Nutrition labels and online calorie calculators simplify the process of accurately tallying up the number of calories in the foods and drinks in your daily diet. Standardized labeling, mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and online research tools help you determine the calories in nonpackaged foods, help you keep track of your caloric intake, and provide information on recommended daily percentages of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.
Step 1
Read the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines for Americans to learn how many calories someone of your age, gender and activity level should eat each day. This should help you compare the number of calories you normally consume with your recommended daily caloric intake.
Step 2
Read nutrition labels. Start by finding the calories per serving on the label. You may think a snack or drink package is a one-serving item, but the package may be labeled as two servings. Multiply the number of servings by calories per serving to get the correct amount of calories in the whole package or bottle, if you need that information.
Step 3
Calculate the number of calories in a food or drink using online research tools such as LiveStrong's Daily Plate. This will be necessary to calculate calories for nonpackaged foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. These online tools provide you much of the same information that is on nutrition labels. Check to see if the calculator offers different serving sizes; don't assume the information you see is for one serving.
Step 4
Ask for nutrition information when you visit a restaurant chain. Many chains have preprinted calorie information for their foods. Visit a restaurant's website to get calorie information for their menu items. Restaurants may provide nutrition information similar to the FDA's labels for each of their menu items.
Step 5
Multiply each gram of carbohydrate and protein listed on a nutrition label by four to get the number of calories; one gram of carbohydrate or protein contains four calories. Multiply each gram of fat listed on a nutrition label by nine to get the number of fat calories.
Things You'll Need
- Nutrition labels
- Calorie counters
- Calculator
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