Protein is an important macronutrient that the body needs in adequate amounts. It is in every every cell, tissue, and organ in the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and it also helps repair muscle. If you are trying to monitor your protein and calorie intake, you can do this by paying attention to detail and using math skills. Keeping track of your calories is beneficial when you are trying to gain or lose weight.
Step 1
Scan the nutrient panel for the amount of protein per serving. Look for "Protein" and the grams will be listed right next to it. Covert this to calories by multiplying by 4. Protein contains 4 calories per gram. Use 10g for an example. This food would have 40 calories from protein per serving.
Step 2
Determine the amount of carbs the food has per serving and covert them to calories. Look for the words "Total Carbohydrate" or "Total Carb." to find this number. In similar fashion to protein, carbs have 4 calories per gram. Use 42g as an example. This would come out to 168 calories from carbs per serving.
Step 3
Look on the nutrition panel for the fat content and determine the calories. Find the words "Total Fat" to get this number. Use 5g for example. Fat contains 9 calories per gram so this food would have 45 calories from fat per serving.
Step 4
Calculate the calories. Utilize the examples from Steps 1, 2 and 3 for an example. 40 + 168 + 28 = 236 calories per serving.
Step 5
Multiply your calories by the amount of servings you consume. For example, if you eat a nutrition bar that contains two servings, you have to multiply your calories by 2. Look for the words "Servings Per Package" to find the amount of servings. Using the example from Step 4, you would actually be getting 476 calories total because 236 x 2 = 476.
Tips and Warnings
- If you are eating a food in bulk like cereal, oatmeal or pasta, you will need to use measuring cups to determine the amount of calories you are consuming. To just determine the amount of total protein in a food, multiply the grams per serving by the number of servings you eat. For example, if you eat 2 cups of granola that has 3g of protein per 1/2 cup, you need to multiply by 4 to get your total protein. This would come out to 12g.
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