Counting Calories Continued...

Hopefully by now you are more aware of what you are eating. Or at least questioning your food choices. Maybe you have even made a few changes.



I want to continue talking about counting calories...



The concept of counting calories is pretty simple. Yet, as noted earlier, most of us underestimate how many calories we consume. Here are a few tips to help make your counting more accurate and more practical-

Measure your food. Take the time to learn what a half cup of pasta or a cup of cereal really looks like. Do you know what 3 ounces of meat looks like?



You hear often you should eat off smaller plates. Not only does this force you to eat smaller portions, research has shown that people make bigger errors in calorie content (underestimating) when the portions are bigger.

Create 400 calorie meals. We are creatures of habit. Most of us eat the same things over and over again. Figure out which 10 meals you eat the most and make sure they are under 400 calories per serving. Make the neccessary changes to make these meals healthier. There is a new diet book out called the 400 calorie diet. I haven't yet looked at the recipes but essentially the idea is to eat 400 calories 3-4 times a day depending on your caloric need. I think it is a fantastic idea and makes counting calories simple.

Snacks need to be planned out. There are a lot of extra calories that creep into our diet without us even realizing it. If you are going to eat snacks make sure you have budgeted them into your daily calorie count. Remember a little extra this and that makes a big difference.

Let me know if you have any questions so far.

We will further this discussion by talking about how to not only count your calories but to make your calories count.

~PCFitness