Counting calories: where to start? The most comprehensive guide to calorie counting! How to correctly count calories for weight loss How to lose weight on calories.

In recent years, the problem of obesity has become extremely acute. Many people are concerned about the fight against excess weight. All kinds of diets, teas, pills - all this is used as a means to regain former slimness. But there is another system that can lead to success. If you stick to it, you don’t have to do anything special - you just count calories and lose weight.

System Features

How to count calories to lose weight has been known for a long time. This technique was invented at the beginning of the last century. Another thing is that before there was no such urgent need for it. Today times have changed. Many of us still doubt the effectiveness of this method and ask the burning question: is it possible to lose weight by counting calories. Nutritionists around the world answer in the affirmative. Moreover, they are confident that this is the most effective way to help reduce your daily diet. If you are unsure about counting calories, talk to your doctor. Perhaps his words will convince you.

Counting calories and losing weight: all the advantages of the method

The theory of calculating the energy value of foods is a kind of diet (let’s call it “Counting calories”), which must be followed not just once, but throughout your life. It has its own advantages, which you will be able to appreciate as soon as you begin to adhere to its basic rules.

1. You will be able to notice the effectiveness of the way to become slim within a month.
2. If you are attracted to the “Count calories” diet, the menu can be very diverse. Absolutely all dishes are allowed here. Another thing is that you can eat them in limited quantities.
3. Weight is lost naturally. You will not give up tasty and healthy foods. You will not have any digestive problems.
4. The result achieved using this method will last for a very long time, if not permanently. The thing is that over time you will understand how to count calories in foods. This will become a habit for you. Without coercion, you will begin to eat only this way - counting calories. Consequently, the body will not suffer from overeating, and the weight will be normal.

Disadvantages of losing weight using this method

All the disadvantages of the “count calories and lose weight” diet are purely subjective. You may be put off by 2 factors:

• The complexity of counting.
• An irrepressible desire to exceed the daily norm.

With the second everything is clear. This happens to everyone who has ever been on a diet from time to time. There are psychological methods that can help you here: for example, hanging a photo of a slender movie star on the refrigerator that you would like to become like. Or your photo, where you are beautiful, slim, attracting the gaze of all men. Don't you want to be like that again? Without work, as we know, nothing will work out. Therefore, it is worth gathering your willpower into a fist. Later, after a few months, such thoughtful nutrition will become a habit. And you will cook automatically, without thinking about how to count calories to lose weight.

Stylish clothes a couple sizes smaller can also be a good incentive. The desire to get into these wonderful things as quickly as possible sometimes works wonders, and we do not deviate from the intended goal - we simply count calories and lose weight. And soon the dream becomes a reality.

As for the difficulties with counting calories, they are noticeable only in the first weeks. Then you will already know by heart the energy value of a particular product.

A little arithmetic

So, we decided that from today we will count calories. A table of foods indicating their energy value will help you with this. But before turning to it, you need to know the daily calorie requirement of the human body. Look what nutritionists say about this.

Female

Workers engaged in mental work and leading a sedentary lifestyle

• Women (18-40 years old) - from 2400 to 2600 kcal.
• Women (40-60 years old) - from 2200 to 2400 kcal.

Service workers (salesperson, postman, etc.)

• Women (18-40 years old) - from 2500 to 2750 kcal.
• Women (40-60 years old) - from 2350 to 2550 kcal.

Workers engaged in heavy physical labor

• Women (18-40 years old) - from 2700 to 2900 kcal.
• Women (40-60 years old) - from 2500 to 2700 kcal.

People of retirement age

• Women (60-70 years old) - from 2100 to 2200 kcal.
• Women over 70 years old - 2000 kcal.

These data are scientifically called the optimal calorie range. You just need to look into them if you are attracted to the “Counting calories” diet. The table will tell you the amount per day that is acceptable for you. If there are more of all the dishes on your daily menu, then you are overeating. In this case, you shouldn’t be surprised where the excess fat on your sides came from and why you can’t fit into last year’s cute jeans.

How to find out your basic calorie level yourself?

Information from nutritionists provides, of course, invaluable help, but one should not discount the individual characteristics of each person. The fight against excess weight depends on many factors. These are height and weight, metabolic characteristics, lifestyle, and sports. After all, these indicators are individual for everyone. There is a special formula that helps determine exactly your need for the daily amount of food and their energy value.

It's simple:

• For women it looks like this: 650 + 9.6 x (weight) + 1.8 x (height) - 4.7 x (age).
• For men it's a little different: 60 + 13.7 x (weight) + 5 x (height) - 6.8 x (age).

The data obtained should be multiplied by another coefficient. It depends on some individual characteristics. Multiply by:

1. 1.3 if you lead a sedentary lifestyle.
2. 1.4 if you exercise 4 hours a week.
3. 1.5, if you devote 6 hours a week to sports, and move a lot.
4. 1.7 if sport is your best friend for 12 hours a week.

The data obtained will be your baseline. If you want to gain weight, increase the number by 20%. If you want, on the contrary, to lose weight, reduce the resulting figure by 20%.

How to get used to counting calories

No one denies that at first this approach to preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner will tire you. After all, this is quite unusual. But over time you will get used to it.

After all, for home we prepare almost the same dishes, which alternate with some frequency. The exception is holidays. But there are many low-calorie recipes for special occasions. Low energy value does not mean that they are tasteless. How delicious! And you will see this for yourself.

So, from today we are counting calories. but you will have to do most of the work yourself.

If you are skeptical about this method and think that you are eating right, nutritionists suggest conducting a simple test. Write down everything you ate today, and then calculate the energy value of the foods you consumed. You will learn a lot of interesting things for yourself. In addition, you will see which foods can be excluded from your diet without harm.

A few useful rules

We made a decision - count calories and lose weight. The table is our main assistant in this matter. But don’t lose sight of the following points that will help you understand how to count calories to lose weight.

1. and water is considered zero. But this is without any additions. So, only the calories of sugar, milk, jam and everything that you put in tea are counted.
2. If you are preparing a complex dish, then its energy value consists of the energy value of all components. Therefore, each component will have to be calculated.
3. When frying, take into account the calorie content of not only the processed products, but also the oil (approximately 20% is spent on frying).

Product interchangeability

A diet based on calorie counting is good because it does not force us to give up our favorite foods and established eating preferences. If you want chocolate, then why not try it? Just not the whole tile, but a small piece. Don't forget to count how many calories it contains first. This should be done only for the first time and record the result obtained. In the future, you will already know the energy value of a square of chocolate.

But it is best to use the principle of interchangeability of products in cooking. For example:

• You have a sweet tooth. Without treats, you feel irritable - and always in a bad mood. There is a way out. Replace candy with marshmallows or marshmallows. They have no fat at all, but they are just as sweet and tasty.
• Instead of ice cream or cream, you can eat whipped cream or curd mousse.
• Do you like cutlets? No problem, steam them. Tasty, satisfying, and most importantly - healthy.
• Be careful with coffee. Unlike tea, coffee is already food. Quite a high-calorie drink. In addition, it takes a long time to be absorbed by the body. If you are better off switching to chicory.
• Soda also contains a lot of calories. Replace it with mineral water, and if you want something sweet, give preference to natural juice.
• It is better to buy bread products with added bran. Not only do they speed up metabolic processes and cleanse the body, but they are also considered the lowest-calorie foods.

Dr. Bormenthal's diet: counting calories

One of the most popular diet programs today. Its name is very arbitrary, since Doctor Bormental existed only in Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog.” There is no such doctor in nature and there never has been, but the technique was developed by leading psychotherapists and nutritionists. It is based on calorie counting and the psychological aspects of our behavior.

It's no secret that many of us often eat food without even feeling hungry. Someone agrees to try a wonderful delicacy with a friend. Some eat stress and resentment with their favorite delicacies. Some, out of boredom, go to the refrigerator, open the door and reach out to something that they can easily do without at the moment. Some people eat food simply out of habit. For example, when watching your favorite TV series (I eat because I’ve always done this).

1. You will have to forget about foods that do not give you a feeling of fullness (sweet kefir, yoghurts).
2. It is better to take food hot.
3. Limit the consumption of alcohol, spices and spicy foods, as this provokes appetite.
4. Eat little, but often. The best option is 7-8 times a day.
5. The intervals between meals should not exceed more than 5 hours.
6. Dinner should be 4 hours before bedtime.

Voice of the people: reviews of a weight loss system with calorie counting

Be that as it may, it is useful to listen to those who have been building their lives using this method for a long time. How did they cope with the first difficulties? Did you quickly achieve the desired result? And in general, is it possible to lose weight by counting calories? Reviews convince us that it is possible. Judge for yourself.

• Some people manage to lose 11 kg in 100 days. This is even faster than numerous calculators on the Internet promise. The first week is usually the most satisfying - up to 1700 kcal per day, the second - up to 1500 kcal, the third - up to 1200 kcal. To achieve more effective results, people also limit fats to 40 g per day.
• According to others, the main thing in such a diet is to calculate the ratio of carbohydrates-fat-proteins. And also all kinds of vitamins, hepatoprotectors, minerals. Such people allow themselves 1600-1700 kcal per day. In a month they lose 7 kg - and the weight does not return.
• For many, the roller coaster diet is preferable. Every day it is recommended to consume a different number of calories - from 600 to 1300. In 50 days they will lose up to 9 kg. And at the same time, the weight comes off every day.

And in conclusion, a few more small tips that were heeded by those who successfully lost weight following this technique.

1. can be found in the tables. Today you can find a great variety of them in the literature. But, according to people trying to lose weight by counting calories, these tables give average values. Therefore, sometimes it is worth examining the product packaging. It also contains data on its calorie content.
2. To make your calculations easier, you can use an Excel spreadsheet. It is quite convenient for these purposes. There are mistakes, of course. But, basically, this happens when you calculate the calorie content of difficult-to-prepare dishes. If you prefer low-processed and simple foods, then Excel gives accurate results. By the way, you can also keep a food diary in the same table.

As you can see, the calorie counting system works in practice. So maybe it's time to study it and take care of your own health and figure care?

Metabolism is the number of calories per day that the body uses to maintain physiological processes. The number of calories needed for proper functioning of the heart, gastrointestinal tract, liver and well-being. Normally, this amount is 1200-1300 kcal per day.

An excess of calories from carbohydrates leads to obesity, and from proteins to a gain of muscle mass. Calorie deficiency is expressed by weakness, dizziness, gastrointestinal problems, and slow metabolism. Strict diets with consumption of less than 1200 kcal per day, which last more than a week, cause enormous harm to health and contribute to weight gain after leaving the diet.

How to count calories to lose weight

There are two formulas for calculating metabolism: Harris-Benedict and Muffin-Geor.

According to the Harris-Benedict formula:

GV = 655.1 + (9.6 * weight, kg) + (1.85 * height, cm) – 4.68 * (age)

Example: a girl weighs 50 kg, height 165 cm, 21 years old. According to H-B: 655.1 + 9.6 * 50 + 1.85 * 165 – 4.68 * 21 = 1342 kcal/day

According to the Muffin-Jeor formula:

GV = 9.99 * weight, kg + 6.25 * height, cm – 4.92 * age – 161

Example: a girl weighs 50 kg, height 165 cm, 21 years old. According to M-D: 9.99 * 50 + 6.25 * 165 – 4.92 * 21 – 161 = 1266 kcal/day.

For accuracy, we take the golden mean of the results (1300 kcal) and multiply by the activity coefficient:

• for inactive people (eating donuts in front of the TV without a hint of sports) – 1.2
• for inactive people (morning exercises + exercises for 15 minutes) – 1.3
• for sports smart girls (training 3-5 times a week) – 1.5
• for professional athletes (loads 2 times every day) – 1.8-1.9

Example: our girl is lazy, she only does exercises, so we take a coefficient of 1.3. Daily energy consumption: 1300 * 1.3 = 1690 kcal.

How to count calories to lose weight? It's simple: subtract 10-15% from your daily energy intake and, based on this figure, create a diet for the week. After a week, step on the scale and create a new diet for the next week, taking into account minus 10% of the new caloric intake by body weight.

Important! Don't go below 1200 calories per day. When doing intense sports, reduce your daily diet for weight loss by only 100-150 kcal.

How to plan a calorie-counting diet

For a balanced diet, knowledge of daily caloric intake is not enough. Proper nutrition for weight loss is based on the ideal ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Let's learn how to count calories to lose weight healthily.

• Protein:
• for a sedentary lifestyle 1 g per 1 kg of weight;
• for low-active people 1.5 g per 1 kg of weight;
• for training 3-5 times a week and gaining weight 1.8-2.5 g per 1 kg of weight.
• Fats: 1 g per 1 kg of weight;
• Carbohydrates: 5 g per 1 kg of weight.

1 gram contains kcal:

• protein – 4 kcal;
• fats – 9 kcal;
• carbohydrates – 4 kcal.

Example

We calculate the daily intake of proteins, fats and carbohydrates for an inactive girl weighing 50 kg:

• B (1.5 * 50 * 4) = 300 kcal;
• F (1 * 50 * 9) = 450 kcal;
• Y (5 * 50 * 4) = 1000 kcal.

Total: 1750 kcal per day for good health and stable weight.

But 50 kg doesn’t suit the girl, so let’s remove some carbohydrates and fats:

• B (1.5 * 50 * 4) = 300 kcal;
• F (0.8 * 50 * 9) = 360 kcal;
• Y (4 * 50 * 4) = 800 kcal.

Total: 1460 kcal to intensively lose weight, but not lose muscle mass.

Important! When counting calories for a diet, do not forget about the ratio of the daily diet within the normal range:

• proteins – 15-20%
• fats – 20-30%
• carbohydrates – 55-65%

To lose weight, reduce your intake of carbohydrates and fats, leave proteins the same amount or add 5-10%. If you want to gain weight, on the contrary, increase the protein to 40-50%, and balance the rest by calorie content. You can’t get rid of fats and carbohydrates enormously; you risk disrupting your gastrointestinal tract and getting a bunch of diseases.

Now you understand how to lose weight by counting calories, but the question probably remains: how to apply this knowledge in practice and count calories for weight loss using the table of caloric content of foods.”

There are two options:

1. We count the calorie content of each product in the refrigerator and on the supermarket shelves. It's long and tedious, and you often get confused.
2. Familiarize yourself with, write a sample healthy food menu and calculate the calorie content of ready-made dishes.

Menu for the day

We choose the 2nd path and outline the diet.

1. Breakfast: oatmeal with milk, honey and raisins + green tea;
2. Snack: sweet and sour apple + kefir 1% 250 ml;
3. Lunch: buckwheat porridge with stewed vegetables + steamed chicken drumstick without skin + a slice of rye bread;
4. Snack: cereal pancakes/fitness cookies with green tea – 2 pcs;
5. Dinner: steamed fish cutlets + stewed vegetables.

We estimate servings to be 100-200 grams.

Calories per day:

• breakfast: 400 kcal;
• snack: 170 kcal;
• lunch: 600 kcal
• snack: 110 kcal;
• dinner: 270 kcal.

Total: 1550 kcal/day.

About the intricacies of calorie counting

Learning how to create a menu is not at all difficult. A couple of days, and your eyes will evaluate food not as edible and tasty, but as healthy and high in calories. In a week, your brain will have a special function for counting calories without a calculator. And now about the subtleties:

• measure bulk products and cereals in dry form;
• consider the calorie content of pasta per 100 g of dry product, and then subtract 40-50% from the finished product. Since the difference in weight between “dry” and “wet” pasta is 2 times different;
• when stewing and cooking, vegetables/meat do not lose calorie content;
• tea, water and coffee have no calories. If you add milk, honey, sugar, consider only these products;
• for fried foods, add 20% of the calories due to oil;
• For multi-component dishes, calculate the calorie content of individual ingredients. Then calculate the number of calories per serving and remember, or better yet, write it down.

Diets are always associated with dietary restrictions and prohibitions. Daily calorie counting is a method of losing weight, in which it is not prohibited to eat your favorite foods, but you must follow their strict dosage. Thanks to the established calorie norm, you can either lose unwanted pounds or simply maintain your weight at the optimal level.

The essence of the diet

The principle of losing weight on a calorie diet is that during the day the body should receive fewer calories than it burns. Thus, energy will begin to be wasted from fat deposits.

This method is considered the safest, since the kilograms will disappear slowly.

“Nothing tastes better than feeling thin”
Kate Moss

Principles

To achieve maximum results, the following principles must be observed:

• Diet variety
• Predominance
• Compliance with the daily intake of fats (80 g) and carbohydrates (100 g)
• Limiting simple carbohydrates
• Avoiding sweet drinks and strong alcohol
• Reducing salt intake
• Drinking large quantities of water (at least 1500 ml per day)
• Small meals 5-6 times a day

Calorie calculation

The opinions of nutritionists on this issue are divided: some are convinced that the calculation is individual for each person, others offer average options.

By formulas

The most common weight loss options are based on the number of calories per day, which depend on the height, weight and age of the person wishing to lose weight. There are several formulas for calculating optimal calorie content:

Option #1

(1.8 height, cm) + 655 + (9.6 weight, kg) – (4.7 age, years)

The resulting figure is the amount of energy required to maintain the body's systems.

The second stage of calculations will be to determine the physical activity coefficient. You can determine it by assessing your lifestyle:

• Passive lifestyle (sedentary) – 1.2
• Low-intensity activity (physical exercise 1-2 times a week, walking) – 1.4
• Moderate level activity (exertion more than 3 times a week) – 1.5
• High-level activity (work on the legs, systematic sports) – 1.7
• Excessive activity (heavy daily long-term exercise) – 1.9

The number after the first stage is multiplied by the selected coefficient.

The result obtained is weight stability. In order for weight to begin to decrease, you need to subtract another 400-500 kcal.

Option No. 2

30 (height, cm – 105)

The resulting number is to save weight. To reduce it, we take away another 300-600 kcal, depending on the activity of our lifestyle.

On average

Weight loss methods from this group do not imply individual calculations, but consist of following a diet of a certain calorie content.

These include diets of 800, 1000, 1200 calories per day and other options.

What is possible and what is not

A low-calorie diet is not strict regarding the names of products. But still there are both more and less suitable foods.

Ideally, the diet should include:

• Buckwheat and pearl barley porridge
• Lean meat, poultry and fish
• Cutlets, steamed meatballs
• Egg white
• Mushrooms
• Vegetable soups with light broth
• Rye bread, bran bread or wholemeal bread
• Vegetables, raw or steamed
• Low calorie fruits (oranges, etc.)
• Unsweetened tea, coffee, fresh
• Fermented milk products (yogurt, cheeses)

Unwanted Products

If you wish, you can create your own diet and count calories. But it is important to remember that there are prohibited foods. If there are any, then the weight loss process will be slowed down. Among these:

• Preservation and salinity
• Smoked meats
• Sausages
• Fatty meat, poultry and fish
• Potatoes in any form
• Egg yolk
• Nuts
• Pasta
• Baking
• White bread
• Margarine, butter
• Cocoa
• High-calorie fruits and dried fruits
• Sweets (except marshmallows and marmalade)
• Sauces

You can create a menu by combining products taking into account their energy value and portion size.

Calorie content of individual products

For the convenience of calculating acceptable food combinations, you can use the table of caloric content of permitted foods.

Calorie content is indicated for the product in its raw form.

Calorie content of dishes

It is impossible to create a high-quality menu for every day without knowing the calorie content of already prepared dishes.

Calorie table for ready meals:

On a note. For convenience, it is better to print the tables and keep them for quick access.

Rules for creating a menu

One of the principles of the effectiveness of the diet is to eat small portions, but often. It would be optimal to split the daily diet into five times. An important point is the correct percentage of calories between meals.

Regardless of whether the calculation is based on 1000 calories per day or according to any other option, the correct ratio is considered to be:

1. 25% – breakfast
2. 10% – second breakfast
3. 35% – lunch
4. 10% – afternoon snack
5. 20% – dinner

It is advisable to include in different combinations at each meal:

1. For breakfast: porridge, fruit, eggs, cottage cheese, tea or coffee
2. For second breakfast: fermented milk products, fruits
3. For lunch: broths, soups, meat, bread, vegetables, fish, salads
4. Afternoon snack: dairy products, fruits
5. For dinner: meat, vegetables, fish, salads, tea

If you have a desire to eat something from the list of not recommended foods, then you don’t have to deny yourself this. The main rule is not to go beyond the daily energy value.

A person who decides to lose weight in calories, first of all, must decide on the value of the diet. The safest option is considered to be an individual calculation of the daily requirement. This is due to the fact that the personal characteristics of a particular person are taken into account.

If you like diets with a set calorie content, it is important to consider the following points:

• To lose weight without stress, it is better to alternate a week with critical caloric intake with a week of weight stabilization.
• It is not recommended to immediately set the bar low (800 calorie diet), as this can lead to exhaustion.
• Without harm to health, it is better not to lower the bar below 1200 kcal.
• As an exception, you can vary your daily calorie intake based on physical activity. If the day is spent passively, then you can do a fasting day and reduce the value of the diet. If the day is physically difficult, then it is appropriate to increase the calorie content to 1400 or even 2000 kcal.
• It is not advisable to be on a low-calorie diet for a long time (more than a month).
• The exit should be smooth, gradually increasing the daily calorie content by 300-500 kcal.
• Ideally, the weekly menu should include a variety of foods to get all the vitamins and minerals.

The most correct decision on choosing both the diet itself and calculating the optimal daily caloric intake is consultation with specialists. A gastroenterologist will indicate whether there are any contraindications, and a nutritionist will competently describe the nutritional scenario.

Contraindications

This food system is contraindicated for children. There are no absolute contraindications for adults. But in the presence of chronic diseases, especially those related to digestion, the menu should be drawn up taking into account the advice of a doctor.

A calorie diet is an effective way to lose extra pounds. Its great advantage is the ability to arrange products yourself and create a menu. Thanks to calorie tables and kitchen scales, your desire to lose weight is sure to be crowned with success.

Counting calories to lose weight was invented back in the 20s of the last century. And most nutritionists are confident that this is the most effective way to reduce the energy value of your own diet and lose weight naturally without completely giving up tasty foods, health problems, and eating behavior. Scientists have repeatedly conducted experiments with calorie counting and restrictive diets, excluding, for example, carbohydrates. So they were better tolerated, weight loss was more uniform and stable than weight loss due to the exclusion of certain foods. But perhaps you still doubt the benefits of all this “math”... Let's weigh the pros and cons.

How to count calories to lose weight: pros

First of all, you will truly be able to eat whatever you want. Calculate yours - that is, how many kilocalories your body spends per day at rest. Most nutritionists recommend starting a weight loss program with numbers that determine your basal metabolic rate. Thus, The nutritional norm for most women is in the range of 1200-1900 kcal. With proper diet planning, no one will go hungry.

Counting does not mean giving up going to cafes and sharing dinners with your family. You lose weight when you eat less than you spend. This simple rule is the basis of a diet with calorie counting, and you can choose dishes yourself. Most modern restaurant chains publish the ingredients of their dishes on their websites, so the calorie content of your plate will not be a secret at all. Well, if you cook yourself, calculating the calorie content of the finished dish is not difficult.

You can learn to count calories to lose weight in just a couple of weeks. But this skill will help you control portions throughout your life. The diet of most people consists of a more or less stable set of products, so over time, calculations will occur in an “automatic” mode. Well, if you try something new, you can always find the calorie content of the product on the Internet or special reference books with tables.

And the most important advantage of calorie mathematics is that it will really help you control your weight on your own, eat your favorite foods, and improve your diet. Counting calories will force you to give up false beliefs about your own body, you will be able to find out the real reason for weight gain, the real “cure” for it. It's much better than jumping from one fad diet to another. Your well-being while eating with individual calculations and a set of dishes will be better than during another forced hunger strike of 600-1000 kcal.

Counting calories for weight loss: vs.

Many medical and fitness professionals, meanwhile, consider counting to be an ineffective tool for losing weight. Proponents of losing weight on low-carb diets blame obesity not on overeating itself, but on an incorrect balance of proteins and carbohydrates. In their opinion, impaired carbohydrate metabolism provokes weight gain, and to reduce it, it is easier and more convenient to remove it than to reduce portions of regular food.

It is very fashionable today to focus on hunger and appetite in losing weight, and not on the calorie content of dishes. Proponents of this theory think that counting means “not listening” to your own body, and you can lose weight simply by learning to distinguish between hunger and appetite and satisfy the first.

Items “by quantity” of products are common. They are also aimed at reducing calories and “balancing” nutrition, but instead of calorie tables you will use natural guidelines. The size of your own fist, for example.

Diets with counting:

Techniques based on quantity of products are common. They are also aimed at reducing calories and “balancing” nutrition, but instead of calorie tables you will use natural guidelines. The size of your own fist, for example.

Of course, you can lose weight without counting. But in this case, the success of the event will still depend only on the calorie intake, or rather, on its proportional reduction. Most modern diets offer a diet whose energy value will be in the range of 1500-1600 kcal, that is, it will be lower than the expenditure of the average person. It turns out that it’s easier to figure out the calculations than to “jump” from one diet to another. How to make friends with “mathematics” in the easiest way?

Counting calories and losing weight: theory

Take into account everything you eat - you will definitely lose weight.

Diets with counting:

Especially for fitness trainer Elena Selivanova.

The method of losing weight by counting calories is jokingly called the “diet for accountants”, because in this case the skill of counting is very useful; If you see a lady who, right after lunch, takes out a notepad and a calculator from the depths of her bag, you know: before you is an adherent of a large “clan of counting people.”

A distinctive feature of the calorie counting method is the relative balance of the diet: due to the fact that this diet does not limit the consumption of any products, the final diet depends solely on the imagination, as well as the culinary and financial capabilities of the person. Of course, with such weight loss, the menu turns out to be quite dietary, “correct” - simply because dietary products have fewer calories, which means they are more acceptable - you can eat more of them during the day. When choosing between a cake (350 kcal) and a large plate of salad with a slice of bran bread (the same 350 kcal), cake is usually chosen only at the very beginning of losing weight. Over time, the realization comes: it is better to eat something healthy and voluminous - and, therefore, not suffer from hunger for half a day.

The essence of this method is daily (one might say hourly) monitoring of what and how much you ate.

Mechanism of weight loss

Having determined your "weight loss calories" per day (the number of calories by consuming which you will lose weight), you start a convenient notebook that will serve as both a food diary - in it you will write down everything you eat, and a mathematical table in which you will calculate the number of calories consumed , comparing the standard calorie content with the volume of food eaten.

So, let's say your daily calorie intake is 1200 kcal. Usually you eat three times a day, so you mentally divide the calculated value by three and get a guideline - no more than 400 kcal per meal. Your mission is to ensure that the number of calories consumed with breakfast or lunch does not exceed this figure of 400 kcal. Well, for this you will have to learn to navigate the calorie table; Even if you count calories using an on-line calorie calculator, you still need to know in advance how many calories a product contains in order to make the right choice. In general, you can count calories manually, using tables in Excel, and using numerous automatic calculators on the Internet; it's a matter of your personal preference.

Example
Your norm is the previously calculated 1200 kcal; you divide this figure by three and get an estimate: 400 kcal for the morning, afternoon and evening, respectively. A hearty breakfast doesn’t particularly appeal to you, so you make do with light food - for example, drink tea with sweet curd from a jar (it’s easy to find out its calorie content by multiplying the number indicated in the composition by the volume of the jar, for example, 95 kcal (in 100 g) X 250 g = 240 kcal). In the morning you have another 120 kcal left, which you cover by treating yourself at noon, for example, with a square (10 g) of chocolate. 10 g of chocolate is a tenth of a standard bar, so it’s not difficult to estimate its size. We drive on - it’s day outside. For lunch you choose a chicken cutlet and an impressive portion of stewed vegetables or salad - and you barely fit in 400 kcal, there is no left for an afternoon snack. You decide to make dinner carbohydrate - 100 g of buckwheat porridge is exactly 340 kcal, which means you have another 60 kcal left, which you cover with half a glass of kefir or an apple (well, or a tiny candy - that’s your choice). That's all the daily calorie content.

Important point
You don't have to eat low-calorie foods at all: this method is based on an element of consciousness. You should be aware that by eating a 100-gram chocolate bar, you have covered 560-600 kcal - this is about half of the standard daily diet we reviewed! This means that you have nothing left for “normal” food... Sad and hungry? Next time you'll think twice about finishing the whole chocolate bar.

How many calories do you need per day?

Daily calorie intake rates can be divided into two categories. In the first - approximate general ones, in the second - calculated ones. General norms are good for those who do not have weight problems, as well as for basic orientation. According to these standards, with average physical activity, a woman needs 1800-2000 kcal per day, and a man needs 2600-3000 kcal. But these figures take into account practically nothing - neither age, nor weight, nor height, nor a person’s lifestyle, nor his level of physical activity. If you're trying to lose weight using the calorie counting method, you need more accurate numbers - and these can be calculated using a number of the most popular formulas. As an example, let’s consider a fairly simple and accessible calculation formula without unnecessary detail, but taking into account the main factors:

Required calories per day (for women) = 10 x Weight (kg) + 6.25 x Height (cm) – 5 x Age – 161.
Calories required per day (for men) = 10 x Weight (kg) + 6.25 x Height (cm) – 5 x Age.

The resulting result must be multiplied by the activity coefficient, which is:
- 1.2 – with a sedentary lifestyle.
- 1.55 – with an average level of activity (at least 150 minutes of sports per week).
- 1.73 – with a high level of activity (double the norm for sports).
- 1.9 – during heavy physical activity (relevant for athletes and people involved in heavy physical labor).

So, the figure calculated in this way will be your daily calorie intake- that is, the amount of calories, consuming which you will neither lose weight nor gain weight. As a rule, upon detailed recalculation it becomes obvious that a woman leading a sedentary lifestyle needs fewer calories per day than stated in the general guideline standards. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than your calculated value. But how much less?

The final figure for the period of weight loss should not be lower than 1100 kcal (this is the minimum physiological norm); there is also a coefficient with which you can calculate the “weight loss norm”: just multiply your usual norm first by 0.8, and then by 0.7. Your “weight loss norm” will lie in the range of values ​​between these two numbers. For example, your normal intake is 1650 kcal per day. We multiply 1650 first by 0.8, then by 0.7, we get the numbers 1320 and 1155. This means that in order to lose weight without harming your health, you must consume at least 1155 kcal and no more than 1320 kcal per day , on average – 1250 kcal. The last number is your “weight loss norm” for every day!

Low calorie foods

The basis of the diet with this method of losing weight, willy-nilly, are all low-calorie foods: you can eat quite a lot of them, and at the same time you will cover a very small part of your daily calorie intake. To determine which foods are high-calorie and which are, on the contrary, just look at the table of calorie content of foods (which, in fact, is a desktop one and the most important for someone who is losing weight using this technique). In order not to deplete your diet, try to mentally divide the foods of each group into three subgroups – high-calorie, low-calorie and medium-calorie foods.

For example, let’s take the “Dairy Products” group. It also contains high-calorie products - sour cream (30% fat content, almost 300 kcal per 100 g), glazed cheese curds (345-450 kcal), condensed milk (320 kcal), and medium-calorie products - cottage cheese (9% fat content, 160 kcal), yogurt (5% fat, about 100 kcal), and low-calorie - milk and kefir (1.5% fat, 45 kcal), cottage cheese (5% fat, 105 kcal), yogurt (1.5% fat, 55-60 kcal ). Next, you have a choice: you can eat 100 g of 9% cottage cheese or 150 g of 5% cottage cheese - the calorie content is the same.

Pros and cons of calorie counting

Losing weight using the calorie-counting method has both advantages and disadvantages - both of them must be taken seriously, since the low-calorie nutrition system, in fact, underlies most healthy diets, the slogan of which is the rational statement: “Fat is not fat.” comes “out of thin air”: if you eat in moderation, you won’t gain weight.” A calorie counting system is actually a tool that answers specific questions such as: “How many calories do you need per day?” or “How much to eat to lose weight?”

Advantages:

The original premise of calorie counting is quite rational: you limit the number of calories you take in from food and thereby force the body to burn existing fat deposits.

This nutrition system, as a rule, does not fail: if you fulfill all the conditions and do not exceed your daily caloric intake, then the guarantee of weight loss will be quite high (for healthy people without other problems).

Counting calories - at least temporarily, for a month or two, is useful for anyone who has problems with weight. The fact is that most people are not even aware of how much they actually eat. What, at a momentary assessment, looks like “ate a little”, in fact, sometimes “pulls” 1000-1500 kcal. Hence overeating - and, as a consequence, excess weight. Recording everything eaten in a food diary and calculating caloric content forces a person to rethink the energy value of his daily diet and draw appropriate conclusions.

After getting involved in the counting process, being on this diet does not require any significant effort from a person: you eat regular foods, eat at regular hours. The only condition is volume and calorie control.

Flaws:

Not everyone wants to turn their meals into complex calculations - write down what they eat, calculate the volume and weight of food, and spend a long time, armed with a calculator, thinking about the topic: “How many calories can there be in borscht or rassolnik?” (considering that such dishes contain 7-15 components).

The percentage of those who started, as they say, for health, and ended up for peace is quite high: the need to count and constantly think about calories is simply boring for many. A person stops writing down what he eats, thinking about calories - and the diet ceases to exist for him.

The basic “weight loss norm” of calories may seem quite low when you’re not used to it – and this also scares people away. As well as the realization that such a diet is not something temporary: when you lose weight, caloric intake will increase to a normal level, but not the one you consumed before the diet (and which made you gain weight), but a truly normal one - in In our example of calculating the norm, this was the figure of 1650 kcal per day.

The calorie counting system leaves a loophole for lovers of sweet and unhealthy foods: some people base their diet on chocolate and fried potatoes, believing that it is better to eat a chocolate bar and a plate of fatty meat once a day, thereby covering their norm of 1200-1300 kcal, than the whole day " chew greens." And such nutrition is known to be harmful to the body.