Tips for calorie counting

[Mama_Bear0987]

I'm at the beginning of my second week. Last week I exercised as much a could (just about every other day) and tried to eat healthily but I got fed up with calorie counting really quickly and didn't lose any weight. Any tips on how to make calorie counting easier?

[pcrw Maintainer Healthy BMI]

Hi Sonia

I love gadgets and It so use my Fitbit Charge 2 to list what I eat . Very straight forward and it also calculates your calorie output and the amount to eat to lose weight.

You can choose to lose easy medium or harder. I chose to lose 2 lbs a week

Best wishes

[YellowRose55]

Hi @Sonia-lu

The calorie counting does get easier once you get use to it. Maybe using the Daily Diary for a week would help you, as you can pick up some tips and extra support as the week goes on. Try pre-planning your meals for the week, so you know what you're having. Some members do bulk cooking and freeze in set portions.

Have a good second week.

[Anna_8888 Maintainer]

The start is tricky but hang in there!

I googled the calories from my usuals and wrote them down. List hangs on the fridge.

I now just use my phone calculator and add every calorie before I eat or drink it.

Products I don't know get googled first.

Good luck

[Smartie831]

I rate my fitness pal. You can use the app to scan barcodes and copy meals youve already had.

[Nisha2601 1kg]

calorie counting tips- look at the packing of the foods you buy. For eg. milk, packed fruits, nuts .

have a small weighing scale (you can purchase it from Dunelm) which can measure grams, and milliliitres.

dont focus on accurate calorie measurement , try working on approximations. ( we cant exactly predict how much a banana offer , which varies slightly with each banana's )

try to note down the Kcal of each fruits/ food in a book, for quick estimations, for the days to come and follow.

have some measuring plates for the solid foods like rice , oats etc and record it so that you can easy measure day by day, not using any scales. ( initially you need to use scales , weigh oats and find an appropriate cup/ glass/ bowl in which it fills completely. )

Hope my suggestion helped..In case you need more help, please ask..

Good luck with your plans! and keep going..

[Nisha2601 1kg]

nhs.uk/Livewell/weight-loss.....

a good valuable website for calorie finders...!

[Mama_Bear0987]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will keep on trying!

[James40Cheshire]

It definitely gets easier over time. As you get to know what portions look like you don't need to weigh. The tip on using different cups is a good one. I know which cup in my kitchen holds 40g of oats, making knocking up overnight oats a doddle with no scales needed. Good luck with it. James

[AdriK]

Hi there Sonia-Lu!

I can absolutely echo you on the sometimes pain-in-the-but weighing and counting.

I have started to create a little book with my favorite meals and snacks - all worked out and specific to weight and brand-name of products etc. Now if I'm time pressured or just lazy I have a reference that is easy to use. And I can mix and match to build my daily allowance.

And unexpectedly it has made 'figuring out new recipes' a bit of a fun science project.

Hope this helps!