Counting calories: where to start? Most comprehensive guide to calorie counting!

One of the most effective and safe ways to lose weight is counting calories. In this article we will answer the following questions. Why is counting calories effective for weight loss? How to calculate the norm of daily calories for weight loss? And consider in detail the question of how, in fact, the calorie content of the daily menu.

Calorie counting for weight loss

Many reject this technique because of its complexity, but because of the reasonable restriction of calorie your diet, you will balance power and improve the figure. In fact, if one learn to count calories and monitor your diet, you will not only lead your body in shape, but also gradually change the eating habits. In fact, counting calories does not impose restrictions on any specific products, but if you start counting calories eaten food, then one day you realize for yourself that it is better to eat a bowl of salad with meat than a small cake. Yes, the caloric content, it will be about the same, but the nutritional value of these dishes are totally different.

The principle of losing weight is very simple: people need to eat less than the body has time to process that he began to use energy reserves of fat. It would seem that what is easier – a week sitting on a rigid diet, losing weight and then allow yourself freedom in terms of food. However, this principle gives short-term effect, all the lost weight back very quickly. A more optimal way to lose weight is counting calories. Why?

1. Counting calories is a reasonable approach to nutrition stress and serious limitations. You don’t injure your body, landing him on a strict diet.
2. With calorie counting you will have a complete nutritional diet, therefore, this method of weight loss does not cause harm to the body, unlike the mono-diet and hunger.
3. You can not exclude from the menu your favorite foods, the important thing is to stay within the framework of the corridor calories. Moreover, rate how healthy it works! On the one hand, to fit into a given rate of caloric content, you’ll clear your diet from useless, harmful and fatty foods (which is good). But on the other hand, you will always have the opportunity to eat your favorite treat, just reviewing the daily menu.
4. It calorie counting is the first step towards proper, healthy, balanced diet. You will be accustomed to follow the diet and deliberate approach to the selection of products.
5. With counting calories you will consume adequate amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, and your weight loss will be healthy and harmless way. Why is it important? For example, from a lack of fats can cause problems with the hormone system, from lack of carbs – loss of energy and fatigue. And a surplus of proteins, which is so often promoted in different diets, very often causes problems with the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys.
6. Calorie counting is actually the only option of a competent power, if you play sports and want to maintain your muscle mass, protecting it from destruction (support muscle = quality toned body). Hard low-calorie diet and mono first strike on muscle and not fat in serious limitations to the body easier to say goodbye to the muscles because they require more energy.
7. This process of weight loss as the calorie counting is more sustainable and stable, without fluctuations and simultaneously the return of lost pounds.
8. As a rule, after 2-3 months after regular calorie counting you will form some of the menu options and you will know about what and how much you eat a day to stay in your corridor of calories. If you think that now it will be your companion for life, it is not so.
9. Counting calories is very variable and comfortable method of weight loss. If, after failure of diets to have to quit or start from the beginning, counting calories is a snap to regulate sudden “zagorye days.” Just a bit reduce the daily requirement of calorie for the next 2-3 days, or spend energy consuming exercise.
10. Counting calories is very easy to switch to weight maintenance after weight loss. All you will need to add +10-20% to your current calorie (depending on your chosen deficit).

Proper nutrition: how to start step by step

In order to begin to control your diet, you must perform the following actions:

• To determine the number of caloric content of your daily diet.
• Start keeping a daily record of food eaten.
• To watch in the mirror regularly improve your figure.

The algorithm of counting calories for weight loss

STEP 1: calculate base metabolic rate

Each of us, depending on weight, activity and age requires a different amount of food. To find out the exact figure you need to use the formula Harris-Benedict:

• Women: BMR= 9.99 in * weight (in kg) + 6,25 * growth (in cm) – 4,92 * age (years) – 161
• Men: BMR = 9.99 in * weight (in kg) + 6,25 * growth (in cm) – 4,92 * age (years) + 5

where the BMR – base metabolic rate (basal metabolic rate)

STEP 2: determine daily activity

The resulting figure is the base level of a metabolism (BMR) is multiplied by the coefficient of physical activity:

• 1,2 – minimal activity (lack of exercise, sedentary work, low motion)
• A 1.375 – light activity (light exercise or walks, small daily activity during the day)
• 1,46 – average activity (workout 4-5 times a week, good activity for the day)
• Of 1.55 – activity above the average (an intense workout 5-6 times a week, good activity for the day)
• Of 1.64 – increased activity (daily workouts, high daytime activity)
• 1,72 – high activity (daily ultra-intense exercise and a high daily activity)
• To 1.9 – very high activity (usually we are talking about athletes in a period of competitive activity)

Please note! With a multiplier to better focus on the overall activity during the day. For example, if you exercise every day for 30-45 minutes, but you have a sedentary lifestyle, you do not need to take out a factor of more than 1,375. One workout, even the most intense, does not compensate for the lack of activity during the day.

STEP 3: calculate the end result

So, by multiplying the number of base level metabolic rate (BMR) by a factor of physical activity, we have received your caloric intake. Eating under this rule, you will neither lose weight nor gain weight. This so-called norm of calories to support weight.

BMR * ratio physical activity = rate of calories to support weight.

If you want to lose weight, some of the resulting works need to subtract 15-20% (this is the nutrition with the caloric deficit). If you are working on muscle growth, then you need to add 15-20% (it will be food with a calorie surplus). If you are on the stage of “maintaining weight”, leave the figure unchanged.

With a little extra weight is recommended to count a daily caloric deficit of 15%. If you want to get rid of >10 kg we recommend to count with a deficit of 20%. When a large excess weight, if you want to get rid of >40 kg can take the deficit of 25-30%.

EXAMPLE:

Woman, 30 years old, weight 65 kg, height 165 cm, exercise 3 times a week:

• BMR = 9,99*65 + 6,25*165 – 4,92*30 – 161 = 1372
• Intake of calories to maintain weight = 1372*1,375=1886,5 kcal
• The norm caloric deficit = 1886 – (1886*0,2) = 1509 kcal

Total obtain 1450-1550 calories is the daily rate for weight loss. On this figure, you need to keep a daily calorie count of your menu.

• Why not drop below the established corridor: the body gets used to the small amount of food, will slow down the metabolism and once you start eating a little more, you will drastically gain weight.
• Why can’t exceed the corridor: you do not lose weight, because the body will not have time to spend the received energy.

ONLINE CALORIE CALCULATOR

12 tips on how to count calories

1. Keep a food diary, numbers must be recorded in writing. Don’t rely on your memory and don’t count on a rough estimate, otherwise there is a risk to eat too much, or worse, malnourished.
2. Technological advances greatly facilitated our task of doing the diet. Download our mobile app for counting calorie diet, you significantly simplify your life. We recommend you to read: Top best free apps for counting calories.
3. Do not trust the measurements of the weight of the products “by eye”, be sure to buy a kitchen scale. Without kitchen scales are your calculations of calories to be inaccurate, so the desired result will be more difficult to achieve. By the way, very often in programs for counting calories already calculated energy value for a product, for example, for one orange. What weight this conditional orange, for which we calculated the calorie content is unknown. Perhaps your orange substantially more or less. Of course, the error is small, but if during the day all the products to make about “the eye”, it is an objective picture will not work. View our selection of: Top 20 electronic kitchen scales.
4. Weigh the products only for the unprepared! If you forgot to do it in the cooking process, then be sure to check the calorie content of ready meals. For example, the energy value of 100 g of raw rice and 100 g of boiled rice are not the same. It is always better to weigh products in a dry or raw, not cooked. So data will be more accurate.
5. Weigh the product which is ready for use or the preparation: the meat without bones, fruit and vegetables without a peel, core, cheese without packaging, chicken without skin, etc.
6. Pre-plan your sample menu for tomorrow. Make a prospective list of dishes to avoid surprises with the lack of those or other products.
7. When planning the menu for the current or next day, always leave a small corridor (150-200 kcal) to have space to maneuver. Suddenly you are going to have an unplanned snack or you decide to substitute one product for another.
8. If you are cooking a complex dish consisting of several ingredients (soup, cake, casserole, pizza), it is better not to find its calorie content online. Before cooking, weigh each ingredient, calculate their energy value and sum the resulting numbers. Thus, the result will be much more accurate.
9. Avoid restaurants and caterers. In the modern world it seems incredibly complex, but if you get in the habit of carrying food with you to work, study or even walk, their goals in losing weight you will achieve much faster. Even if a restaurant menu listed the number of calories in a dish, remember that these figures are only approximate.
10. Never focus on the amount of calories indicated for recipes on various websites or in groups according to the recipes in social networks. First, it is not known how conscientiously considered all the data, the drafters of the recipes. Second, you can vary the weight of individual ingredients that will change the caloric value of the meals.
11. If one day you seriously will go beyond the established energy intake, it is not necessary in any case to arrange a fasting days of hunger. So you will only disrupt the operation of the metabolism. Continue to follow the corridor of calories, and if you have a very bad conscience for yesterday “Sagar”, it is better to pay 1 hour exercise, walk or any other physical activity. Alternatively, for a couple of days to reduce diet by 15-20% to compensate for the excess food, and then return to the previous nutrition.
12. To train yourself to count calories, first you need serious self-discipline. But after a couple of weeks, you will train yourself before every meal to make foods in your diary. Usually enough 2-3 months to create a daily menu and learn how to define your normal food without calculators.

How to count KBZHU products

In order to completely understand the issue of counting calories, you need to understand how to count KBZHU products (calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates) and where to get all the information on the numbers of these products. Let’s analyze step by step how to count calories, protein, carbohydrates and fats in foods. Read more about how much protein, carbohydrates and fats for each person, read here: How to calculate PFC (protein, fat, carbohydrates) and what does it do?

Where to find calorie and PFC products?

• All the information on calories, protein, carbs and fats look on the packaging to the products. There is the most accurate information.
• If the product is sold without packaging or packaging energy value is not specified, then watch the calorie content of food substances in the Internet. Just for example enter in the search engine “banana KBZHU” and find all the necessary data. It is advisable to look at several sources to confirm the accuracy of the data.
• If you use the site or mobile app to count calories, they usually contain a ready base of products with data KBZHU. Therefore, in addition to search for information is not necessary.
• If you have a complex dish consists of several ingredients, then weigh each individual ingredient count KBZHU for each of the ingredients separately and sum the resulting numbers. Read more about it below.

How to count KBZHU: examples

Let’s look at specific examples of how to count calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates in individual foods and ready meals.

1. Curd 5%. Look at the calorie content of the product on the packaging. If not specified, then look on the Internet.

KBZHU curd 5% – 100 g:

• Calories: 121 kcal
• Protein: 17 g
• Fats: 5 g
• Carbohydrates: 1.8 g

a) for Example, you’ve decided to eat 80 g of cottage cheese. In order to calculate the KBZHU 80 g of cottage cheese, just multiply each figure by 0.8:

KBZHU curd 5% – 80 d:

• Calories: 121 * 0,8 = 96,8 kcal
• Protein: 17 * 0,8 = 13,6 g
• Fats: 5 * 0,8 = 4 g
• Carbohydrates: 1.8 g * 0,8 = 1,44 g

b) If you decide to eat 225 grams of cottage cheese, then multiply each figure 2.25:

KBZHU curd 5% – 225 g:

• Calories: 121 * 2,25 = 272,3 kcal
• Protein: 17 * 2,25 = 38,25 g
• Fats: 5 * 2,25 = 11,25 g
• Carbohydrates: 1.8 g * 2,25 = 4,05 g

Thus, we obtain the specific KBZHU cheese, depending on its weight.

2. Oats. This is the most popular Breakfast by those who are trying to follow a healthy diet. Counting calories for oatmeal is also very simple. By analogy with the proposed plan below, we expect KBZHU for all other cereals and pasta.

a) oatmeal Weighed dry (it was dry, this is important!). For example, you got 70 data KBZHU Look on the packaging or on 100 g:

KBZHU oats – 100 g:

• Calories: 342 calories
• Protein: 12 g
• Fats: 6 g
• Carbohydrates: 60 g

Since we are not planning to eat 100 grams calculated per serving 70 grams, multiplying all figures by 0.7:

KBZHU oatmeal – 70 g:

• Calories: 342 * 0,7 = 240 kcal
• Protein: 12 * 0,7 = 8.4 g
• Fats: 6 * 0,7 = 4,2 g
• Carbohydrates: 60 * 0,7 = 42 g

This is the final KBZHU empty oatmeal 70 g: K-240, B-8,4; W Is 4.2; I-42. How much water you have added, how do you not seethe, and no matter how much it weighed after cooking, you enter the data in your food journal on a dry matter basis. Similarly, there are other cereals, pasta, potatoes.

In the Internet you can find calories for oatmeal already cooked. But it is better not to use these figures. Grits absorb water and swell, and her final weight may vary depending on how much water you added and how much time to boil porridge. So always weigh all grains only in the dry (unprepared) form.

b) Suppose you prepare the oatmeal with milk add butter, honey and milk. In this case, we weigh each individual ingredient before cooking (cereals, oil, honey, milk), believe KBZHU for each individual ingredient, summarize and get KBZHU ready meals. All this is calculated before cooking! Read more about specific counting ready meals slightly lower.

3. Chicken breast. Another popular product from losing weight, so let’s look at it.

Weigh the chicken breast raw, preferably after you have defrosted and dried, so that the calculations do not have got excess moisture (well, if it is to remain accurate to the end). Calculate KBZHU chicken breast 120 g:

KBZHU chicken breast – 100 g:

• Calories: 113 kcal
• Protein: 24 g
• Fats: 2 g
• Carbohydrates: 0.4 g

KBZHU chicken breast – 120 g:

• Calories: 113 * 1,2 = 135,6 kcal
• Protein: 24 * 1,2 = 28,8 g
• Fats: 2 * 1,2 = 2,4 g
• Carbohydrates: 0.4 g * of 1.2 = 0.48 g

After we boil the chicken breast, it is not weighing and counting calories are not. Consider data only in its raw form. Spices and salt to the calorie content is not affected, but if you cook with oil, don’t forget to add on.

How to find ready-made recipes

As we said earlier, when cooking complicated meals counting calories are as follows:

• Weigh each ingredient in a wet/dry
• Consider each ingredient KBZHU in the diagram above
• Summarize data and get a General calorie meals.

Here is an example with a complex dish that we mentioned above: oatmeal with milk, honey and butter.

Ingredients for porridge:

• 130 g of oatmeal
• 50 ml milk 3.2%
• 30 g of honey
• 10 g butter

We expect by analogy with the examples above, multiplying the data on the weight of the product. Then add up the calories, proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Get KBZHU oatmeal: K-647,6; B-Of 17.73; W-17,78; U-104,23.

A simple way to calculate KBZHU ready meals

There is a simple and convenient method to calculate KBZHU ready meals. For this we use a website Calorizator. Go to page Analyzer recipes and enter in the new window separated by commas all of our ingredients: 130 g oats, 50 ml milk 3.2%, 30 g honey, 10 g butter:

Click analyze, and instead of manually counting calories get the already finished figures:

Look at the line total and get ready to calorie complex dishes with multiple ingredients.

And you don’t have to enter the weight in grams, you can use the symbols as follows:

As you can see, you can copy a recipe and calculate KBZHU so. But be careful! For example, 2 bulbs in the understanding of analyzer recipes is 150 g, But in reality it may be 100 g and 200 g, depending on the specific size of the bulb. The value of such programmes will be averaged. Therefore it is better to weigh and recorded in the analyzer products in grams, having weighed them.

If you use mobile apps to count calories, in a similar way, weigh better, not use in the calculation of “1 banana” or “1 onion” from the finished base product.

How to weigh the food, if you cook for a family?

We often prepare elaborate dishes not for themselves but for the whole family. How to count calories, if you weigh the products you need in their raw form, and when cooking weight products changing? There is a fairly simple way to solve this problem.

1. KBZHU calculated on the basis of the painted schemes above, weighing the ingredients in dried or raw form before cooking. Let’s take our example oatmeal with milk, honey and butter, which we discussed above. We got a total KBZHU: K-648; B-17,7; W-17,8; U-104.

2. Cook porridge, add all ingredients, mix. Weigh the dish. For example, we got 600 grams – the total weight of the food ready.

3. Now blend the porridge his plate to be weighed. For example, our batch turned out to 350 g.

4. 350 grams is 58% of the total number of cereal (350 divided by 600 and get 58%).

5. Respectively calculated KBZHU your portion by multiplying each digit by 0.58:

• Calories: 648 * 0,58 = 376 kcal
• Proteins: 17,8 *0,58 = 10.2 g
• Fats: 17,8 *0,58 = 10.3 g
• Carbohydrates: 104 *0,58 = 60.5 g

6. Total, we made a count of one serving of oatmeal: K-376; B-10,2; W Is 10.3; At-60,5.

We recommend you to read on this topic the following articles:

• Calorie deficit: where to start to lose weight
• How to calculate BDIM and what does it do
• A selection of mobile apps for counting calories
• All about proper nutrition and where to start
• Interval fasting: slimming for the lazy