To lose weight or better control what you put on your plate, you can use a free calorie counter to help you. It’s easier than with a pen and a notebook. But be careful, because a good energy balance does not necessarily mean a good food balance.
a calorie counter Free allows you to calculate the number of calories you consume during your meals. To use this tool, enter the foods or dishes you have eaten and specify their quantity.
You are going to get the total number of calories in the meal, which will allow you, by regularly using our free calorie counter, to better manage your daily food intake.
What is a free calorie counter for?
A calorie counter allows you to know the number of calories for a given food and a given portion (in grams). It also gives you the nutritional composition of this food in protein, lipids and carbohydrates. Just click on the food in the table. You also have the option of adding the number of calories for a meal or for the day.
To use it, select your food using the search engine, then indicate the quantity consumed. On mobile, we recommend that you use MyFitnessPal which has a free calorie counter.
Why know the number of calories in a food?
For each food, the number of calories per serving, the intake of macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrate). You will need to specify the number of servings eaten for the app to automatically calculate and adjust the number of calories consumed.
Does a free calorie counter work for weight loss?
Focusing on the number of calories you eat will not necessarily have a positive long-term impact on your weight and your health.
But in the short term, a free calorie counter helps you realize what you really eat, to then adapt your eating practices accordingly.
With a free calorie counter, you’ll quickly find that some foods that you find healthy are actually very high in calories. You will thus learn to promote dietetic foods to respect the number of calories to which you are entitled daily, and by determining those that prevent you from snacking between meals.
Calculate the calories I need each day
Your energy (or calorie) needs depend on your age, of your sex, of your weight, of your cut and your level ofphysical activity.
The number you will get will correspond to the daily calorie intake needed to maintain your current weight.
The calorie value of each food is indicated on its packaging and on the calorie counter free.
Then comes the energy balance : if you absorb more calories than you burn (if you eat in excess of your needs), you will gain weight because your body will store energy that you don’t spend. Conversely, if you spend more calories than you absorb, you will lose weight: the body then draws on its reserves.
What is a calorie?
The calorie (or kilocalorie) is the unit of measurement of energy that is used in nutrition is what is called the kilocalorie (kcal): 1 kcal = 1000 calories.
The daily calorie expenditure, or Energetic cost daily, varies from person to person. Several parameters are taken into account: age, sex, morphology (weight, height) and level of physical activity.
Equal height and weight, a 40-year-old woman who works in the office and does not exercise does not have the same caloric needs than another of the same age who is a zumba teacher and moves every day.
If the first one expends, say, 1,900 calories per day, she doesn’t need to take in 2,400, otherwise she will gain weight. The second needs more calories because, in zumba class, she expends more.
To estimate the number of calories you need each day to maintain your weight stable, there is a formula, it is that of the total metabolism which corresponds to basal metabolism that we multiply by a factor corresponding to the NAP (Level of Physical Activity).
How to calculate basal metabolism?
the Basal metabolism (MB) is the minimum energy that the body needs to ensure its survival at rest, that is to say to ensure basic functions such as breathing, digestion, brain function, maintaining the temperature of the body. body… In other words, these are the essential needs of the body to function properly.
It is calculated according to mathematical models that have been validated by the scientific community. For example, the Harris-Benedict formula is an equation which has the particularity of taking into account 4 key elements: the sex of the individual (Woman or Man), his body mass (Weight in kg), his height (Height in m) and his age (Age in years). It is therefore realistic and easily applicable to allow us to eat a balanced diet.
Improved formula of Harris-Benedict (1919) improved by Roza-Shizgal (1984):
- MB (Female) = (9,740 x Weight) + (172.9 x Height) – (4,737 x Age) + 667,051
- MB (Male) = (13,707 x Weight) + (492.3 x Height) – (6,673 x Age) + 77,607
It should be noted that the basal metabolism increases by 15 to 30% during pregnancy. 1/4 of this increase meets the increased needs related to the extra work of the heart and lungs and 3/4 is intended to provide the energy necessary for the fetus-placenta.
the Total metabolism of a person corresponds to all of their energy expenditure (and therefore their energy needs) over 24 hours. It includes Basal Metabolism, the thermal effect of food (energy related to digestion) and physical and sports activity.
How do I assess my daily energy needs?
The physical activity of individuals can be extremely variable. The total energy expenditure can therefore be estimated by multiplying the Basal metabolism (MB) by an index reflecting the intensity of a person’s physical activity. We call this index the NAP (Level of Physical Activity).
The formulas that can be used to determine the daily calorie needs are therefore type MB x NAP :
- MB x 1.2 for a sedentary person who does not exercise.
- MB x 1.375 for a less active person who plays sports once a week.
- MB x 1.55 for an active person who moves a lot or does sports 2 or 3 times a week.
- MB x 1.725 for a very active person who exercises 5 times a week or has a very physical job.
- MB x 1.9 for a professional athlete.
These formulas are obviously averages reduced to a 24-hour day. To be more precise, it would be necessary to be able to cut the 24 hours into successive slices reflecting the NAP and its duration. But in practice, the global calculation from the NAP indexes is more than sufficient for a serious and reliable diagnosis.
The figure obtained corresponds to your daily calorie needs, expressed in kcal, i.e. recommended number of calories that your diet should provide you each day compared to what you spend in order to maintain your healthy weight.
