Quick Guide to Counting Calories Like a Pro (Without Losing Your Mind)

Counting calories isn’t about obsession—it’s a powerful tool to understand your body, your habits, and how the energy you consume impacts your results. This guide will help you do it practically, clearly, and without anxiety.

Why Count Calories?

Counting calories helped me:

• Become truly aware of what I eat

• Adjust my food intake to match my goals: lose fat, gain muscle or maintain weight

• Debunk nutrition myths and stop guessing

It’s not about dieting forever—it’s about understanding your actions and making informed choices. Know your macros ( click)

Basic Tools You’ll Need

• A digital food scale

• A tracking app: MyFitnessPal, Yazio, FatSecret, or Macros+ (I have no collaboration with them, you can use the app you want).

• Nutrition labels or a reliable calorie chart

• Most importantly: a flexible, progress-over-perfection mindset

  
  

How to Weigh Your Food

• Whenever possible, weigh food raw—it’s more accurate

• If you weigh it cooked, make sure to log it as “cooked” in your app

• Stay consistent: if you start tracking rice raw, always log it that way

How to Read Nutrition Labels

Get used to checking:

• Serving size

• Calories per serving

• Macronutrients: protein, carbs, fat

⚠️ Watch out: packages often list calories for tiny portions. Adjust based on what you actually eat!

Key Tips to Stay On Track

• Weigh high-calorie foods like oils, nuts, rice, peanut butter

• Save your favorite recipes and create custom portion sizes

• Don’t ignore small snacks—they count too!

• Focus on your weekly average, not daily perfection

• Eating out? Estimate by eye and choose a similar item in your app

  
  

Raw vs. Cooked: Quick Reference

Food Type	Best Way to Weigh
Meat/Fish	Raw
Rice/Pasta	Raw
Fruits/Vegetables	Either—just stay consistent
Homemade Meals	Cooked (track full recipe)

📌 Remember: cooking changes the weight (water loss or gain), but not the calories.

Quick Start Checklist

✔ Download a tracking app

✔ Use a food scale at least once a day

✔ Set your goal: deficit, maintenance, or surplus

✔ Log EVERYTHING you eat for at least one week

✔ Focus on trends, not perfection

✔ Celebrate consistency, not just results

Want a free food calorie guide or a meal tracking template? Subscribe to the blog and I’ll send it straight to your inbox. Know your macros