{"id":10357,"date":"2010-12-22T11:52:59","date_gmt":"2010-12-22T19:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/?p=10357"},"modified":"2010-12-23T21:24:46","modified_gmt":"2010-12-24T05:24:46","slug":"how-to-count-calories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/?p=10357","title":{"rendered":"How to Count Calories"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><em><a href=\"http:\/\/queerveganrunner.wordpress.com\">AJ <\/a>asked a fantastic question: <\/em> &#8220;Hey Lisa, I\u2019m committing to returning to calorie counting after the holidays (I know that\u2019s kind of a cop out about the holidays, but I\u2019m focusing on some mental health concerns in the meantime, one battle at a time!)\u2026my question is about how you count calories. When I\u2019ve done it in the past, I always tended to eat more packaged foods because I knew the calorie count. But those are frequently less nutritious than whole foods I cook myself. How do you count calories for home cooking?&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I&#8217;ve talked about my process before <a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/?p=8079\">here<\/a>.\u00a0 Let me go into detail some more.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/calories13.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10689\" title=\"calories1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/calories13-300x240.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/calories13-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/calories13.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">How to Count Calories<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>First, figure out how many calories you should be eating a day. There are many ways to figure this out. For me I used the MyFitnessPal. I entered my age, height, weight and goal weight and it calculated for me that I should be eating a base of 1570 calories a day. There are a million websites out there where you can calculate your goal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>You can hand write your calories in a journal. This is how I did it for 2 years. I looked up everything on the internet and wrote it by hand.\u00a0 Or you can use something like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fitwatch.com\/phpscripts\/standarddiary.php\">THIS<\/a>. Now I use the app.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>I only counted my calories. Trying to keep track of carbs, sugar, protein, fat on top of calories was TOO overwhelming! I stuck with just counting my calories. It was simple and something easy for me to grasp and keep track of.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/calories121.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10687\" title=\"calories12\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/calories121.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/calories121.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/calories121-300x171.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Learn how to read a food label. Be very careful about PORTIONS!! Labels can be tricky. You might think you ate 1 serving when in reality you ate 3. How to make sure? Read on&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/foodlabel.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10358\" title=\"foodlabel\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/foodlabel-156x300.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"156\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a> I started using this <a href=\"http:\/\/caloriecount.about.com\/cc\/recipe_analysis.php\">website to calculate calories per ingredients.<\/a> It&#8217;s helped a lot with my counting goals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Buy a food scale. Mine was $5. It&#8217;s cheap and it works.\u00a0 Measuring food  gives you more accurate counts. For example: a serving of pretzels might  be 18 pretzels. But reading the label correctly you&#8217;ll see that 18  pretzels should be 20 grams (for example). Food labels are rarely  accurate. Measure Measure Measure!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Measuring<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>For example, if you like milk as much as I do you can gulp down a pint glass full of milk (especially if there are cookies involved). A serving of milk is 1 cup (8 ounces) and the kind of milk below is 150 calories a serving.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4457.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10658\" title=\"IMG_4457\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4457-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4457-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4457-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4457.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Non-fat Milk is about 90 calories for a serving. To put things in perspective even more, a serving of Light Eggnog is 1\/2 a cup and 120 calories.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4459.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10659\" title=\"IMG_4459\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4459-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4459-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4459-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4459.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Much less eggnog in the glass than the milk. See how much of a difference things are when you measure them out? It&#8217;s easy to overindulge and not even know it.<\/p>\n<p>Servings sizes are hard to master. For example, 1 serving of cheese is about 1 ounce. This is 2 ounces measured out (or about 220 calories):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4470.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10662\" title=\"IMG_4470\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4470-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4470-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4470-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4470.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4471.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10663\" title=\"IMG_4471\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4471-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4471-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4471-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/IMG_4471.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>It may look like a lot but it&#8217;s really not. 1 Serving of cubed cheese is the size of 4 dice stacked:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bcm.edu\/news\/packages\/fatfreephotos.cfm\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10664\" title=\"dice-and-cheese\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/dice-and-cheese.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"206\" \/><\/a>3 ounces of meat (like chicken) is a serving and it should be about the size of a deck of cards.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bcm.edu\/news\/packages\/fatfreephotos.cfm\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10666\" title=\"cards-and-poultry\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/cards-and-poultry.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"208\" \/><\/a>It&#8217;s easy to suddenly be eating two or three servings of something and not even know it. I fall victim to this many, many times. I <em>think<\/em> I am doing really well counting my calories, watching my servings, and then I realize I&#8217;m doubling up on servings again.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/wisegeek_200_calories1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10686\" title=\"wisegeek_200_calories\" src=\"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/wisegeek_200_calories1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/wisegeek_200_calories1.jpg 540w, https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/wisegeek_200_calories1-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A lot of people scoff at the idea of calorie counting. They think it&#8217;s hard work, that it will consume their life, or that they are denying themselves food. Not true!<\/p>\n<p>Calorie counting doesn&#8217;t have to be the end of the world. It doesn&#8217;t you are starving yourself or denying yourself of anything. What it means is you&#8217;re being AWARE of what you eat.<\/p>\n<p>I still count calories. Some days I&#8217;m lazier than other days. Some days I&#8217;m stricter with my calories.\u00a0 Every day is a new opportunity to get healthy, be aware, and make necessary changes in diet. It really does get easier and it becomes second nature.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION: Are you a calorie counter? Are you planning on starting in 2011?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AJ asked a fantastic question: &#8220;Hey Lisa, I\u2019m committing to returning to calorie counting after the holidays (I know that\u2019s kind of a cop out about the holidays, but I\u2019m focusing on some mental health concerns in the meantime, one battle at a time!)\u2026my question is about how you count calories. When I\u2019ve done it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,336,55,92,104,105,106,1864,152,154,166,193,194,257,258,261],"tags":[496,2150,2147,2031,8662,2149,8688,2148],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/foodlabel.gif","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10357"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10841,"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10357\/revisions\/10841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}