What is the most accurate way to keep track of calorie intake?

Question

Also ... how many caloires you burn in one day ... any calculators, or websites or proven methods?

Answer 1

I like to use fitday.com..its free..good luck

Answer 2

To accurately track your calorie intake, begin by getting a good (hopefully portable) calorie guide that includes a lot of the foods that you like. Weigh or measure each serving, especially at first so you get a better idea of your serving sizes - eventually you may not need to weigh or measure foods often because you will become accustomed to serving sizes.

To accurately calculate how much your body burns, you need an initial estimate of your energy requirements at rest. This is called Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR). It varies from person to person and yours will be unique to you. Precise measurement can be taken two ways: The direct method (called direct calimetry) involves placing a person in an insulated chamber. As the person's body heat is released, it raises a layer of water surrounding the chamber, and this allows scientists to measure temperature. The other method, indirect calorimetry, measures the amount of oxygen a person uses. There is a relationship between the body's use of oxygen and the energy it expends, so scientists use formulas to convert gas usage into energy/calories used. Neither of these methods would be readily available to you.

However, a quick and dirty method of estimating your BMR that can serve to help you determine your minimum caloric or energy needs is the following calculation: 9 calories/pound, if you are a sedentary person, and decreasing this by 100 calories for every 10 years of age over 30. But, it is unlikely that you are a total couch potato; so, if you get some physical activity every day, such as light walking, increase your need to 13 calories/pound; for heavier activity, to 20 calories/pound. The same rule applies for increasing age, however, and decreasing calories.

There are other factors besides age that will have an affect on the above "rough" estimates of how many calories you need. Remember, the more muscle you have in relation to fat, the more calories you will burn. Metabolism can also be affected by thyroid and other hormone levels.

For the math averse, here's one example of a calculator that takes into account gender, age, height, & weight. It does not ask about activity level.
http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/basal/basal.html

Answer 3

If you calculate it all out to the last .5 of a kilojoule before you eat it and have a nice little notebook with all the calorie counts written down in it you can carry around with you you will get to the point where you have memorised the calorie counts of most foods and if you stick to the same thing every day you won't have to do all the calculations every time but you have to be careful cause it gets to the point where one calorie over makes you frenzied. Best idea is just do as much exercise as you possibly can then you don't have to worry so much about it.

Answer 4

Make an Excel spreadsheet, and put in the calculation formulas for conversion of quantities. I'm SURE there are web sites, but be sure to stick to free sites that will help with calorie counts. Mainly, you need to check the packages of prepared foods, estimate best you can from things like the American Diabetic Association or perhaps some professional dietitians' association. Don't pay attention to people who are trying to sell you "miracle cures." Yeah; if it works, it's a miracle, all right!

Answer 5

Hey my aunt is a nutritionist and I just talked to her about this and she suggested - myfoodpyramid.gov. It is pretty cool - you can go through and input your food and the amounts and have a count of the calories and whether it is healthy for your body type. It also has recommendations on how to increase lacking areas and other tools regarding food intake. The site also allows you to track your physical activities and see if your physical activities are matching your caloric intake.

Answer 6

To track your calorie intake, you'll have to keep a food journal and closely monitor your portion sizes. The website www.calorieking.com has the caloric count for a LOT of foods -- including pre-packaged, restaurants, etc.

To track the calories you burn, try getting a good heart rate monitor. You'll program your age, fitness level, etc. and wear the monitor all day. It will track what you burn.

Answer 7

It is better to take limited set of Food so as to enable to keep the track of intake food with desired calories.Prepare a chart and all with regular exercise everyday to burn excess calories if any.Let us keep a schedule for this for three months or 90 days to see the desired Good results.Best of Luck dear.

Answer 8

You can get a special scale to measure everything you eat or you can carefully read every package of food you eat to see how many servings are in the container and how many calories are in each serving.

Also, try Googling "calories" and see where that takes you. It might help you locate the calories for your most eaten foods.

Answer 9

Well, this isn't about calories you burn but if you want to know how much calories you eat in a week I have a suggestion.

~~What you need~~
-Pencil
-Journal or Blank Book

~~Instructions~~
-Write each day of the week in the journal
-Then write what you ate each day (items) and how many calories it has
-At the end of each day write down the total calories that you ate that day
-By the end of the week you will know how many calories you ate
-And by the end of the year you will know how many calories you ate each day, week, month, and year.



Just a suggestion, if you want to know how many calories you burned each day, try some websites. Treadmills will tell you.

Answer 10

You can go to a place like Herbalife and they can measure how many calories you burn daily, at rest. They measure voltage through your body and send it to a computer.
Then you can figure out what you are eating and how many calories it has and do the math. Most foods that you buy have calorie ratings on the package.

Answer 11

www.calorie-count.com

It allows you to keep a food log and an activity log, so you see how many calories are coming in and how many are lost. You can add foods if you have the nutritional info, or you can look up foods, including fast food and restaurants. I have lost five pounds in two weeks by using this website and joining a gym! Good luck!