Calorie Counting: Calculating Your Dieting Budget – Part 1

You know how much you get paid right? Maybe not down the very cent but you probably wouldn’t have to respond with a series of question marks if you had to fill out a form asking for your salary range. And would you ever walk up to the cash at your favorite store and throw a handful of items onto the counter without having at least an idea of how much they cost?

My guess is that would be pretty hard on your budget and would cause you some pretty serious problems were you to do it regularly. Yet, that’s what many people do with their daily caloric intake and energy expenditure.

Do The Math

Losing weight isn’t complicated, it’s a little math. You have to burn more 3,500 more calories than you take in to lose one pound of fat. Losing weight is like saving money. Earn more than you spend and, in the long run, you’ll reach your goal.

Calorie Counting Doesn't Have To Be A Pain

Calorie Counting Doesn't Have To Be A Pain

Now, I’m not suggesting you start counting every calorie you eat or burn from now on, but wouldn’t it make sense to have a ballpark idea of how many calorie “dollars” you were spending every day? And it would probably be useful to find out how many you have to spend as well.

There are a number of different calculations out there to determine how many calories your body needs to maintain your current weight or to lose weight but it is an imperfect science since it is difficult to measure your exact amount of regular activity and even more difficult to guess your body’s exact metabolic speed. You can kill two birds with one stone by keeping a food journal for a week.

Okay I can already hear sighing out there. Before you open your email editor to write me a disgruntled email about why you won’t be one of those people who calculates every amount of food they ingest, take a deep breath, and read on. I’m not suggesting you do this for the rest of your life or even for the rest of the time you are working on weight loss.

Keep Track

I’m suggesting that you keep track of what you eat (day, item, quantity, and portion size) for 7 days. Include how much mayonnaise you put on your sandwich, whether you had one or two tablespoons of dressing on your small salad, your cup and a half of OJ with breakfast, and so on. After that time, you’ll have a good idea of how many calories your body needs to either maintain, gain, or lose weight.

On the first day, weigh yourself in the morning before you begin eating or drinking. Do the same on the 8th day. If there has been a change in weight, note it (in pounds will be easiest so that you won’t have to convert it later on during calculations. Then, review each day in your journal and count up how many calories you ate over the course of each day.

There are a number of websites and books out there with calorie information for at least the most common foods. Some are surprisingly complete and have information for even unusual or exotic items. The USDA even has a National Nutrient Database available online that you can use. Once you tally the calories in each day, add the total of all the days together and make note of your weekly calorie total.

Did You Lose or Gain?

If you lost or gained weight during the week, take the amount you lost or gained (in pounds) and multiply it by 3,500. If you lost weight, add this new multiplied number to your calorie total for the week. If you gained weight, subtract it from your week’s calorie total.

Finally, divide the result of this addition or subtraction by 7 and you will get your average daily calorie intake to maintain your weight at your current activity level. This is like figuring out your salary. This is how much you can “spend” without gaining or losing weight.

In the next post in this series Calorie Counting: Calculating Your Dieting Budget – Part 2, we’ll look at the other side of your calorie budget and how to better estimate and factor in the “cost” of the things you are spending your “calorie salary” on when you are eating (without constant calorie counting).