How To Count Calories

This site outlines the basics of how to count calories for weight loss for anyone needing to lose weight.  Calories are a unit of energy.  Strictly speaking 1 calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade.  When you commonly see a calorie refereed to in relation to weight loss, food or exercise, it typically refers to 1000 calories or 1 kcal, which is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1Kg of water by 1 degree C.

Food contains calories (or energy) and activity, or even the basic functioning of the body burns calories. The basics of counting calories comes down to calories in and calories out.  How many calories do you consume and how many do you burn. If you are overweight, by adopting a lifestyle in which you consume less calories than you burn, you should be able to establish consistent weight loss until the point a healthy weight is reached.  This implies you will need to develop an understanding of the number of calories you consume and burn a day.

Calories Burned

To start this process it is useful to see an indication of the daily number of calories you are burning.  In order to do this, you should take a look at this calorie calculator that will give you an estimate of this. One metric this calculator will return is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).  This can be interpreted as an estimate of the number of calories you burn with no real activity or digestion occurring. 

The calculator will only require some basic details about yourself including your gender, age, weight and height.  This Basal Metabolic Rate is then multiplied by a factor that is dependent on your general level of activity and exercise from low to very high.  This then provides an estimate of your daily calories burned.

You can then delve a bit further into understanding the number of calories you burn by looking at estimates of the number of calories burned during specific exercises.  This information can be calculated by  a calories burned calculator and only requires basic inputs such as your weight, and the duration of your exercise.  

When assessing the calories burned in various exercises and activities, this shouldn’t be added to your estimate of the calories burned a day as calculated by the above calorie calculator.  That estimate already spans a 24 hour period and includes an activity level.  As such, you can derive an alternative estimate of the calories you are burning by totalling the calories you burn over all your activities in a 24 hour period.  The calories burned calculator includes a wide variety of activities such as sleep so you should typically be able to find an activity that is roughly equivalent to what you are doing through the day.

Calories Consumed

With an understanding of how many calories you are burning a day, you then need to develop an understanding of the number of calories you consume a day. There are calorie counters online that will show you the number of calories in a wide range of foods.

A good habit to get into here is to maintain a food and exercise journal where you keep a record of the foods you are consuming and your exercises. By totalling the calories of the foods in your food journal, you will gain an understanding of the overall number of calories you are consuming.  This journaling can be a difficult process at first, however there is weight loss software available to help with this which makes the process easier and more accurate. 

Additionally, the estimates of the calories burned in the various calorie calculators are only estimates that generalize between people.  By journaling your diet and exercise, you will be better able to understand your calorie requirements by observing how your weight loss progresses with your various calorie consumption and activity levels.

The Bigger Picture

Many sources indicate that creating a calorie deficit of 3500 calories over a period of time will result in about one pound of weight loss. To achieve such a deficit you may need to consume less food or simply replace some of the high calorie foods in your diet with lower calorie options as well as exercising more to burn more calories.

While engaging in a weight loss program you should only maintain a basic calorie deficit rather than attempting to introduce too large a calorie reduction. It has been suggested that by introducing too large a calorie deficit, you may lose lean body mass which burns calories at a higher rate than fat.   This will then result in your system burning less calories which will be counter productive to a weight loss process.  Sources indicate here that you should aim for approximately 1 to 2 pounds of weight loss a week, which implies creating a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit per day.

While adjusting your diet to introduce a calorie deficit you should also ensure you keep a well balanced diet with foods from the major food groups and including the recommended minerals and vitamins.  This site represents my view on a calorie counting process, however, it is important to involve your doctor through a weight loss process to be sure you understand any advice that may be specific to your situation as well as ensuring you maintain a healthy approach though your weight loss journey.

Calorie Counting Resources

Weight By Date – Software to help monitor and journal you calorie intake, exercises, weight and body measurements.

A Calorie Calculator – Includes various calorie calculators and a food search for the calories in foods.