Calorie is the amount of energy a food provides and to know the total amount of calories a food has, one should take into account the amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat.
Each gram of protein and carbohydrate has 4 calories, each gram of fat provides 9 calories, and each ml of alcohol has 7 calories.
How Many Calories Should I Eat Per Day
To know how many calories to eat per day is important to do accounts because the value of caloric intake depends on the current weight and also if you want to gain weight or lose weight. Although there are other formulas, the following is very simple and practical:
- To lose weight - multiply 20 or 25 by the current weight
- To maintain weight - multiply 25 or 30 by the current weight
- To gain weight - multiply 30 or 35 by the current weight
For example, if I weigh 50 kg and want to maintain weight, I must multiply 25 x 50 or 30 x 50 and without fear of gaining weight, I can ingest between 1250 and 1500 calories per day.
Find out exactly how many calories you need to ingest per day by entering your data below:
How to Calculate Food Calories
To know how many calories a food has to multiply the amount of carbohydrate by 4, the grams of protein by 4 also and the total fat by 9.
For example: How many calories does a 100 g chocolate bar have?
To know the answer one must know the amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fat that chocolate has, observing on its label, and then just multiply:
- 30.3 g of carbohydrates x 4 (each carbohydrate has 4 calories) = 121.2
- 12.9 g protein x 4 (each protein has 4 calories) = 51.6
- 40.7 g fat x 9 (each fat has 9 calories) = 366.3
Summing all these values the result is 539 calories.
Food Calorie Table
The following table indicates the amount of calories in some foods most consumed daily.
| Food | Amount | Calories |
| French bread | 1 unit | 135 |
| Cheese dish | 1 slice | 106 |
Orange juice | 1 cup (200 ml) | 128 |
| Fried egg | 100 grams (fried in oil) | 240 |
| Boiled egg | 100 grams | 146 |
| Baked sweet potato | 100 grams | 125 |
| Popcorn | 1 cup of popcorn made in oil | 55 |
| Brown rice | 2 tablespoons | 167 |
| Avocado | 1 small unit | 108 |
| Banana | 100 g | 95 |
| Tapioca simple without filling | 100 grams | 130 |
|
Apple | 1 unit | 61 |
The less calorie foods are fruits and vegetables and so are used especially in slimming diets. Foods high in fat like fried foods, processed foods are the most caloric and therefore should not be consumed by those who wish to lose weight.
A snack prepared with 1 French bread + 1 slice of cheese plate, accompanied by a glass of orange juice + 1 apple has 430 calories that are less calories than those of a chocolate bar with almonds, for example, which has on average 463 calories.
Know the 10 exercises that spend more Calories
How to consume fewer calories to lose weight
The best way to consume less calories to lose weight is to know how many calories foods have and how many calories you can ingest per day. Once you know this you should opt for less caloric foods that are fruits, vegetables, greens and vegetables.
1. Use a calorie counter
There are tables that indicate the amount of calories that each food has, but to be more practical, there are also several applications that can be installed on smarthphone to assist in daily control.
2. Swap sweets for fruits
In any diet to reduce the consumption of sweets such as cake, biscuit, stuffed biscuit and sweet desserts are prohibited because they are rich in sugar that raise blood glucose and in addition to gaining weight, cause more hunger.
So the ideal is instead of eating something sweet, eat a fruit, preferably, which has peel or bagasse, and eat as dessert
3. Exchange potatoes with other vegetables
It is important to eat vegetables, grains, and grains at lunch and dinner times, but do not opt for potatoes, yams, or sweet potatoes if you are looking to lose weight. Good choices are zucchini, green beans and the combination of rice and beans is an excellent source of protein.
4. Prefer cooked foods
Egg is an excellent source of protein, but eating fried egg or scrambled egg is not the best option because it has more calories. So the ideal is to eat boiled egg or poached egg, made on top of the rice, because so it does not need oil, taking fewer calories.
5. Eat more fiber
The fibers are excellent for helping to fight hunger and so you can add 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed in a natural yogurt and at each meal, because you get less hungry during the day, and with more patience to choose or prepare foods less caloric.
6. Plan meals
Making a weekly menu is a great way to know what you are going to eat and how many calories a food has. Ideally, do not put the exact calories you should consume per day, so there is room for a variation or another if needed.
7. Choose the best calories
1 cup of zero coke has probably zero calories, while 1 cup of natural orange juice has about 100 calories, however, orange juice has vitamin C which helps in maintaining health and so the best choice is the juice, even if it has more calories, because it also has many more vitamins and minerals that are not present in the soda.
If you want something with fewer calories, but have some flavor, try taking bottled water and add a few drops of lemon.
