measuring calories

[orbital]

I was wondering how you all measure your calories and get the right split. I want to begin bulking. I am 23 yrs old, 6'1, 165lbs. I would like to get to the 185-190 range and then begin cutting. From what I have seen on this site I should be getting lots of calories, 3000 or above and have a 40carb/30protein/30fat split. Not sure if I got all of this correct. I am not sure exactly what my daily caloric intake or split is right now. I have been consciously trying to eat more meals a day, at least 4. I have also consciously been trying to increase the amount of protein I eat, i.e. tuna, eggs, chicken, milk.

So I guess what I would like to know is if I should be measuring my calories and split. If so, how do you find out the calories, protein etc. of non-labelled foods such as a potato? Are there any good websites where I can get this information? I have found some websites where I can get info on this on some foods but not all. Also, using the potato example again, should it be weighed?, i.e. not all potatos are the same size.

Thanks in advance. I have been training off and on for about 3 years but only recently, mostly because of this website, realized the importance of diet.

[Joe Black]

Well I bought a calaorie book that has all the information on a lot of foods in.

Theres also a food database here (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl)

[SnkeSkiner]

My favorite:

www.fitday.com

[orbital]

thanks. that site looks quite useful.

[Shao-LiN]

I use fitday.com to develop my diet and stuff as a good basis. Double checked the nutritional values, they're all pretty much right on with the stuff on the labels.

As for weighing stuff, I weight my meat...that's about it. Potatoes, I would just use my best judgement, hehe.

[MWB]

You can get a cheap food scale at WAL-MART for about $5-$10. That with a nutritional stats book is all you need. Eventually you'll have the stats memorized and it will be second nature.