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How To Count Calories The Right Way

How To Count Calories The Right Way



Counting calories might seem difficult, but it’s one of the most effective ways to lose weight. After all, the only thing you really need to do to ensure weight loss is make sure you’re using more calories than you’re taking in.


By counting calories, you can ensure there’s a deficit between how much energy you use and how much you eat. However, the process can be a little trickier than it seems.


It’s easy to get into the wrong frame of mind when counting calories. You can end up focusing too heavily on what you eat, which can lead to problems with your perception of yourself. Fortunately, we’ve got some tips for counting calories correctly.


Know Your Calorie Needs


The first step in effectively counting calories is understanding exactly how many calories you need. While there are some basic guidelines available online, a number of factors can influence exactly how many calories you actually need.


The easiest way to get an idea of your calorie requirements is to multiply your current weight in pounds by 15. This should give you a general idea of how many calories you need to maintain your current weight if you’re moderately active and get around 30 minutes of exercise per day.


For instance, if you weigh 155 pounds, you need to eat around 2,325 calories per day to maintain that weight. To reduce your total, you’ll need to drop the calories you eat below that number.


Once you know how many calories you need to maintain and lose weight, you can start counting calories effectively.


Here are some tips to get you started.

Use Apps and Technology

One of the biggest things people struggle with when it comes to counting calories is getting an accurate number. It takes a lot of time and effort to add up the exact amount of calories you consume every day. Fortunately, calorie counting apps can help with this.


Apps for counting calories have huge databases full of information about how many calories are in each portion of the food you eat. This makes it much easier to add everything up automatically from a meal. You can even get the number of calories in your drinks.


Count Everything


The next step is to include everything you’re eating and drinking – not just the main parts of your food. This includes things like drinks, extra toppings on your pizza, and even extra condiments on your fries. If you grab a few bites from a friend’s plate, add that too.

As challenging as it might be to keep track of everything, you’ll get a much more accurate picture of exactly how many calories you’re consuming. If you want to go even deeper, there are apps that can provide information about the macros in the things you eat, like fiber or carbohydrate levels.

Try A Food Diary


When you’re already counting calories, finding time to record extra details in a food diary can feel like too much. However, doing it can provide significant extra information about your eating habits.

A food diary allows you to track more than just how many calories you’re eating. You can record how you feel after you eat certain foods and your specific eating habits. You might discover certain foods are more likely to cause you to overeat or have digestion problems than others.

A food diary can also show you what triggers you to overeat. For instance, you might eat more when you’re around certain people, or less when you’re trying to impress someone.


Remember Outgoing Calories Too


Calorie counting doesn’t only include how many calories you take in. If you want to lose weight you should also include how many calories you burn during the day.


With that in mind, try using an exercise calorie counting application to calculate how many calories you burn through physical activity.


With the right, accurate information, you’ll achieve your weight loss goals in no time.

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