Following up on my last article, considering that you have identified how much calories you are required to burn to lose fat, the other part of the equation is therefore knowing how much calories you are consuming. Once you know your calorie intake, it becomes a variable you can control in your fat loss goal, when combined with strength training and/or cardio.
The Accuracy Of Calorie Counting: The Honest Truth
It's impossible to calculate the actual amount of calories you burn or consume with 100% accuracy. There are far too many variables involved in both activities. The body is not a static and predictable machine as we think it is, and your fat loss fluctuates at times based on multiple factors such as water content, salt concentration, overall body fat percentage, etc. Another important factor includes how efficiently your body either uses or reserves energy based on external situations (resting, working, exercising). Did you burn the same calories in today's 30-minute jog as yesterday's 30-minute jog? Did you run with equal intensity?
Some foods contain a different calorie amount when comparing actual values to previously-tested values. Let's use a potato as an example. The potato used in a lab to determine its calorie content is a different potato you have in your kitchen pot. And even if you write down that 100 grams of potato contains approximately 80 calories, different methods of preparation affect the calorie content. A fried potato is going to have more calories than a roasted potato, due to the use of oil. One potato type may not have the exact same calories as another potato type. If you were at a restaurant, how would you know which potato type the chef used to get an accurate calorie measurement?
These are some factors that can make the situation unpredictable, therefore making it difficult to "set" a definite number, e.g., eat 1800 calories today and 1900 calories tomorrow. It's all averages and estimates. Nothing is 100% precise.
In spite of all this, fat loss is one of those situations you can't go into blindly: measurements are needed. You cannot underperform in your workouts if you want to truly burn fat. You cannot out-exercise a bad diet either. Considering the limited precision of calorie counting, ranges and percentages are a better approach- hence the reason I prefer using calorie ranges when calorie counting for fat loss.
Some foods contain a different calorie amount when comparing actual values to previously-tested values. Let's use a potato as an example. The potato used in a lab to determine its calorie content is a different potato you have in your kitchen pot. And even if you write down that 100 grams of potato contains approximately 80 calories, different methods of preparation affect the calorie content. A fried potato is going to have more calories than a roasted potato, due to the use of oil. One potato type may not have the exact same calories as another potato type. If you were at a restaurant, how would you know which potato type the chef used to get an accurate calorie measurement?
These are some factors that can make the situation unpredictable, therefore making it difficult to "set" a definite number, e.g., eat 1800 calories today and 1900 calories tomorrow. It's all averages and estimates. Nothing is 100% precise.
In spite of all this, fat loss is one of those situations you can't go into blindly: measurements are needed. You cannot underperform in your workouts if you want to truly burn fat. You cannot out-exercise a bad diet either. Considering the limited precision of calorie counting, ranges and percentages are a better approach- hence the reason I prefer using calorie ranges when calorie counting for fat loss.
The Usefulness Of Calorie Ranges For Calorie Counting
Using a calorie range is a great method of improving calorie counting, because it simply allows for margins of error. Rather than pinpointing an exact figure, the more consideration given for errors, the better you are at calorie tracking.
For instance, if you intended to set your calorie intake to 2400 calories for a specific day, it would be ideal to set a range artificial limit of 1900 - 2200 calories. That allows you to take into account margins for errors. An individual could actually find themselves eating between about 1900-2100 calories if they are strict with their estimates. The narrower the calorie range restriction you impose on yourself, the greater the account for errors, and the better your estimates become. That means that you calories are better kept in check.
For instance, if you intended to set your calorie intake to 2400 calories for a specific day, it would be ideal to set a range artificial limit of 1900 - 2200 calories. That allows you to take into account margins for errors. An individual could actually find themselves eating between about 1900-2100 calories if they are strict with their estimates. The narrower the calorie range restriction you impose on yourself, the greater the account for errors, and the better your estimates become. That means that you calories are better kept in check.
In terms of percentages, if your TDEE (required calorie intake based on body measurements and work output) is 2300 calories, you can create a range between 10-20% calorie reduction of that TDEE value to burn fat. For example:
2300 x ((100-10) / 100) = 2300 x 0.90 = 2070 calories max
2300 x ((100-20) / 100) = 2300 x 0.80 = 1840 calories min
Your estimated calorie range based on a TDEE of 2300 calories would be 1840 - 2070 calories, give or take errors.
Using calorie ranges also prove useful when using calorie cycling, since you can vary your calorie intake while avoiding a fat loss plateau.
Where To Get The Estimated Calorie Values For Foods? How To Track Your Calorie Intake?
Getting food calories values to use is actually an easy step. Knowing that the values are just estimates, it becomes a matter of deciding how narrow or how wide you want your calorie range to be, which in turn determines the degree of accuracy in calorie counting for fat loss.
There are a lot of online calorie databases that provide estimated calorie content for a wide variety of foods. Some of the best and popular ones I've used over the years are:
There are a lot of online calorie databases that provide estimated calorie content for a wide variety of foods. Some of the best and popular ones I've used over the years are:
CalorieKing
CalorieCount
These calorie databases have tons of foods we use on a daily basis. They are all worth checking out, because for each website there are some slight discrepancies when it comes to the calorie content for some of the same foods.
CalorieCount
These calorie databases have tons of foods we use on a daily basis. They are all worth checking out, because for each website there are some slight discrepancies when it comes to the calorie content for some of the same foods.
Start observing the calorie information on food labels. Food labels were put there for a purpose, and will help a lot in your estimations. Monitor your serving sizes. A lot of people exceed their calorie estimates because they do not pay attention to the serving size and its associated calorie value, so they find themselves in a situation where they are overeating and miscalculating.
If you can't keep or don't want to keep a mental track of your calories, all modern smartphones come with calculators: use them. For those interested in an even more structured approach to calorie counting should definitely consider recording your calorie intake on a daily basis. This is a highly recommended good practice for both beginners and professionals, because it allows you to gain better assessments of your fat loss from daily readings. It also teaches you how to readjust estimates accordingly, when you are deviating from accuracy, which will become evident when fat gain becomes visible. There is a wide range of calorie-tracking apps available on app stores for the different mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Windows) that also help with calorie counting and recording. I encourage you to try these because they reduce the workload of calorie tracking, especially for beginners.
If you can't keep or don't want to keep a mental track of your calories, all modern smartphones come with calculators: use them. For those interested in an even more structured approach to calorie counting should definitely consider recording your calorie intake on a daily basis. This is a highly recommended good practice for both beginners and professionals, because it allows you to gain better assessments of your fat loss from daily readings. It also teaches you how to readjust estimates accordingly, when you are deviating from accuracy, which will become evident when fat gain becomes visible. There is a wide range of calorie-tracking apps available on app stores for the different mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Windows) that also help with calorie counting and recording. I encourage you to try these because they reduce the workload of calorie tracking, especially for beginners.
One way of making the situation predictable is by planning your meals for the day in advance. It is a form of structured eating that complements structured daily calorie recording. Planning your meals early in the morning or on the previous day allows you to calculate the calories and avoid overeating. Eating predictably is a form of calorie control.
As your body fat reduces, make sure to remeasure your calorie requirements to avoid eating excess calories you no longer need. Remember that as your body fat percentage reduces, your calorie intake must reflect that. Here's how to know your calorie requirements and TDEE.
Over time, your skill at estimating calories offhand becomes better, with a lesser dependency on charts and tables for accuracy. Your experience will help guide you. Eventually, you'll be able to make mental calorie calculations- right off the top of your head- and identify how best to burn off the extra calories, whether by strength training, cardio, or a combination of both.
Having 100% accuracy when it comes to calculating calorie intake is not possible, but it's better to make a calculated estimation than to be unaware of the amount of calories you're consuming. It's a numbers game. And you have to win.
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