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Help understanding nutrition and how to properly count calories

I’ve recently started trying to actively count my calories. I knew 1g of protein/carb = 4 calories and 1 g of fat =9 calories and incorrect assumed that meant 100 g of chicken breast for example = 400 calories. I looked at the nutrition label for chicken breast though and imagine my surprise to find out the 110g of chicken only has about 25g of protein and approx 1g of fat. My question is, what is the remaining 84g if it’s not protein, fat or carbs and am I supposed to account for those 84 missing grams in any way

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Answer

You don’t need to use that 1g protein = 4 cal or anything like that to calculate calories. Just use the nutritional information on the packaging (and google the few things you don’t have packaging for).

If you’re curious, the rest of the weight is probably mostly water

Answer

You(and most people) will probably not count calories accuratly. But calorie counting works for weight loss/gain, cause even if you don’t properly count them, you can still lower/increase your perceived calories to make the weight Go down/up.

Answer

It’s almost always water. All food just like anything alive is mostly water.

This is why when counting calories it’s important to know if you should weigh the food before or after cooking, because cooking food takes significant water out and it’s always a variable amount.

Answer

I don’t understand people’s obsession with counting calories.

And I think it might be unhealthy.

Just eat a balanced diet, whole grains, fruits/veggies/legumes, nuts, some fish/meat but not too much. Listen to your body and don’t overeat.

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