Our body needs calories to power all of our functions and give us energy. Whether you’re trying to lose or gain weight you most likely have found yourself counting calories at some point. Calories are the amount of energy a food provides and by tracking them you are able to put yourself in a negative energy or positive energy balance. But is calorie counting actually worth the time and effort you have to put into it?

What is a calorie?

Calories are the unit of energy a food has stored in it. The calories in a given food are measured by using a bomb calorimeter.  The amount of calories is calculated by how much energy is needed to raise 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

Each macronutrient provides us with a given amount of calories per gram. 

• Carbohydrates - 4 calories/gram

• Protein - 4 calories/gram

• Fat - 9 calories/gram

• Alcohol - 7 calories/gram (not an essential macronutrient)

So, calories in a food can either be calculated by measuring the food directly in a bomb calorimeter or calculating them indirectly from the amounts of carbs, protein, and fat in a food. 

How to track calories?

The most common way to track calories was to keep a food diary of everything you ate and log the caloric info from the nutrition label. If you were working with a dietitian, you could have your food diary analyzed by them using computer software.

In today’s tech age, countless calorie counting apps are available that can be used on your phone and computer. You can log your food intake as you go or wait till later to backlog your day. Most apps even let you scan the barcode of your food providing you with the information instantly. 

Does tracking calories work for weight loss or gain?

In order to lose or gain weight you have to put your body in a caloric deficiency or excess. Once you know what your metabolic rate is, you can determine how many calories you need to achieve your goal. 

Typically, you would decrease or increase your caloric intake by 500 calories/day from your metabolic rate. The idea is that in one week you will have eaten 3,500 calories less or more and 1 pound of fat contains 3,500 calories.  

By using either method of food tracking you are able to make sure you are eating 500 less or more calories each day. But there is a catch to tracking calories. Even though we know that decreasing or increasing calorie intake does work to achieve your goals, tracking is often flawed by many factors.

The factors that complicate counting accurate calories include:

• Measuring the exact amount of food you are eating (e.g., cups, ounces)

• Knowing the exact amount of each ingredient in a combined foods (e.g., soup, salad)

Both of these factors can dramatically change the total calories. Even if you are off by a few tablespoons, it can add up and by the end of the day you may only have eaten 100 calories less instead of 500 calories. 

With today’s food tracking apps, the food database provides new hurdles as well. Many apps will have a database that is built by nutrition professionals, but some will have food input by the users themselves. This creates varied calorie amounts for one food item. 

Some foods may not even be available in your app leaving you to pick a similar food. These small changes again can add up at the end of the day and affect your total calories.  

To complicate things even more, your metabolic rate will change as you lose or gain weight and should be recalculated at given times. This often happens when you reach a plateau in your weight loss.

The takeaway

In short, counting calories if done correctly by a professional does work to lose or gain weight. However, counting accurately by yourself is often thrown off by many factors. This can skew your total calorie amount by several hundred calories and keep your weight from changing.

Counting calories has worked for many people mainly because it makes them aware of the foods they are eating. So a better practice would be to track your food intake to become more aware of your food choices. 

By becoming more aware of your food choices you are more likely to reduce the high calorie foods that we tend to eat without giving much thought. You may find that you have been eating too many starchy foods at dinner or sneaking in a few candy bars throughout the day from the break room.

So instead of stressing yourself with accurately tracking calories of each food, simplify your tracking by focusing on your food choices instead. This will show you the bigger picture and help you make positive changes accordingly. If you want help determining what changes to make, schedule your free consultation with Dietitian2Go to get started.

Written by Adam Skowyra MPPD, RDN, LD