Crack the Code: The Definitive Guide to Counting Calories in Food You Want To Eat Like a Pro!

Counting calories is a popular way to manage weight, whether you want to lose or gain weight. Some of the information out there can be misleading, but learning to count (add) calories correctly is a vital tool when coming up with and tracking caloric intake. In this day and age where everyone is trying to appear healthy, companies and websites usually declare serving sizes that are very unrealistic and do not match up with how these foods are actually consumed. As such, learning these vital skills will help you cut through the confusion and shed a light on what is actually happening with your food.

How to read food labels

Food labels are a crucial tool for counting calories. They provide valuable information about the nutritional content of food, including the number of calories. When reading food labels, it's essential to pay attention to the serving size listed. Many foods come in larger packages or containers than the recommended serving size, and if you eat more than one serving, you will be consuming more calories than the label indicates.

Once you have identified the serving size, you can look at the calorie content of the food. This is listed in the "calories" section of the label. If you are trying to lose weight, you may want to choose foods that are lower in calories. If you are trying to gain weight, you may want to choose foods that are higher in calories.

Nutrition facts

How to find macronutrient information on certain foods

In addition to calories, it's also essential to pay attention to the macronutrient content of the foods you eat. Macronutrients are the three types of nutrients that provide energy: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Each macronutrient has a different number of calories per gram: carbohydrates and protein have four calories per gram, while fat has nine calories per gram. By tracking your intake of these macronutrients, you can ensure that you are getting the right balance of nutrients for your body.

To find the macronutrient information of food, you can look at the nutrition facts label. This label will list the total amount of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the food, as well as the percentage of your daily value that each nutrient provides. You can also use online tools or apps to track your macronutrient intake. A quick Google search accompanied by the word "nutrition" or "nutrition facts" is very helpful when trying to determine the calories in a certain food item with different serving sizes than is stated on the food label or when using fresh produce.

Searching for nutrition facts using google

When making sauces or whole meals, the calories in that food is the total amount of calories of each ingredient, and your serving size would be a percentage of that. So for example, say you make a bowl of Spanish rice, the total calories in that bowl would equal the total of all its ingredients. If that bowl lasts for 4 meals, you would divide that total by 4 to get the amount of calories per serving. 

Example. Say we stick with the Spanish rice example, and it contains the following ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)

• 1 onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

• 1 garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon)

• 2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice

• 3 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian version)

• 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained

You would find out the amount of calories in each amount of each ingredient:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup): 240 kcal

• 1 onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup): 64 kcal

• 1 garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon): 4 kcal

• 2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice: 412 kcal

• 3 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for the vegetarian version): 117 kcal

• 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained: 35 kcal

Total: 872 kcal 

The recipe suggests that this makes 4 - 6 servings (but let us be honest, this is more like 2 - 3 servings). If you eat this in 3 meals, your total calories per meal would be 872 divided by 3. This would mean that your total caloric intake for this recipe (meal) would be 291 kcal. 

So pretty much that's the basis of measuring calories. Software like myfitnesspal have already done this for you, however, sometimes what you are trying to make might not have been included in their database, or maybe you use a little more cheese than the person who added that meal to the database. At least now you know how to do this calculation for yourself and can adapt it to whatever recipe you make. This is pretty much all there is to it. Now go out there and make amazing food, without limiting yourself to things you do not like to eat.