How To Count Calories and Why

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 From Verywell.com

If you're having trouble managing your weight it's probably because you don't burn as many calories as you might think. You have to consume 500 fewer calories a day than the number of calories you burn. Many of us don't really know how many calories we burn so we over estimate think we burn 3000 or 4000 calories a day because we go to the gym for an hour a day. Wrong, The dedicated workout enthusiast only burns about 300 calories in a one-hour workout.

Apps to Help with Calorie Counting

If you think an app would be helpful to your calorie-counting goals, here are a few to try:

  • Lose It!
  • MyFitnessPal
  • Calory
  • FatSecret
  • Cronometer
  • MyNetDiary

Summary

The number of calories you need each day varies from person to person based on age, sex, height, weight, and activity level.

To lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than you burn. To gain weight, you need to consume more calories than you burn. Protein is an important nutrient to increase for muscle gain, as are healthy fats and carbohydrates.

A realistic weight loss goal is to lose 1–2 pounds per week by decreasing your caloric intake by about 500 to 1,000 calories daily without going under 1,200 calories per day for women or 1,500 calories per day for men. Adding 500–1,000 calories per day may be appropriate for gaining weight. 

Benefits to calorie counting include accountability, insight into your diet, and the possibility of making healthier food choices. Disadvantages include the chance of inaccuracy, how much time it can take up, how difficult it can be, and the chance it may trigger disordered eating behaviors. It may lead you to focus on the quantity of your calories instead of the quality of your diet. 

Lower-calorie foods include many fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy, whole grains, and legumes. Healthy, higher-calorie foods include fatty fish, whole-fat dairy, starchy vegetables, avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, plant-based oils, and dried fruit. 

Keeping the big picture in mind when working toward better health can help you achieve your long-term goals.


By Brittany Poulson, MDA, RDN, CD, CDCES
Brittany Poulson, MDA, RDN, CDCES, is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist.

Follow me on X, the former Twitter, @ray0369 to get a link to my latest posts.

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There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. 

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