If you are losing or gaining weight and you are not sure why, it could be a matter of calorie consumption. By calculating your daily caloric intake, you can watch for patterns, notice trends and make adjustments to the foods that you are eating to get to your desired goal. According to health experts at the University of Michigan, tracking your food also helps spot food allergies and even emotional issues like mood or feelings that affect the way you eat.
Step 1
Start logging everything you eat into a food journal. Write down every piece of food that goes into your mouth, then next to it, write how many calories the food has. Use a website like Nutrition Data to figure out the calorie content of your foods. Add up your calorie totals after each mean and snack, then add everything together at the end of the day for your grand total.
Step 2
Spend some time reading labels as you prepare your food. Learning the calorie counts of the foods you eat frequently will allow you to keep a tally of your daily calories in your head. It also makes choosing foods easier when you are not at home. Acquaint yourself with serving sizes and portions, as sometimes food labels can be misleading.
Step 3
Track your foods with as much accuracy as possible. For example, when you' ae cooking or assembling a recipe, account for the oil and spices you use as you prepare your meal. Also record any samples or bites you take as you are cooking. Every little bit adds up and leaving these small details out can distort your results.
Step 4
Use free online calorie counters like Spark People or Livestrong's The Daily Plate. These programs let you enter in everything you eat and then they provide all the analysis. All you have to do is make sure that you enter the correct foods and portions and then look over your daily totals.
Step 5
Use your cell phone camera to take a picture of your meals so that you can remember what you ate and add it into your food log. This helps keep your caloric intake accurate and prevents you from leaving items out or confusing one day's meals for another.
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