Introduction:
Maybe you’ve tried it, maybe you haven’t. But if you have any interest in tracking your calories, there are a number of benefits to doing so. Tracking your food intake can be a mood-booster and help with weight loss goals.
What is Calorie Tracking?
Defined by the Oxford Dictionary, the word ‘calorie’ is used to describe “the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 g of water 1 degree Celsius.”1 The word was first used in 1849 by a French scientist by the name of Nicolas Clément, however it was not until 1917 when a Swedish chemist and Nobel Laureate named A. E. H. Berthelot coined the term “calorimetry” that it became widely used in scientific literature .2
In essence, calorie tracking is nothing more than measuring and recording one’s food and drink intake.
Need for Calorie Tracking:
Calorie tracking is a useful way of monitoring a person’s food intake as well as guiding their weight loss .
Why Calorie Tracking Works:
Calorie tracking works to help with weight loss in several ways. Here are a few benefits of calorie counting; it helps with:
Guidance for diet and exercise.
Achieving desired weight loss or maintenance.
Reducing food cravings.
Discrimination and moderation in eating foods.
Tracking calories can help people on diets to reach their goals for weight loss or body fat reduction, which can lead to better health and increased energy . And research has shown that calorie counting is an effective method of helping people lose weight .
Does Calorie Tracking Work?
The answer is a resounding “yes!” Research has shown that people who count calories lose more weight and keep it off longer than people who just diet without counting their calories . Also, calorie counting can help to ensure weight maintenance after dieting. A study published in “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” showed that, when comparing two groups of women, one group that counted calories for a period of 16 weeks lost significantly more weight than the group who didn’t .
5 Mood-Boosting Benefits of Calorie Tracking :
1) It helps with weight loss: This can be a contentious issue, as it often comes down to the effectiveness of the diet or overall weight management program. For example, the low carb ketogenic diet works by forcing the body to be in a state of ketosis, and this causes weight loss. The problem is that many people are not able to stay on the diet for long periods of time for this reason. The same goes for other fad diets. So in these cases, people may lose weight on a calorie-restricted diet and feel better as a result of it; however, they are also likely to gain back their lost weight within 12 months .
2) It enhances self-control: The ability to stay disciplined with one’s diet, exercise, and other lifestyle habits is a key factor in being able to keep the weight off. If you don’t have the self-control to be able to stay disciplined in all things, then weight loss will be difficult. Some people find that they have troubles staying disciplined on their diet at first, but they can gain self-control as they continue on it. If you stick with calorie counting, you will see positive results over the long term because it allows people to learn how to resist food temptations and make healthier choices for themselves .
3) It can help with ‘emotional eating’: Emotional eating, also known as “craving” or “binge eating,” is the tendency to binge eat beyond one’s daily caloric intake. This can result in weight gain and it is a very unhealthy way to eat. Calorie counting helps with emotional eating because it improves self-control and allows people to learn how to recognize when they are becoming emotionally hungry and how to deal with it .
4) It can help you understand your food choices: Tracking calories gives you an information about how much food is being consumed and makes you more aware of what’s happening with your body.
5) It can increase your confidence and happiness: Calorie counting can help people accept their bodies for what it is, and this can help them to be happier and more confident.
How to Use Calorie Counting to Improve Your Health:
1) Purchase a food scale: In order to accurately track calories, you need a way of measuring food. To do this, you should purchase a food scale .
2) Purchase a calorie tracking app: Calorie counting apps are available for both Android and iPhone devices. Having one of these apps on your phone can make it easy to track your food intake each day. You can choose from one of the best calorie tracker app which will help you to easily track your food intake each day.
3) Determine your daily calorie targets: To determine how many calories you need, start with the information provided in the previous section to get an idea of how much you should be eating each day. You now need to divide this number by the number of calories required per day by multiplying it by seven .
4) Track your food: Each day, take a good look at the foods you are eating and record how many calories they contain. Add up the total number of calories you consume within the day.
5) Calculate your total calorie intake for that day: The app will let you know what it thinks is your daily recommended diet, which can differ from one person to another. So each time you eat, add up all the calories in your meal and enter that amount on the app. Multiply it by the number of days you’ve been tracking food and enter that number as your daily intake.
Conclusion:
With so many different approaches to weight loss, it can be difficult to know which one you should use. In some cases, a traditional diet and exercise plan is the best option for you. For others, calorie counting may be a good option.
It is important to do what works best for you if you want to keep the weight off long term. For those that wish to just track their food intake and see results, a basic food scale and an app.
People often have mixed reactions about calorie counting. It can be uncomfortable at first, but it’s only an inconvenience in the short term .