The Count

Track Calories in Your Head

Tracking calories in your head is actually pretty easy. The key is to “spend” your calories in simple, round numbers.

If your daily target is 1600 calories, here’s a plan:

  • Breakfast: 200 calories
  • Lunch: 600 calories
  • Dinner: 600 calories
  • Snacks: 200 calories

Lunch might look something like:

  • 200 calories of chicken
  • 200 calories of rice
  • 100 calories of veggies
  • 100 calories of sauce

You can spend your calories however you like. Some people prefer big meals and skip breakfast, while others like smaller, more frequent meals. It really doesn't matter.

Not only does eating like this make tracking your calories really easy, you will quickly start to memorize portion sizes. Many foods have similar calorie densities, so there aren’t that many numbers to remember. Soon you won't need to look anything up!

  • 100 calories of lean meats are all about 65g cooked
  • 100 calories pasta is also about 65g cooked
  • 100 calories of any oil is about 1 tbsp
  • 100 calories of any bread is a 38g slice

For packaged foods, this tool lets you recalculate any nutrition label to a 100-calorie serving size.

Some foods are worth weighing or measuring every time, especially calorie-dense items. But others, like fruits and veggies, are easier to eyeball. Weighing food isn't that annoying once you know your numbers — it litterally takes 2 seconds.

But, but, but… calorie counts are inaccurate!

That’s true. The USDA allows food labels to be off by up to 20%, and calories in cooked foods like meats and rice can vary by as much as 20% due to water weight. Realistically, you can expect most things to be around 10% off.

Still, calories are the best measure we have for tracking the energy we put into our bodies, and fat is just stored extra energy.

Being 10% off doesn’t matter as long as you’re consistently around 10% off. We’re aiming for precision, not perfect accuracy.

This means you don’t need to obsess over exact numbers. If something is 84 or 116 calories, round it to 100 calories. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough.

The scale doesn’t lie. If your average weight is dropping, you’re in a calorie deficit.

How many calories should you eat?

This is almost impossible to estimate accurately. Your body is complex, and non-exercise activity is a huge variable that is hard to measure.

Use any online calculator for a rough estimate. You can find a pretty good starting place here. Then adjust your calories based on your weight loss.

When should you adjust your calories?

Weigh yourself daily and compare weekly averages. Don’t obsess over daily fluctuations—water weight comes and goes. If you’re not losing (on average) about 1 lb (0.5 kg) per week, reduce your daily calories by 100 or 200—but no more often than every 2 weeks. Give water weight time to come off.

And if you’re feeling low-energy or struggling with sleep, increase your calories by 100 or 200 until you feel back to normal.

What about eating healthy?

Eating more fruits and vegetables and less stuff that comes in a box will make you feel better and fuller. So, consider doing that.

But calories are what matter most for weight loss. You can lose weight eating nothing but Twinkies. You can lose weight only drinking beer. You can lose weight spiking your blood sugar all day long. You'll just feel like crap.

What about exercise?

You don't just want to lose weight, you want to look good naked. This means keeping muscle and losing fat. Strength training is the only way to preserve muscle mass while losing weight, so do some of that.

Lift weights, do calisthenics, yoga, pilates—whatever you like. Just do something that makes you stronger 3 times per week.

Cardio is great for your health, but it doesn’t burn as many calories as you think. It’s hard to run off even 1 extra slice of pizza. Cardio can also spike your hunger.

It is a good idea to burn some extra calories. Get a step counter and hit 8,000 steps per day. That’s all you really need to do.

What about protein?

To build and maintain muscle, you need about 0.8 grams of protein per pound (or 1.8 grams per kg) of body weight. There’s no scientific benefit to eating more unless you’re on steroids. This tool will give you a good range to be in.

Similarly to tracking your calories, keep your protein in nice round numbers. Try to get 20, 30, 40 grams of protein per meal from lean sources like chicken, fish, tofu, or beans. Then don't worry about a few grams here and there.

It's not that complicated

Many people make a living by making fat loss seem complicated. It’s not. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it is simple.

I made The Count because I know tracking calories is the most effective way to lose fat, but I hated using calorie-counting apps. They’re designed to keep you in the app, watching ads and paying feeds. They teach you no more about calories than a calculator teaches you math.

Also, I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist. I'm just a fitness enthusiast who's watched a lot of YouTube and created something he wanted to exist in the world. Talk to a professional if you have any health concerns.

If you have any feedback or ideas, send them to me here.

Thanks!

Lee
@byrd_brain