If you've managed to stay at the same healthy weight, you're generally taking in the same amount of calories as you use. However, if you have lost or gained unnecessary pounds, you may want to adjust how many calories you take in. To know how many calories you should be eating, assess how many calories your body needs and compare that with how many calories you consume.
Calorie Breakdown
Your primary energy sources are carbohydrates, proteins and fat, according to MayoClinic.com. One gram of each nutrient contains a set amount of calories: 1 g of carbohydrates or protein contains about 4 calories and 1 g of fat contains 9 calories. Alcohol is another source of calories; it contains about 7 calories in 1 g, according to MayoClinic.com. Calories are either utilized as energy or stored as fat. If you aren't active enough to burn off the calories you consume, you will gain weight
Your Needs
Counting calories in food will be a fruitless effort if you don't know how many calories you should be eating to begin with. Fortunately, you can obtain an estimate of how many calories you should eat to maintain a steady weight based on your age, sex and activity level. For example, a sedentary 19- to 30-year-old female needs an estimated 2,000 daily calories, but an active female in this age range needs about 2,400 calories, according to the American Heart Association. To obtain your own estimate, look at the "Know How Many Calories You Should Eat" chart in the Resources section.
Creating a Calorie Deficit
If you're trying to lose weight, you will need to calculate how many calories you should cut out of your diet before you begin counting your caloric intake. To lose a steady 1 lb. per week, you will need to burn off about 3,500 more calories than you consume; this equates to about 500 calories a day, according to MayoClinic.com. To achieve this deficit, you can: increase your daily exercise, cut calories from your food or combine the two. Cutting calories from food can be as easy as cutting down your portions or skipping a high-calorie treat each day, according to MayoClinic.com.
Tracking Calories
Pull out a notepad and a pencil or use a computer spreadsheet to jot down calories in what you eat based on nutrition labels. For fresh food without labels, you will have to gather how many grams of fat, carbohydrates or protein are in each item to accurately determine how many calories you're eating. Fortunately, many resources have already done the work for you; all you need to do is type in the name of a food to get the number of calories it contains. One helpful resource is the NutritionData.Self.com calorie counter in the Resources section. Another helpful resource is an online calorie tracker, which will help you monitor how many calories you take in and burn, according to FitWatch.com.
Tracking Progress
Home calculations or a calorie tracking device can help you monitor of your progress for weight loss, gain or maintenance, but your scale and your body will tell you whether your plan is working. If you're altering your caloric intake but not seeing any changes, your calculations may not be accurate or other factors such as stress, medications or illness may be getting in the way of your progress. Your best bet is to consult a doctor or registered dietitian who can assess your diet and help you come up with an individualized plan of action.
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