HOW TO COUNT CALORIES.

Determining how many calories you should consume daily and tracking your calorie intake throughout the day is an effective way to try to lose weight. Counting calories is not a diet but it does help you eat the right number of calories for your height, weight and level of physical activity.

In the beginning, counting calories may be hard because you won't be too good at estimating calories in foods but with time and a lot of discipline, you should become a pro at estimating how much calorie is in your regular meals.

①         Plan your meals ahead with the right number of calories. Planning your meals ahead helps you to resist the urge to eat junks. Plan what you will eat each day. To keep yourself on track, buy the necessary groceries to get you through a few days or a week.

②         Choose healthy foods. They may not taste great but usually have fewer calories. Choose lean meat, white protein (chicken breast)  and fish instead of dark, fatty meat.

③         Colorful, fresh fruits and vegetables instead of dried fruits and vegetables.

④         Whole wheat grains (brown rice, whole grain bread) instead of processed grains (white rice, white bread).

⑤         Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats instead of Saturated and Trans fat.

⑥         Omega-3 fatty acids such as flax seed, cod liver oil and salmon.

⑦         Nuts, seeds and grains instead of sweets and candies.

⑧         Drink plenty of water. Water is essential for the health of organs and it contains no calories.

⑨     Check calorie contents of every food item before you buy it and go for the ones with the lowest calories per serving. If the nutrition label says the entire package has four (4) servings, divide the entire contents of the package into 4 groups. One group equals one serving. Example: If 1 liter of juice contains 4 servings, a serving equals 250 ML.

⑩         Look up calories on nutritional websites to know calories of more foods especially non-packaged foods.

⑪         Make sure you have measuring cups and spoons to keep serving sizes intact.This way, you will know when you are really putting exactly a tablespoon of oil in your soup.

⑫         Write down everything you eat and drink and record the number of calories per item. There are Blackberry, Andoid and iOS applications that you can download on your phones and tablets to make recording and counting calories easier. 

Here is a list of few that won't cost you a dime:

Lose it -: Fill in information about you and how many pounds you want to lose per week. The app tells you how many calories you should have everyday to meet your weight loss goal and also keeps track of the calories you lose via exercise.

Diet and Weight Loss Tracker by Calorie Count.

CalorieKing Food Search: Use this app to type in any food and find out how many calories those nibbles are costing you.

Easy Weight Loss Tips

Calorie Counter by MyNetDiary

MyFitnessPal

Weight Recorder 

 
You can also search for more apps in the app stores on your smartphones or tablets. Recording your daily caloric intake helps you to stay motivated and on track. It also helps you know the calories of foods you eat regularly and remember the calorie contents of a particular healthy meal that you really liked.