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                 How do I Count Calories?

                  

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How do you count calories?  I feel compelled to address this because lots of people honestly know how to count calories.  I just had someone tell me today that they don't know how to count calories so this article is for them J

Your macronutrients, protein, carbohydrates (carbs), fats, and even alcohol all count as calories.  When determining the calories from your macronutrients the following method and calculations should be used.

Protein contains 4 calories per gram

Carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram

Fats contain 9 calories per gram

Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram

Your major protein are foods such as for example, meats, chicken, fish, turkey, steak, beef, milk, cheese, yogurt, protein bars, protein shakes, etc.   Major carbohydrates are rice, pasta, breads, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, all fruits and vegetables, sugars, pop, etc.  Carbohydrates are very necessary to burn fat.  You can find carbs in most foods except meats.  You can even find small amounts of protein in most foods but they are usually not "complete" protein sources.  Good fats are in foods such as olive oil, flax seed oil, almonds, peanuts, nuts, seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) peanut butter, etc.  You can find fat in just about anything.  There are good fats and bad fats.  Your body does need some fats and good fats are healthy.  Yes people there are calories in alcohol and fiber I covered lastly in this article. 

 Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale said in an article that "Drinking alcohol has a very profound effect on the metabolism because of the way it is handled in the body."  To see the full article, go to Facebook.com/EXtremeFatLoss  and I just posted the link there or email me and I will send it to you. Make sure you click LIKE there please and give me a big thumbs up!  I covered all of these macronutrients protein, carbohydrates, and fats, more extensively in my hot book "28 Days to EXtreme Fat Loss".

                                                   To get my hot book CLICK HERE!!!

What does this mean?

So if you have 1 ounce of chicken (and chicken usually has 6 grams per ounce) then you have 24 calories.  6 grams x 4 calories per gram = 24 calories  but most likely you have 3 or 4 ounces of chicken when in such case you have:

PROTEIN

1 ounce of chicken (6 grams of protein per ounce x 1 ounce) =24 calories

3 ounces of chicken (6 grams of protein per ounce x 3 ounces) = 72 calories 

If you have 26 grams of protein (like on the nutrition label above) then you have 104 calories from protein.

CARBOHYDRATES

Or if you have:

25 grams of carbohydrates then you have 100 calories

If you have 250 grams of carbohydrates and 7 of it are from sugar, then you still have 100 calories.

If you have 68 grams of carbs then you have 272 calories from carbohydrates.

If you have 32 grams of carbs (like on the nutrition label above) then you have 128 calories from carbohydrates.  Or for example, if you have 32 grams of carbs and 6 grams of sugar (like on the nutrition label above) then you still have 128 calories from carbohydrates.

FATS 

If you have 12 grams of fat then you have 108 calories from fats.

If you have 5 grams of fat (like on the nutrition label above) then you have 45 calories.

ALCOHOL

The National Institute of Health says that alcohol calories are "empty" calories".  Do keep this in mind and remember if you are a drinker.  Chances are you will have to do a google search on the alcoholic drink and see how many total calories it is.

If you have a drink that is 210 calories then you have 30 grams of alcohol because alcohol is 7 calories per gram.  For example, 30 grams of alcohol x 7 calories per gram is 210 calories.  You will have to research this to determine how many calories are in what you are consuming.

* NOTE on the above nutrition label you have the following amounts that do not add up.

Protein 26 grams = 104 calories

Carbs  32 grams = 128 calories

Fats       9 grams =  45 calories

Total (should be) = 277 calories  (280 calories are listed on the label)

The total comes to 277 calories so then why does the label say 280 calories??   I have been wondering for a few years now "why?" the FDA allows this.  Most commonly I will see a calorie total that should be 193 calories but the label says only 190 calories or the label says 254 calories and the label says only 25 calories.   (Usually it is less calories)  And I know my addition is correct so my only thoughts are to BEWARE!!!   I feel the FDA allows food companies to not be totally truthful on nutrition labels to so that food companies can make products look better (containing lesser calories) and certain numbers just look more attractive and appealing to the eye.  

Your best bet is if in doubt (or if not in doubt lol) then total them yourself.  Either way total up your own calories.  I make all of my clients use SparkPeople.com and create an account.  You can keep your own food journal under "my nutrition" and it does all of this for you.  A lot of people have been using MyFitnessPal which I hear is good and they do have an app (so does SparkPeople)

FIBER

This next calculation is NOT used on nutrition labels however some people when counting their calories, reduce their carbohydrate intake by how many grams of fiber they have.  For example, if they have (see above nutrition label) 32 grams of carbs and 3 grams of fiber then they would only count that as 29 grams of carbs because fiber passes through the intestines undigested.  I do understand this theory but the fiber should honestly still be counted as calories but just remember how much fiber you have taken in.  A person should be consuming between 25-35 grams of fiber for most people.  Fiber promotes weight loss.  If you are trying to lose weight then you should definitely be consuming plenty of fiber daily.  I cover this more extensively in my book "28 Days to EXtreme Fat Loss".  To get my hot book CLICK HERE!!!

In closing:  Start counting your calories and keeping a food journal and begin to achieve the weight loss, health and fitness success you truly desire.

                 Well that's enough for now!  Read more and enjoy!  

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Sincerely Yours in Health, May God Bless You!

Kel Silas CFT MHT