Counting calories is easier than ever with the wide variety of free resources and information available to you. You can check out the calories in fast foods, frozen dinners, meals you make and even fresh foods using food labels, online calorie calculators and restaurant nutrition charts. Keep on track with your calorie goals by planning each day's eating in advance using the resources available to you.
Find Your Number
Before you start counting calories, know your goals. Start by finding your recommended daily calories for weight maintenance. Meet with your doctor, a dietitian or a trainer, use the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidelines, or use a calorie calculator, such as the one at LIVESTRONG's DailyPlate. The USDA provides a free copy of "Dietary Guidelines for Adults 2010," which has calorie recommendations, on its website. Once you know your calorie count for weight maintenance, you can determine your weight-loss number.
To lose 1 lb. of weight per week, you'll need to create a 500-calorie deficit each day from your recommended daily calorie number. For example, if you need 1,900 calories to maintain your weight, you should eat 1,400 calories to lose 1 lb. of weight each week, or eat 1,900 calories and burn 500 through exercise, or do a combination of both.
Food Labels
One of the easiest ways to count calories is to read the nutrition labels on foods and drinks you buy. One key to accurate calorie counting is to look at the number of servings in the package, then look at the calories per serving. Some food makers list small portions as a serving to try to make the number of calories in their foods look smaller. You may think a typical candy bar is one serving, with 125 calories, but the candy bar maker may list it as two servings, so your total calories are actually 250.
Nutrition Charts
Many restaurants offer nutrition charts or lists that provide information about the foods they serve, including calories, amount of fat, protein, carbohydrates and other information. You can ask for the information at the restaurant, or find it on its website. MayoClinic.com has a calories-burned chart that shows how many calories you burn doing an hour of different types of exercise. This will help you count calories you burn.
Online Calculators
You can use online tools to find calorie numbers for foods and weight loss. If you have an apple, onion or other piece of food with no food label, you can quickly find the amount of calories it has by searching an online database, such as the one at LIVESTRONG's MyPlate. MyPlate also gives calorie numbers for packaged foods.
If you want to learn your recommended daily calorie number for weight loss, you can find online calculators that help you determine that, as well. You can also learn how many calories different types of exercise burn using calories-burned calculators.
Heart Rate Monitors
In addition to counting the calories you eat, count the calories you burn through exercise. This will help you plan meals and snacks that help meet your weight-loss goals. Heart rate monitors you wear while exercising, or located on machines such as treadmills and ellipticals, help you know if your workout has met your calorie goals.
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