Bezzy communities provide meaningful connections with others living with chronic conditions. Join Bezzy on the web or mobile app.
Can't get enough? Connect with us for all things health.
Counting Calories 101: How to Count Calories to Lose Weight
Counting calories can help if you want to lose weight. You can begin by planning your weekly meals and counting calories per serving. However, it’s important to make sure you’re still fulfilling your daily energy needs.
To lose weight, you typically need to eat fewer calories than you burn.
Keep in mind that counting calories is just one way to lose weight. It may not work for everyone, and it’s not the only way to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Always consider your food quality, portions, and fullness signals as well when trying to lose weight. You can speak with a healthcare professional, such as a dietitian, to help identify your individual food needs and goals.
These behaviors may indicate a disordered relationship with food or an eating disorder.
Disordered eating and eating disorders can affect anyone, regardless of gender, race, age, socioeconomic status, or other identities.
They can be caused by any combination of biological, social, cultural, and environmental factors — not just by exposure to diet culture.
Consider speaking with a healthcare professional or contacting the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, which offers a daytime helpline staffed by licensed therapists and an online search tool for treatment options.
For general mental health support at any time, you can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 24 hours per day at 800-662-4357 (TTY: 800-487-4889).
What are calories?
Calories are a
, typically used to measure the energy content of foods and beverages.
Your body uses the calories you eat and drink for essential functions, such as breathing and thinking, as well as day-to-day activities, such as:
Any excess calories you eat are stored as fat, so consistently eating more than you burn may lead to weight gain over time.
What is my recommended caloric intake?
How many calories you need depends on several factors, including:
If you’re trying to lose weight, you will typically need to create a calorie deficit by eating less than your body burns off.
You can use this calculator to determine how many calories you should eat per day.
The
World Health Organization (WHO)
has recommendations for a healthy diet, which includes:
Why calories count
When it comes to your weight, calories do count. This fact has been proven time and time again in scientific experiments called overfeeding studies.
macedonian given name etymology
These studies ask people to deliberately overeat and subsequently measure the effect on their weight and health. All overfeeding studies have found that when people eat more calories than they burn off, they gain weight.
A
split participants into two groups: those who tracked their calories and those who self-monitored high calorie foods. Both groups lost significant amounts of weight at the 6-month mark (5.7% and 4% on average, respectively).
Thus, if it’s not possible to count all of your calories, you may be able to focus on high calorie foods and still lose weight.
However, calorie counting isn’t the only effective method for weight loss. It’s also important to:
How to weigh and measure your portions
Portion sizes have increased over time. In some restaurants, a single meal can provide double or triple the average person’s daily needs.
“Portion distortion” is the term for when you view large servings of foods as the norm. It can cause weight gain and hinder weight loss.
It can be tricky to estimate how much you eat each day. Calorie counting can help you manage overeating by giving you a better understanding of how much you are consuming.
For it to work, you need to record food portions correctly. Here are a few common ways to measure portion sizes:
Here are some common serving sizes compared with household items that may help you estimate your portion sizes:
Calorie counting isn’t an exact science, even when you weigh and measure portions.
However, it’s not necessary to be entirely spot-on with your measurements. Just make sure to record your intake as accurately as you can.
Try to be most careful about recording items that are high in fat or sugar, such as pizza, ice cream, and oils. Under-recording these foods can cause a big difference between your recorded and actual intake.
To improve your estimations, you can try using a food scale in the beginning to give you a better idea of what a portion looks like for various foods. This can help you be more accurate, even after you stop using the scale.
Lots of apps are available to simplify the process by providing quick and easy ways to log the food you eat. Learn more about the best weight loss apps out there.
Tips to succeed with calorie counting
Here are a few more tips to help with counting calories:
The takeaway
Counting calories can be helpful if you want to lose weight.
But it may not work for everyone and is not the only way to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.
You also need to consider food quality, portions, and fullness signals. It’s important to ensure you’re still fulfilling your daily energy needs, even if you decide to count calories.
Share this article
This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts.
Our team of licensed nutritionists and dietitians strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument.
This article contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses (1, 2, 3) are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers.
More in Getting Real About Weight Management
OUR BRANDS