Calculated Success

Hi there!

I hope your weekend is treating you nicely! How many of you are stressin' about that swimsuit bod?? I am since I am going on vaca next week! (sooooo excited!)

Screen Shot from Calorie Counter

A good way to jumpstart your diet and exercise regimen is by keeping a food log. Most of us know the basics to eating healthfully and exercising (if you don't and/or you want to know more, keep reading my blogs..that's what they're all about!), but the fact of the matter is, half the time we are so busy, stressed, bored, etc.. that we don't even know what we are putting in our mouths! The best way to keep track is with an app or website that also tracks calories, fat, protein, and other nutrients like sodium, which we also need to keep an eye on.

Food logs are good for lots of reasons, but two of them are biggies:

1. It holds you accountable to yourself. If you know you're going to have to write it down or enter it in your app, it may keep you from eating mindlessly. Plus, it's pretty fun when you get to enter that you got all 5 servings of fruits and vegetables in your day!!
2. Studies show that most people under-report how much food they're eating (even to themselves) and over-estimate how many calories they need in each day. Not to mention that a lot of us have no idea how many calories, grams of fat, or mg of sodium are in the foods we eat. Especially when we get them from restaurants and convenience stores.

So it's a no-brainer, right? Of course right. (that was for my fellow musical lovers) Here are my recommendations for some apps- and if you use another one that's good- holler at me.

1. Calorie King
2. Calorie Counter
3. MyFitness Pal
4. Calorie Tracker by livestrong.com
5. Weight Watchers App - I like Weight Watchers for the most part- we'll talk about that later.



Now I am gonna let you in on a secret we (can't call myself a Registered Dietitian yet, one more month) use. For a quick estimate of how many calories you need for safe and gradual weight loss- follow these steps:

1. Determine your weight in pounds.
2. Divide that number by 2.2.
3. That's how many kilograms you weigh.
4. multiply your weight (in kg) by 20.
5. Multiply your weight (in kg) by 23.
6. Now you have a range of about how many calories you should have in a day.

If you workout a lot, you should get more calories. You can increase the range to 23 calories/kg - 25 calories/kg if you think you fall into this category. You may need even more if you workout a whole lot. But we are splitting hairs here. You can talk to me personally if you have questions about this.

Another good way to estimate your calorie needs for weight loss if you already know about how many calories you normally eat is to decrease your intake by 500 calories a day. At that rate you should lose about 1-2 pounds a week, and that's what we are going for here, folks.

*In general women should not eat less than 1,200 calories a day in order to ensure that you're getting essential nutrients. Men, it's no less than 1,800. Don't starve yourself. No one likes a hangry person- plus it's so not healthy and you'll feel like crap.

So there you have it. Start tracking what you eat to see how many calories you're getting in a day. A lot of those databases are pretty exhaustive- so give it a try! See how well you've been estimating! Good luck, and see y'all after my vacation!

Sarah