counting-related stories
Calorie Counters: Why Use Them?
A calorie counter is an easy way to keep track of your daily food intake. It can help you find the number of calories in the foods you eat, as well as the total calories you've consumed and burned throughout the day.
Some tools like the Calorie Counter allow you to look up the nutritional content of certain foods. For example, if you click on "bananas," it will tell you that one medium-sized banana contains 105 calories, 14.4 grams of sugar and 27 grams of carbs.
Other more detailed online calorie trackers such as MyDietJournal, My Calorie Counter and FitWatch allow you to establish a daily food diary. After creating an account, you input everything you eat or drink throughout the day from a pre-set list and the serving size. The calorie tracker summarizes total calories, as well as total carbs, sugar, protein, salt and fat consumed each day. Some will even allow you to enter your weight-loss goal and tells you how many calories you should be consuming and how close to that limit you are after each meal.
There are also calorie trackers as part of complete weight-loss programs such as Calorie King or Weight Watchers.
More Diet Questions Answered:
How Many Calories Do I Need?
How Much Protein Do I Need?
How Many Carbs Per Day Do I Need?
Some tools like the Calorie Counter allow you to look up the nutritional content of certain foods. For example, if you click on "bananas," it will tell you that one medium-sized banana contains 105 calories, 14.4 grams of sugar and 27 grams of carbs.
Other more detailed online calorie trackers such as MyDietJournal, My Calorie Counter and FitWatch allow you to establish a daily food diary. After creating an account, you input everything you eat or drink throughout the day from a pre-set list and the serving size. The calorie tracker summarizes total calories, as well as total carbs, sugar, protein, salt and fat consumed each day. Some will even allow you to enter your weight-loss goal and tells you how many calories you should be consuming and how close to that limit you are after each meal.
There are also calorie trackers as part of complete weight-loss programs such as Calorie King or Weight Watchers.
More Diet Questions Answered:
How Many Calories Do I Need?
How Much Protein Do I Need?
How Many Carbs Per Day Do I Need?
Weight Loss - Lighten Up on Calorie Counting
When it comes to weight loss, calories count. But don't get bogged down with record-keeping.
Calories - Put Yourself on a Budget
Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
In these tough economic times, almost everyone is on a tight budget. But did you know that you can apply penny-saving principles to calories as well? I'm not a big believer in tracking calories every day. Currently, I'm on board with the America Takes It Off: Shrink a Size program and trying to lose weight. While I don't plan to count calories every day, I have been using an online tool to count them for now. The practice helps me get a good grip on my eating habits, and it doesn't allow me to pretend I'm doing better than I really am.
I like the idea of banking calories and, in theory, it should work. However, I have a horrible sweet tooth. Like many of my co-workers, I've been trying to minimize sugar in my diet. I splurged on a tiny sugar cookie the other day and had serious sugar cravings for the next 24 hours. So, for me, banking up for a bigger treat is probably a bad idea. How do you think this idea would work for you?
How much do calories really count?
Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
Good news: Calories don't really count. That's what Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen say, and I'm inclined to believe them. Here's how they explain: Counting calories isn't really worth it because eating isn't about calories; it's about satisfaction. Plus, each one of us has different caloric needs, depending on our genes, metabolic rates, activity levels, and other factors. There just is no one-size-fits-all calorie formula. For some people, larger portions may be reasonable; for others, small may be sufficient. Now that you've got permission to ditch the calorie-counting, embrace these four tips for eating and exercising wisely.
- Eat nutritionally-rich foods.
- Avoid toxic foods -- simple sugars and carbohydrates; saturated and trans fats; cereals, pastas, grains, and flours that are not 100% whole wheat or whole grain.
- Use your body's clues -- eat the amount of food that feels right in order to reach and maintain your ideal waist size (32.5 inches for women; 35 for men).
- Walk daily and lift weights three times per week.
Working in the Workouts: Kids can count your reps
My daughter loves to count. She can get beyond 20 these days. "Helping" is another thing she adores. "Mommy, I help you cook." "Mommy, I help you fix that." And on, and on.So I was delighted to come across a great tip today that makes use of both of these favorite activities. It comes from a special section of Workouts for You devoted to exercising with kids. Most of the ideas on the list are actually things I've written about in this series already. But here's the new one: involve your kids while you strength train at home by letting them count your reps out loud for you and/or clock your rest time in-between sets. You can incorporate the task into doing a few push-ups or sit-ups or while using dumb bells. Squats or leg lifts too.
Sometimes our old brains forget the simple things kids find fun. And it's a big bonus when that fun truly translates to "Mommy, I help you work out!" And it's the truth!
All those forgotten calories add up fast
Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
If you are a serious dieter, you probably know how to count calories well, and you may even keep a log sheet with you at all times. Some people I know use their cellphones to keep track of their daily calories.This methodology, of course, can be derailed when you "forget" to count certain types of calories. Think that snack pack of M&Ms has no calories, and you don't have to include it? If you're really wanting to see your daily caloric intake, then those must be counted as well.
Even a few bites of a pancake in the morning from your spouse's breakfast plate can add up. It's a complete nuisance to track every single thing that goes into your mouth (trust me, I know), but to get a good feel for your calories every day, it's required at least a few times so you really can see what you're needing to burn when you get on that treadmill.
The calorie-counting web browser toolbar
To those of us who work at a computer all day long, wouldn't it be nice to have some kind of tool in that web browser that would give us instant feedback on those breakfast and lunch calories?Food awareness can never be too intrusive if you ask me, as all those daily methods at home, at work and even in the car can constantly motivate those that want assistance to steering themselves in healthier directions when it comes to food choices.
Before you take off to get that take-out to eat at your desk during a working lunch, try the CalorieKing toolbar and see if what you're were thinking for lunch is the most appropriate thing for you to be eating right now. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
Distraction to ease pain
Diet & Weight Loss, Motivation, Alternative & Green Health
Sometimes it is all those little distractions during the day that we curse under our breaths. But distraction is a good method to relieve pain. People use this method without even realizing it when they watch TV or listen to the radio to take their minds off of worry or their pain. Distraction may be used to manage mild pain or used with medicine to help manage episodes of severe pain.Any activity that occupies your attention can be used for distraction. I personally play the guitar to "take my mind off of pain". Distractions could be doing needlework, model building, painting or diving into a good book. Use your hobbies as a way to focus and distract your attention off of pain. Listening to fast music through a headset or earphones keeps your attention on the music and tapping out a rhythm will help hold your attention away from the pain. Playing video games can be a way to keep your focus off of pain. Distraction can also be internal such as singing mentally to yourself, praying, counting or repeating yourself with statements such as "I can cope" or demand the pain away with statements over and over like "pain leave my body."
Of course the best distraction of all to me is to pop in a favorite movie in the DVD player and get focused on the screen.
CalorieSmart: Handheld calorie counting
Healthy Products and Reviews, Diet & Weight Loss, Reviews & Products
CalorieSmart describes itself as a portable food and exercise diary. Keeping a food journal and tracking everything you eat is a successful way for many people to get a hold on their dieting and eating habits, and the CalorieSmart machine not only allows you to do that but it also helps you look up the calorie counts of certain food items and estimate/calculate the number of calories per serving from homemade recipes. All this sounds great, especially from hand held machine that you can take with you anywhere. But will you really take this big blue monstrosity everywhere? I'd be a little embarrassed to whip that sucker out at a restaurant, I'll be honest. In today's world of sleek cell phones and Blackberries this thing looks a little outdated and cumbersome. Maybe I'm being overly harsh, but it reminds me of some of the first hand held video games from years ago.
How many calories... in a Chipotle Burrito?
Did you get your free burrito? In case you missed it, Chipotle gave away free burritos for tax day this year. It's tough to pass up a free lunch, I know. So maybe you went for that free tax day burrito and now you're wondering exactly how far you've thrown off your diet. Chipotle is all about letting you customize, so let's say you were fairly reasonable and chose a chicken burrito instead of steak, but added cheese, guacamole, and veggies. How many calories did that free lunch really cost you?
A) 550 calories
B) 700 calories
C) 850 calories
D) 1150 calories
How many calories ... in a Western omelet?
When you're out for breakfast or brunch at a diner, I'm sure you know enough to single out the Belgian waffles with bacon as an obviously unhealthy choice on the menu. But egg dishes become a gray area. Eggs are full of nutrients and protein, but traditional ways of preparing eggs are usually high in calories and fat. One American favorite is the Western omelet, which contains eggs, butter, green peppers, onions and diced ham.Do the calories outweigh the health benefits? How many calories are in an average 2 egg western omelet?
A) 370 calories
B) 440 calories
C) 520 calories
D) 650 calories
Warm winter drinks that won't pack on the pounds
Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
There's nothing better than a steaming mocha latte on the way to work on a frosty morning, or a big cup of hot chocolate during a snow storm. But unfortunately those cozy moments of seemingly small indulgences can really add up in the form of calories in your cup and inches on your waist. But iVillage.com has some low-cal alternatives that keep those "winter woolies" feelings but lose the guilt trip.
Being somebody who usually has a hard time with "diet" versions of anything, I was excited to see the first item on the list was something I already love: mocha coffee! Take one packet of sugar-free hot chocolate and mix it with a cup of coffee, instead of water. Compared to a coffee house mocha latte, this version will cut about 190 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 17 grams of sugar. And it really tastes good!
Other recipes for healthy hot drinks include egg nog and pumpkin spice lattes, and even a few of the dietician's personal favorites.
