it's not nonsense just because you're measuring it wrong. your body isn't a perfect calorimeter but it does obey the laws of thermodynamics.
when i was in a good enough headspace to be measuring everything and exercising regularly, I found I was slightly over-estimating my intake, whether that's labelling error, cooking loss, my body not absorbing as much as expected, or under-estimating my calories out doesn't matter because i was consistent methodologically so all the inaccuracy was in the same direction and precision was maintained.
the bigger problem with calorie tracking is that most people aren't chem lab dorks and will do a bad job on the data collection and under-estimate unlabeled prepared meals, forget to count condiments, extra butter, beverages, etc. or wildly overestimate on the output side.
i also think i read something about food labelling using a different method and some kind of correction for absorbtion, but i can't remember if that was enacted or like a FDA proposal and the labelling was "good enough" for me 5 or 10 years ago for the significant figures I was precise enough to care about.
it's not nonsense just because you're measuring it wrong. your body isn't a perfect calorimeter but it does obey the laws of thermodynamics.
when i was in a good enough headspace to be measuring everything and exercising regularly, I found I was slightly over-estimating my intake, whether that's labelling error, cooking loss, my body not absorbing as much as expected, or under-estimating my calories out doesn't matter because i was consistent methodologically so all the inaccuracy was in the same direction and precision was maintained.
the bigger problem with calorie tracking is that most people aren't chem lab dorks and will do a bad job on the data collection and under-estimate unlabeled prepared meals, forget to count condiments, extra butter, beverages, etc. or wildly overestimate on the output side.
i also think i read something about food labelling using a different method and some kind of correction for absorbtion, but i can't remember if that was enacted or like a FDA proposal and the labelling was "good enough" for me 5 or 10 years ago for the significant figures I was precise enough to care about.