JJ Virgin says most people underestimate how much they eat by 25 to 40 percent. She recommends weighing food on a scale for a month to see your actual intake, then tracking for one or two more weeks to find your average daily calories and protein.
We underestimate how much we eat by anywhere from 25 to 40%. And by the way, they did a study where even the registered dietitians were underestimating what they eat. Here's the really important thing. You're going to be tracking everything you eat. Now, you do not need to do this forever, but what I want you to do is do this for 1 month. It is eye-opening, but it's not enough to try to eyeball it. Remember, we underestimate. You need to use a food scale. It's not enough to use cups or little spoons. You've gotta weigh it, not just measure it. And you don't need to do this forever, but this is gonna really help you see what you're actually taking in. And if you really wanna understand where you're at and kind of know how many calories you need each day, you do this for a week or two and then you track the average. Cuz we're not gonna eat the same every single day, but you'll get an average of, oh, average, I eat about 2,400 calories a day. This is the average I'm getting in, in protein. So you'll see what you need to do there.
