Secondly, by keeping track of your calorie intake, you will be more mindful of what you are eating. You will start to make healthier choices. When you want to lose weight, you should start keeping track of the calories you're consuming every day. This will give you a better idea of how many calories certain foods or drinks have, and you'll probably want to cut back once you realize how many calories you're consuming. Additionally, by keeping track of your calorie intake, you'll be more mindful of the food choices you're making and you'll likely start making healthier decisions.
I began my calorie counting journey at the start of this year when I wanted to lose some winter weight. However, before I started, I thought the whole concept was silly. Why would I want to count calories? I was curious, though, so I decided to give it a try.
Now that I’ve accomplished my weight loss goal, I can see the many benefits it has and I feel wiser for it. I’ve learnt a lot and now I can offer knowledge and tips to help you on your own weight loss journey.
First Thing’s First: What is a Calorie?
Most of the people that have told me that calorie counting does not work, could not actually define the word. All they knew is that counting them did not help them lose weight.
Well, to really understand why calorie counting is still the simplest way to lose weight, and how to do it correctly, you need to know a lot more than that. But let’s start with the simple:
A calorie is a unit of energy. It is the amount of energy required to heat up one kilogram of water one degree Celsius.
A calorie is simply a unit of measurement for stored energy.
Calorie counts are a measure of the potential energy a food contains. Some foods are more energy dense than others, meaning they have more calories per gram. For example, a tablespoon of olive oil contains about 100 calories, while a tablespoon of protein powder has only 30 calories.
Do you ever wonder how many calories are in the food you eat? The calorie content of food is measured using devices called calorimeters. There are many different types of calorimeters, but they all work on the laws of thermodynamics and measure different heat-related properties of food.
It's important to understand that a calorie isn't just a random number assigned to food – it's a real, measurable unit of energy that has a direct impact on weight loss.
What Your Body Does With Calories
How do you think your body uses the calories you consume?
People usually say they don't know how carbs are stored, or they think it turns to fat. It's true that carbs can be stored as fat, but there's more to it than that.
Your body needs energy to stay alive. Every cell needs a steady supply of fuel, which it gets from food.
The 24-hour measurement of how much energy your body uses to perform all basic functions related to staying alive is your “basal metabolic rate,” or “BMR.” Excluding any physical activity, your BMR is the amount of energy needed to keep your body functioning.
The basal metabolic rate is the amount of energy that an organism needs to keep its body functioning at a basic level. This includes all of the processes that keep the body alive, such as breathing, circulating blood, and maintaining body temperature.
For example, according to the Katch McArdle formula, my BMR should be about 2,100 calories per day, which is how much energy my body should burn every day without taking any physical activity into account.
I'm saying that your BMR might not be static even if your body composition doesn't change because it can be impacted by dietary and exercise habits over time. This is called “metabolic adaptation” and is an interesting topic on its own.
Before you get started with calorie counting, here is what you should know and consider first:
1. Determining your daily calorie intake
You can either achieve this by eating less or exercising more. To lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume. This can be done either by eating less or exercising more.
To calculate your BMR, follow this formula: To lose weight, you should consume fewer calories than your Basal Metabolic Rate. To calculate your BMR, follow this formula.
To calculate your BMR, go to this page and enter your activity levels, age, sex, weight and height.
In order to get a rough estimate of how many calories you should consume daily to maintain your weight, you need to add your BMR and estimated calories your body needs for typical daily activities.
A general guideline for determining a daily calorie intake that will lead to weight loss is to deduct 500 calories from the amount of calories needed to maintain your weight. If you consistently count calories and follow this guideline every day, you can expect to lose about one pound each week. While this may not seem like a lot, exercising more frequently can help you lose weight at a faster rate.
2. How much weight do you want to lose? How quickly?
After deciding how much weight you want to lose, the next step is to come up with a plan on how you're going to achieve that goal. This may involve changing your diet, starting an exercise routine, or both. Be sure to write down your plan and make sure it's something you're realistically able to commit to.
It is a good idea to have a timeline for your weight loss goals. You should be aware that losing weight too quickly is not healthy. Health professionals say that a healthy rate of weight loss is losing two pounds or less per week.
If you want to lose weight quickly, you need to create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than you burn. A calorie deficit calculator can help you determine how many calories you need to eat each day to reach your desired weight loss goal.
After you have a better understanding of your numbers and what weight loss goals you want to achieve, begin tracking your calories!
How do you actually count calories?
Calorie counting is not complicated. You need to know how many calories there are in certain foods and their weight.
To check how many calories are in a food item, you first check the calorie label (if it exists).Then, you divide the number of calories per 100g by 100. For example, if the weight of the food is 30g and there are 300 calories per 100g, you would use the following formula: 30 x (300/100) = 300.
If you're not great at math, there are tons of apps that make calorie counting much easier. You don't have to do any calculations if you don't want to. Just input the food you eat, its weight/portion, and the app will do the rest.
It's a good thing you don't always have to know the weight of things when it comes to calorie counting. For example, if you take one teaspoon of honey, you will know that it contains about 20 calories. You can find this information online and in calorie counting apps.
The following are some tips I have based on my own personal experience with calorie counting.
My top calorie counting tips
Get yourself a digital kitchen scale
If you want to be more accurate in calorie counting, you should get a digital kitchen scale. It is more accurate than a traditional kitchen scale and will help you better control the calories you eat.
If you want to be more successful at calorie counting, this is an essential tool. It will help you reach your goals faster, rather than estimating weight or portions.
Use a measuring jug
A measuring jug is a useful tool to have in addition to a digital kitchen scale. This will allow you to quickly measure how many milliliters of a beverage you are consuming.
Keep in mind that alcohol has a lot of calories, so you should track how much you're drinking and be mindful of the calories in alcoholic beverages.
Use a calorie counting app
A calorie counting app can make it easier to keep track of your calorie intake, and also allows you to track your progress over time by recording your weight and body measurements.
I've been using the Fitatu app, which comes with a large database of food products and meals. This makes calorie counting much easier. All you need to do is scan a barcode of a product, and if there's a match, you'll get all the details about it on your screen. Then, you just choose the exact weight (or a portion), and the app will calculate the calories for you. I really like that many of the products/food items have an option to choose 1 tablespoon or 1 teaspoon (which is great for various powders and things like honey, coconut sugar, flaxseeds, etc.).
Plan ahead
When you plan your meals ahead of time, it will be much easier to count calories. Make sure to include plenty of healthy, low-calorie options in your plans. Meal kits like Spicentice can be a great way to get started. Try to plan out meals for a week ahead of time if possible, but at least plan meals three days in advance.
It is important to have balanced meals that include a sufficient amount of vegetables and fruits. Some breakfast options that meet these criteria are porridge or Weetabix with fruits or natural yoghurt with banana, oat bran, and chia seeds.
If you need to take your lunch to work with you, it's a good idea to prepare it the day before. That way, you won't have to worry about it in the morning. Here are some lunch ideas you could try: a tuna and bean salad, chicken (or Quorn) salad, chickpea salad, low-fat cheese sandwich, hummus and salad wrap, lentil soup.
It's easy to eat too many calories at dinner, so be mindful of how much you're eating. Personally, I like to have more calories at dinner than at lunch because I don't like being hungry in the evening. Do what works best for you, but make sure you don't go over your daily calorie limit.
Some easy and quick dinner options are salmon with sweet potato and broccoli, egg salad, and Shiitake & Prawn Miso Soup.
Eating out tips
You can eat out while calorie counting, it just takes some planning and thought.
There are now many restaurants that list calorie information on their menus. This makes it easier to make healthier choices when eating out. Try to choose a restaurant that has this information available.
It's best to steer clear of fast food places if you can help it since the food there is loaded with calories and you'll probably go over your daily calorie limit.
Be aware of everything you eat
Calorie counting for weight loss can be a helpful tool for anyone just starting out. It can help raise awareness of what we eat and how many calories are in a particular type of food or drink.
If you want to make your calorie counting a success, you need to be aware of everything you eat. This includes the little things like a teaspoon of sugar in your coffee, or a few nuts between meals. If you have children, you're also likely to eat some of the food they don't finish.
It is important to record all the calories you consume throughout the day if you want to lose weight by calorie counting. Many people think that recording small amounts of food will not make a difference, but it actually will.
Choose one option and stick to it. Count calories and exercise more if needed. Don't let anything get in the way of your weight loss goal.
Let yourself have some treats
If you are too restrictive with the types of foods you can and cannot eat, you are more likely to give up on this weight loss plan.
You don't have to give up all your favorite foods when you're counting calories. Just be aware of portion sizes and how many calories you're consuming.
What Calories Have to Do With Weight Loss and Gain
You can lose or gain weight by regulating how much energy you put into your body with food.
If we regularly consume more calories than we burn, we will gain weight in the form of lean muscle and body fat (the greater the surplus, the more fat we'll gain and the quicker we'll gain it). This is known as creating a “calorie surplus.”
If we regularly consume fewer calories than we use, we will lose fat. The larger the deficit, the more weight we will lose and the faster we will lose it. However, severe calorie restriction is not a good idea.
If you want to lose weight, it doesn't matter where the calories come from. Keep your body in a negative energy balance and the fat mass will go down over time.
This text is discussing how weight loss occurs when someone is fasting. When a person doesn't have food energy to live on, their body will burn stored fat in order to survive. Over time, this can lead to weight loss as the amount of stored fat is reduced.
The key to weight loss is eating less, not necessarily eating different foods.
Weight loss does not require you to change your diet in any special way, and there is no evidence that any particular combination of foods is better than any other. The only requirement is that you consume fewer calories than your body burns.
Excess calories, not carbs, make you fat. And while some people's metabolisms are faster than others, and some people do better with calorie deficits than others, everyone's body comes with the same types of physiological mechanisms.
Counting calories does work for weight loss, but many people find it difficult to stick to.
