How to Keep a Record of the Calories Consumed in a Day

If you are trying to manage your weight, or lose weight, you should keep a record of the amount of calories you eat in a day. Many times people don't realize how many calories are in the foods they eat. For example, just because you eat a salad doesn't mean it's healthy. Some salads at popular restaurants have as much as 1,500 calories. Avoid consuming too many calories by keeping a daily record of the calories you eat every day.

Things You'll Need

• Notebook
• Pen
• Computer with Internet Access
• Food scale

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Instructions

• 1

  Buy a notebook to record all your calories in. Look for one that is small enough to keep in your bag and durable enough to last daily use. If you have a smart phone, you can also keep a record of the calories in it. Just open whatever notes program your phone has, entitle it "Calories" and record all your calories there.

• 2

  Write down everything you eat and drink after each meal.

• 3

  Find out how many calories are in each item and write the calories beside the food or drink item. You can refer to the nutritional label to determine how many calories are in the food item. There are also several websites that offer a calorie counter of food brands, meals you cook at home, entrees and sides from restaurants and even drinks. There are some listed in the resources section. Just go to the websites, search for the ingredients or meal, and calculate the serving size.

• 4

  Remember that serving size may vary from what you ate and what the nutritional label or calorie counter says. For example, a frozen entree might say it has 200 calories per serving. But if the serving is 1/2 the container and you ate the whole container, you actually consumed 400 calories.

• 5

  Measure and weigh the food you eat. If a serving size is four ounces, instead of eyeballing it, use a scale to determine how many ounces you are actually eating.

• 6

  Remain faithful to counting your calories. Do it every day and for every meal. If you forget a meal, go back and put in what you remember when you remember. Also be honest with yourself. Don't avoid recording the calories in junk food because you feel guilty for eating it. You are only providing a disservice to yourself.