Claire's FAT Journey Part 4

CALORIE COUNTING

I’ve been asked to do a blog on how to count calories and how to work out the calories in a recipe.

To lose weight you need to burn more calories/kilojoules than you consume. To gain weight it is the opposite. It’s basic mathematics. If you’re trying to maintain your weight the calories in need to equal calories out.

Every food has a caloric value. Food is energy and energy is what we burn all day, even when we are sitting still and sleeping. Food is there to nourish our bodies and provide us with fuel to get through our day. I have dramatically changed my relationship with food whilst going through my weight loss journey. I previously used food to curb boredom, as a comforter, as something to make me feel better- to mask a bad feeling (which funnily enough left me feeling worse). Now food is for fuelling my body and providing nutrients to truly make me feel my best. Of course food is also a social thing and it is there to be appreciated and we need to allow ourselves that enjoyment. Once you change your relationship with food, you no longer think of it the same way… you always ask yourself, am I hungry? Do I need this? How will I feel if I do have it? Sometimes it just isn’t worth it….but some days it is, AND THAT’S OKAY too!

I tried many different daily calorie intakes before I found the right amount for me where I saw results and felt satisfied. I think there is a fine line for each individual. You need to find your number & what works for you. You cannot be hungry and you need to see your weight or centimetres decreasing. Obviously this needs to happen so you stay motivated and on track. My number was 1200 calories per day (5000 kilojoules). This is how I break my meals up into portions to count my calories:

Breakfast 250-300 calories 1000-1250 kilojoules

Snack 100-150 calories 420-630 kilojoules

Lunch 300 calories 1250 kilojoules

Dinner 350-400 calories 1460-1670 kilojoules

Snack 100-150 calories 420-630 kilojoules

(If you are having more calories you can adjust it accordingly).

READING LABELS

When you are buying food you must check the labels! You must look at the energy (calories/kilojoules) and the serving size. This is where I believe a lot of people go wrong and are simply having too much. Then a lot of people have said to me – “well how am I supposed to know what 15ml of tomato sauce look like?” When I tell them they have to weigh/measure it out onto their plate, this is when I get the sighs and the “OH GOD, I don’t have time for that!” My response “Well if you want to lose weight you will make time!” (Or just don't have it). I always come back to a saying I love: 'Choose your hard'!! Weighing your food is hard. Being overweight is hard. Choose your hard! Think about that! Many people disregard sauces, condiments, flavourings and drinks when counting calories – they are usually calorie laden items and will tip your count over the edge.

See some of the food label pics further down under this blog.

Different brands of the same type of food can differ greatly in calories – so it's really important to READ THE LABELS on the food you buy. It can make a big difference to your calorie counting.

RECORDING CALORIES

I would encourage you all to get an app called My Fitness Pal (or one similar) to record your calorie counting. It does all the hard work for you! Pre-packaged food is easy as it has a barcode scanner built in and you can scan the food and it imports the information. The app remembers foods you enter into it so you do not have to enter each food you eat, every time you eat it. It also can copy and paste meals from previous days if you have the exact same thing. It is quite a clever little app! The alternative to an app is getting a notebook and recording it that way. The trickier, more time consuming task is when you need to work out calories in your recipes. To work this out you need to follow these steps:

* MUST HAVE ELECTRONIC KITCHEN SCALES *

You need to weigh/measure and record each ingredient

* Find the calories in each of your weighed ingredients

* Add all those calories up and get an overall figure

* Divide that figure by the number of serves the recipe makes.

See my Calorie Video on how exactly to do this if you need a demo! The process of counting calories does get easier and much quicker. You become quite efficient at it and you get to know sizes and weights of certain foods. If you’re like me you probably eat similar things each week and rotate your meals. You begin to know the calories in your food and can count them in your head most days. Some ideas for your meals are:

Breakfast:

* 1 slice of Light Rye bread (Aldi brand is the lowest calorie bread I have found) with 2 large 50g poached eggs & 15g of avocado - 250 calories

* Overnight oats – 25g rolled oats, 25g frozen blueberries, 3g chia seeds, 125ml coconut milk (or milk of your choice), 8g pure maple syrup - 200 calories

* Omelette – 2 eggs with your choice of veg mixed in – options: capsicum, red onion, spinach, mushrooms – 175 calories (depending on amounts of vegetables used)

Winter Lunches & Dinners:

* 200g Honey Mustard Chicken (Celebrate Health brand receive base - health food isle at Coles) with 85g Cauliflower rice – 280 calories

* Beef & Broccoli Stir-fry with 45g Brown Rice & 85g Cauliflower Rice – 403 calories

* Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie (200g meat with 150g pure mashed sweet potato) – 410 calories

* Fried Rice – 200g serve - 200calories - using cauliflower rice/brown rice combo.

* Woolworths Select Homemade soups – 130-260 cals (depending on variety)

* 130g Salmon & Steamed Vegetables – lots of green vegetables, sweet potato, cauliflower (smaller portions of peas, corn and pumpkin) approx 330 calories depending on weight of salmon and veg

* Parmesan Chicken (100g chicken) and Vegetables– lots of green vegetables, sweet potato, cauliflower (smaller portions of peas, corn and pumpkin) approx 400 calories depending on type of vegetables used.

* Bolognaise 351 calories with 100-200g Zucchini Pasta - 18-36 calories! Great alternative to pasta!!

Snacks:

* Boiled egg - 70 calories

* Rice Cakes/Rice Thins 46 cals for 2 - Aldi brand. (Add tomato/avocado/cucumber/tuna/egg)

* Tamar Valley No Added Sugar Yoghurt Varieties or there is an Aldi version – 70-92 calories respectively.

* Mini Quiches – 30-90 calories (depending on ingredients)

* Oat Cups – 173 calories * Coconut Bread/Blueberry Bread/Banana Bread – approximately 90 calories for a small serve (depends on ingredients)

* Protein/Energy Balls – approximately 100 calories (depends on ingredients)

I hope this blog has been helpful to some of you!?? I'd love to hear some feedback from you on what you think about my blogs, the topics and if you'd like me to continue bringing you my story & journey through blogs.

Have a great week guys!

Claire :)

How to Calorie Count