The most important rule when calculating the calorie content of foods is to calculate before meals, not after. If you want to eat something, count the calories, then eat, and then be sure to write it down. Moreover, you need to write both the calorie content in 100 grams (or portion), and how many calories you ate.
How to count calories in complex meals
Those who have never counted calories before will have a hard time. First, you have to accustom yourself to the regime. Secondly, you will need to start eating breakfast or dinner by grabbing not a fork, but a notebook with a pen. Thirdly, you will be obliged to make friends with mathematics, even if there is a solid “three” in the certificate.
Any habit is formed within a month. It is enough to meticulously calculate calories for 30 days, so that later you will make up the correct diet almost automatically.
Before changing your diet or losing weight, have a clean notebook, pen, and calculator ready. In addition, you need to choose the calorie table that is right for you. The secret to counting correctly is to use the same table. Review everything you find on the Internet and choose the plate where the maximum number of products will be. If you are preparing something from a pack or box, take the calorie content indicated on the package as a basis. Also, you will definitely need an electronic kitchen scale that can determine the mass of the product with an accuracy of the gram.
At first, it will be important for you to figure out what and how much you eat. Study the table carefully. Some products are indicated there in grams, others in pieces, and others in packs. Try making dinner and calculating its calories. Did not work out? It’s OK. Learn over time.
Calculation of an individual calorie corridor.
For men: 660 + (13,7 x body weight) + (5 x height in centimeters) – (6,8 x age in years) For women: 665 + (9,6 x body weight) + (1,8 x height in centimeters) – (4,7 x age in years)
The resulting figure must be multiplied:
- if you lead a sedentary lifestyle, then by 1,2
- if you go to the pool or go for a run 1-3 times a week, then by 1,375
- do a lot and regularly do sports or physical labor, that is, you have the opportunity to spend part of the calories, then by 1,725
This final number is the number of calories that are required to maintain the body at the current time, that is, so that you can not gain weight. It is defined as the upper boundary of the corridor. Subtract 20% from the resulting figure – you get the average calorie content necessary to get rid of excess weight. This is the number of calories at the bottom of the corridor.
For example, if an unmarried 28-year-old woman is 165 centimeters tall, weighs 80 kilograms and works as an office secretary, then her corridor will be as follows: 665 + (9,6 x 80) + (1,8 x 165) – (4,7 x 28) x 1,2 = 1918 kcal (upper limit) 1918 kcal – 20% = 1534 kcal (lower limit). All proper nutrition in the near future will be based on the calorie corridor from 1534 to 1918 kilocalories.
Your third step is to learn how to count simple dishes correctly. The simple ones include tea, toast, sweets, cookies. There are 2 calories in a glass of sugar-free tea. To calculate how many calories are in one candy, buy exactly 100 g of your favorite caramels or “Bears in the North”. At home, count the number of sweets in 100 g. Find the calorie content in 100 g on the label and divide by the number of pieces. You should do about the same with dumplings. Divide the number of dumplings in a half-kilogram pack by 5 (you will find out how many are in 100 g), and then look at the calorie content on the package. Calculate the number of calories per dumpling, and cook for lunch as much as you can afford, based on the calorie corridor.
In a notebook, you should write down absolutely all food and drinks that fall into your mouth. There are no trifles in losing weight
Calculation of the calorie content of complex dishes. The main thing in this is to understand the principle. In a notebook, create a separate section where you enter all the dishes that you usually cook. Borscht, soups, cereals, naval pasta, chops and so on. For example, let’s say you are going to cook a stew with meat.
List all the ingredients you need:
- potatoes (10 medium tubers)
- bow (1 head)
- carrots (1 piece)
- lean pork (400 g)
- sunflower oil (50 g)
Now on the scales, weigh each product separately and carefully write down all the numbers, correlating the weight with the calorie content in the table. 10 potatoes = 720 g = 83 (kcal per 100 g) x 7,2 = 597,6 kcal 1 onion = 50 g = 43 x 0,5 = 21,5 kcal 1 carrot = 65 g = 33 x 0,65 = 21,45 kcal Pork = 400 g = 316 x 4 = 1264 Sunflower oil = 50 g = 899 x 0,5 = 449,5
Onions and carrots are fried in oil, diced pork is added and after a while, chopped potatoes. All this is filled with water and stewed until tender. The calorie content of a whole pot of stewed potatoes will be 2354,05.
Then you can choose one of two options:
1. Put a plate on the scale, write down its weight, then put the portion of potatoes you plan to eat into the plate and calculate the calorie content of your usual portion.
Remember to subtract the weight of the clean plate from the total.
2. Using a large spoon, transfer the finished dish from one saucepan to another, counting the number of spoons. Place a plastic bag on the scale. Scoop exactly one spoonful of prepared food and place on a bag. This will tell you how many calories there are in one scoop of cooked pork stew and how much you can eat in one meal. The good thing about this method is that you are not tied to any particular dish. The next time you cook the same dish, you no longer need to count calories. Just add the portion you want and enjoy your meal.
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