Knowing your calorie needs allows you to choose meals that fit into your daily recommended totals to help you maintain your weight and stay healthy, reports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Eating more calories than you burn each day will result in weight gain that can lead to obesity, heart disease and diabetes. If you want to calculate your calorie intake each day, determine how many calories are in the foods you use to prepare your meals.
Step 1
Read the nutrition information panel on each food you are using to prepare your meal. This information is located beneath the serving size data on the packages your food will be coming out of. Note the number of servings in each food because many contain more than one, which will require adding additional calories to the meal if you use the entire package.
Step 2
Multiply calorie counts by the number of servings. For example, if you are using a can of chicken broth that contains 3 servings and has 85 calories per serving, you must add 255 calories to total for the meal. Write down the calorie count for each food so that you can get an accurate total for your entire meal. In the same way divide the calorie count if you use partial amounts. If you have a food that is one serving and contains 135 calories, but you only use half, add 67.5 calories to your total.
Step 3
Add up the calories for the ingredients used in your meal. Add each item that was used in your meal. Remember to divide or multiply the calories depending on how many servings of your ingredients were used. It helps to weigh and measure your foods so that you can get as accurate a total as possible. This will tell you the total amount of calories contained in the meal you have prepared.
Step 4
Use calorie counting software or books. Fresh meats, fruits and vegetables often don't contain calorie information so by plugging the amount you use into calorie counting materials you can get the numbers for them and add them to your running total.
Step 5
Access restaurant websites. Many restaurants list the calorie contents of their menu items on their website under the nutritional information icon so that you can be aware of the calories you will be getting from one of their meals. If this isn't available ask staff members what ingredients are used and how much so that you can input them into calorie software or look them up in a calorie book to get an idea of the calorie content for the meal you are considering.
Step 6
Divide the calories based on how much of the meal you eat. For example, if your meal weighs in at 675 calories, but you only eat a third of it, you are only getting 225 calories from that meal. If a restaurant meal contains 1,150 calories and you take half home for later, your meal was actually only 575 calories.
Tips and Warnings
- Many recipes will tell you how many servings the meal contains and how many calories each serving contains.
Things You'll Need
- Nutrition information panels
- Calorie counting materials
- Restaurant nutrition information
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
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