This post is to build on my last one where I showed you how to find out your "recommended" daily caloric need. Now that you have your magic number (You did read the post, clicked on the link and entered your info right?) let's see how we can all manage to come close to it on a regular basis.
The best way to manage your caloric intake is to keep track of everything you are eating. In my opinion the most efficient and easiest way to do this is to use an online food tracker program. There are many out there to choose from. Just Google "Calorie Tracking" and a bunch will come up. Many of them will have a free version and this will be good enough to keep track of calories. I use the one from Daily Burn ( http://www.dailyburn.com/ ).
It also has an iPhone app and food label scanner app so I went with it and have no complaints. You can also share recipes which is a nice option but I never used that feature. Other programs offer this too. The bottom line is to find the one you like and will want to use.
In order to use any type of food tracking you need to also understand portions. This was a BIG eye opener for me when I first started. I thought a portion of pasta meant fill the bowl! Learning portion sizes will be a big step in managing your calories. So what do you need? Must haves are a digital scale, measuring cups and spoons. (2 tablespoons of almond butter are NOT as big as I thought!)
The next step will be more of a challenge but well worth the effort. In order to get a good grasp on the food you are eating on a regular basis you need to track your daily food consumption for at least 2 weeks. Longer would be better but this will start showing you some patterns and possibly some red flags. I know, this will be a pain. Just suck it up and do it! I will guarantee that if you have not done this before, something that you eat on a regular basis is going to be way off in reference to portions.
Another thing to know up front - you need to break down your "meal" into individual foods. If you make your meals from scratch this means entering every ingredient. How many slices of bread, how much meat did you use for that sandwich. Did you add cheese? What kind and how much. Made a stew in the crockpot? How many potatoes and what size, what type of meat and how much. I think you get the point. Now this is where I probably lost a lot of you. As you go running out of the room (or clicking off this blog) screaming you have no time for this, stop! I know this is a pain. I did it and for a lot longer than 2 weeks! However, I do not need to do this on a daily basis anymore. During that "period of time" I learned a lot about portions, macronutrient ratios and calories. Enough that much of this comes second nature now. From time to time I will check my eating habits to see where I fall but that is it. Was it worth the effort? Yes! (BTW: Not only Did I enter all my food info I did it for my fiance Robin too!) As a side note - another feature with Daily Burn is that you can create a "meal" and it saves all the information. So, I created a bunch of different meals that we eat on a regular basis and then when it comes time to enter that info I just click on the meal instead of every ingredient. Makes things much easier. Also, by now there are so many foods entered into these programs by other people, much if not all of what you eat will be in there. All you have to do is find it and click.
OK, if you are still with me here are some tips that might help you during your "training" period.
1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories
You must include everything that goes in your mouth. This includes that piece of brownie or cookie you snuck out of the kitchen along with the alcohol you drank.
Not only keep track of your calories but look at the macronutrient ratios (protein/carbs/fat). You should also have a goal as to what they should be. A lot will depend on your activity level. Unless you are training very hard (marathon/triathlete/competition) you should keep your carbs to around 25%-35% for the day. which means your ratios could look something like this: 45/30/25 where 45% of your calories are protein, 30% carbs and 25% (good) fats. This is a general ratio for someone wanting to loose body fat and gain some muscle definition. Remember everyone has a different metabolism and different goals.
So I have presented some tools for you to use. Feel like doing a little remodeling? If you already have done this then good for you. Even if you are at what is considered a "healthy" weight, it would benefit you to go through this experience if you haven't already. If you need to do this and you just think it is too much work, then you just don't care. Because if you did care and you do need to make some changes, you need to put in some effort. If you can't muster up the will to do this for even just a few days, then I am sure you won't change any of your eating habits either . . .
To those that have the will to change, I hope this helps.
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