had a very dedicated group trainer helping me stay on track.

Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#142

Post by [deleted] »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #119
yreg wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people underestimate the calories in alcohol Funny, I feel the other way around. I kept hearing about how much calories there are in alcohol, and then when I started calorie counting I didn't find it so high. Like 6 shots of gin are ~550kcal and enough to get anyone pretty drunk. Unless one is a regular heavy drinker it's not that hard to once in a while budget calories during the day to be able to get a few s…

I think when people are mentioning alcohol they typically mean beer or wine - a can of beer is ~150 calories, so have a few of those a night, which isn't at all uncommon in some households, and over a week you're up ~1 lbs.

[deleted]

Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#143

Post by netdevphoenix »

cj wrote: post #110
vjulian wrote: post #105

I use ChatGPT (4o model) to track my daily macros, specifically calories, protein, fat, and carbs. I have a prompt containing my macro targets and a list of the foods I typically eat or have at home. Throughout the day, I report my meals, for example five large eggs, two slices of sprouted wheat toast, and a cup of spinach with a pat of butter. It calculates the macros for each meal and keeps a running macros total s…

Do you find this easier than scanning barcodes with traditional calorie tracking apps?

I assume a lot of fruit, fish and meat people buy has no barcode unless you only buy stuff at a supermarket

Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#144

Post by beepbooptheory »

vjulian wrote: post #105

I use ChatGPT (4o model) to track my daily macros, specifically calories, protein, fat, and carbs. I have a prompt containing my macro targets and a list of the foods I typically eat or have at home. Throughout the day, I report my meals, for example five large eggs, two slices of sprouted wheat toast, and a cup of spinach with a pat of butter. It calculates the macros for each meal and keeps a running macros total s…

With stuff like this, I am always curious: ok, you send it a picture of a plate, how does it know the food was cooked in butter instead olive oil? Or either way, with 2 tbsp of fat instead of 1?

Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#145

Post by hedora »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #119
yreg wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people underestimate the calories in alcohol Funny, I feel the other way around. I kept hearing about how much calories there are in alcohol, and then when I started calorie counting I didn't find it so high. Like 6 shots of gin are ~550kcal and enough to get anyone pretty drunk. Unless one is a regular heavy drinker it's not that hard to once in a while budget calories during the day to be able to get a few s…

I think when people are mentioning alcohol they typically mean beer or wine - a can of beer is ~150 calories, so have a few of those a night, which isn't at all uncommon in some households, and over a week you're up ~1 lbs.

Also, 150 calories is somewhere between cheap American beer and a nice IPA or stout. You can easily hit 200-300 calories per beer.

Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#146

Post by pacerwpg »

vjulian wrote: post #105

I use ChatGPT (4o model) to track my daily macros, specifically calories, protein, fat, and carbs. I have a prompt containing my macro targets and a list of the foods I typically eat or have at home. Throughout the day, I report my meals, for example five large eggs, two slices of sprouted wheat toast, and a cup of spinach with a pat of butter. It calculates the macros for each meal and keeps a running macros total s…

Cool, it can replace myfitnesspal features from 10 years ago, but do them worse.

Revolutionary.

Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#147

Post by MangoToupe »

kelstar18 wrote: post #132
vjulian wrote: post #105

I use ChatGPT (4o model) to track my daily macros, specifically calories, protein, fat, and carbs. I have a prompt containing my macro targets and a list of the foods I typically eat or have at home. Throughout the day, I report my meals, for example five large eggs, two slices of sprouted wheat toast, and a cup of spinach with a pat of butter. It calculates the macros for each meal and keeps a running macros total s…

Is it ironic that my AI detector is ringing alarm bells at this comment (both its overall cadence, as well as it’s particularly unnecessary use of an em dash)?

Is the em-dash ever "necessary"? It was beloved by nerds on the internet long before there was any whisper of LLMs on the internet. What do you think chatbots are imitating if not humans who also use it?

Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#148

Post by cj »

jmacd wrote: post #131
cj wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you find this easier than scanning barcodes with traditional calorie tracking apps?

How much of your daily intake comes from food that has a barcode on it?

Nearly all food in the US has barcodes.

Produce, meat, etc might not always, but simply search those the same as you'd ask ChatGPt.

Re: I used AI-powered calorie counting apps, and they were even worse than expected

#150

Post by Iulioh »

jmacd wrote: post #131
cj wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you find this easier than scanning barcodes with traditional calorie tracking apps?

How much of your daily intake comes from food that has a barcode on it?

Personally everything that is not produce

Even the meat, i usually buy packaged

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