Finding out the calorie amount of your meal is important for successful weight loss and weight maintenance. You can easily count the calories in every meal you make at home. Most ingredients you buy from grocery stores contain labels that list the amount of calories in the food. You can also find out the amount of calories in foods using an online database.
Step 1
Measure the weight or the amount of all the ingredients you will use for your meal. For all the ingredients that come in packages, like pasta, rice, sauces and packaged meat, check the serving size from the label and use that as a measurement. For fresh ingredients, like vegetables and fruit, either weigh the whole food or chop them and use a cup as a measurement.
Step 2
Write down all the measurements on paper and find out the calories in each ingredient. Use the food labels for all the products that contain one. The label states a serving size and the calories in each serving. Multiply the calories for the amount of servings you used for your meal. For example, you used 2 cups of rice for your meal. If one serving of rice is a cup and each serving has 300 calories, multiply 300 calories by 2 to get the total amount of calories from rice.
Step 3
Use an online food calorie database for all ingredients that do not have a label with calorie information. The U.S. Department of Agriculture hosts a nutrient data laboratory that lists the nutrient and calorie contents for all popular ingredients. Use the database to find out the calorie amount in the serving size you used for your meal.
Step 4
Add up the calories for all the ingredients you used for your meal to get the total calorie content for the entire meal. Then divide this with the amount of servings your meal has. For example, if there are six servings, divide the total calorie amount by 6 to get the calorie amount in one serving.
Things You'll Need
- Calculator
- Measuring cups
- Scale
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