It is well documented in the nutrition science world that most people can’t count calories correctly. Need proof? Take a look at this YouTube clip that we showed you in an earlier blog.
What’s the big deal about being clueless when it comes to knowing how many calories are in different foods? If you don’t know the calorie content of the foods you eat then you will have a hard time managing your weight – balancing calories in with the calories you burn – over time.
Now test yourself. What do you estimate is the calorie count for each the following foods? (answers below)
a) 2 cups Frosted Flake Cereal
b) ¾ cup 2% milk
c) Large glass (12 ounces) orange juice
d) 1 bagel
e) 2 tablespoons regular cream cheese
Add up the total calories you estimated for the five foods and compare your total with the correct total shown below. Now subtract your estimate from the correct calorie total. Is your answer is a positive number (i.e., your answer was less than the correct answer)? If so, you may be in danger of putting on weight because you are likely underestimating how many calories are in foods.
If the answer is a negative number, count yourself in the minority because most people underestimate the number of calories in foods .
Get a Clue
If you need remedial training in the calorie content of foods, give these ideas a try:
Be a calorie detective. Search out information about the calorie content of the foods you eat.
- Reading food labels is a good start but the calorie number on the label may not be 100% accurate as we told you in last week’s blog.
- Get a calorie count book. It won’t have all the foods in the world in it but depending on the resource you buy, you can get calorie information for thousands of foods.
- Go online to places like CalorieKing.com for an easy way to look up calorie content of different foods.
Play with your food. Get out your measuring cups and spoons and find out what a ½ cup of rice or a tablespoon of butter or 2 cups of lettuce looks like. When you are good at estimating the amounts of different foods you eat, you will be more accurate in your calorie counts for different foods.
Write a diary. Keep a list of every (this means ALL!) foods you eat and beverages you drink for a couple of days. Here’s a downloadable form from the Stand Up & Eat Library. Use the calorie counting resources from “Be a calorie detective” above to look up the calorie content of each food you eat. Once you have done this, review your diary. What were the total calories you ate each day? Now click here to get an estimate of how many calories your body needs. How does this number compare to the number of calories you ate on your “diary” days? Chances are you weren’t in perfect calorie balance but just how far off were you? Big differences can add up to weight gain (you ate excess calories) or weight loss (you burned more calories than you ate).
True, most people don’t have a clue about how many calories they eat each day. And their ignorance often shows up on their waistline. But with a little information and some practice, you don’t have to be totally clueless.
Answers: a) 293; b) 92; c) 165; d) 360; e) 101; Total = 1,011
