How to Count Calories & Fat Grams

Calories are the basic unit for measuring energy release from nutrients. Fat, carbohydrates and proteins constitute the basic, macronutrients contained in most foods. To gain, lose or maintain weight, you need to count your calories. You may also wish to monitor the number of fat grams, since these nutrients contain over twice the number of calories per gram than do proteins or carbohydrates. Some fats also contribute artery-clogging cholesterol, which can present health risks.

Things You'll Need

• Weight scale

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Instructions

• 1

  Weigh yourself in pounds and multiply this weight by a multiplier. This multiplier will be 15 for an active man or 13 for an inactive man. The multiplier will be 12 for an active woman or 10 for an inactive woman. As an example, a 180-pound, active man would require 2,700 calories per day.

• 2

  Multiply your required calories by 0.30 to calculate the maximum number of calories from fat. In the example, 2,700 times 0.30 gives you 810 calories of fat.

• 3

  Divide the fat calories by nine to calculate the maximum number of fat grams. In the example, 810 divided by nine gives you a total of 90 fat grams.

• 4

  Multiply the fat grams by 0.10 to calculate the maximum number of grams from saturated fats. In the example, 90 times 0.10 gives you 9 grams of saturated fats.

• 5

  Read the nutrition label or consult an online resource to obtain the number of calories, total fat grams and grams of saturated fats in each food you consumed. Keep a running tally and compare this total to the maximum amounts you should consume.

• 6

  Multiply the number of grams of fat in a food by nine to calculate the number of calories contributed by fat. As an example, a piece of pie with 15 grams of fat contributes 135 calories.

• 7

  Divide the calories from fat by the total calories, and then multiply this figure by 100. This gives you the percentage of calories contributed from fat. In the example, if the pie contained 330 calories, then fat comprises 40.9 percent of the pie's calories.