While it’s not always practical to have a daily or weekly tummy tuck in Utah, there’s a good chance of maintaining a good physical body when you can track how many calories you are consuming mindfully.
- First things First: What’s your Ideal Weight?
- Cups, Tablespoons, and Teaspoons
- A Fistful of Nuts or What
- Save Some Handy Food and Nutrient Resources from Your Phone
- Workouts for Desserts?
- Counting calories is a personal choice, a life decision that can bring about a good host of benefits for your body. You can count calories accurately using apps or make estimates using your hands. No matter which method you choose, this mindful habit of balancing your nutrients and calorie consumption will help you achieve that dream body much faster and maintain a good body even after you have undergone some procedures like tummy tucks or mommy makeovers.
First things First: What’s your Ideal Weight?
There is a lot of systems that can tell you your ideal weight. Fortunately, in this modern age, you can take advantage of online ideal weight calculators such as this one to tell you how much weight you should gain or lose. All you have to do is input your height, age, and gender. The website will do the math for you and put in your ideal weight range. The most popular measure used is the body mass index or BMI. A good or healthy body mass index is in the 15-24% range. Athletes can even go as low as 14%.
A classic daily healthy diet usually ranges from 1,200 to 2,200 calories. The amount depends on your height, your target weight, and your gender. Biological males typically have higher calorie reserves. The level of activity is also another factor since you will need additional calories if you are undergoing high-intensity workouts.
Cups, Tablespoons, and Teaspoons
One teaspoon is around 4 grams, and one tablespoon is around 15 grams. This rule of thumb works in most buffet situations. One cup of rice usually contains 236.5 grams. If you have an iPhone, you can also use Siri voice command to calculate these conversions for you quickly. You can ask questions like “How many grams are in one spoon of sugar?” and it will generate the results for you.
A Fistful of Nuts or What
Sixteen pieces of almonds are exactly 100 kcals. But you don’t need a weighing scale on hand every time you eat. You can use your own hands to estimate, albeit it’s an imperfect way of measurement. It’s highly convenient and free! For example, Precision Nutrition’s Calorie Control infographic is one of your most reliable sources of estimating food using your own hands. It will tell you how many grams of protein is a fistful of fish or how many grams of carbohydrates are you consuming if it fits the palm of your hand. Precision Nutrition also has a wealth of useful resources on nutrient tracking, if you are interested to know more.
Save Some Handy Food and Nutrient Resources from Your Phone
When we are in the subject of calorie counting, the subject of nutrients will naturally come up. It’s nice to read the food labels here and there, but what if you are a guest at a friend’s house? It would be incredibly weird to ask your host to show you ingredient packages just for the sake of estimating your calorie gains.
A couple of good websites that contain nutrient information on the food you eat is Fat Secret and World Open Food Facts . It’s updated regularly by many users, and you can check if you still have room for extra white rice or that delicious dessert. Alternatively, you can go install MyFitnessPal or Lifesum apps, which also have a built-in food database, but it will require you to post what you eat religiously. Depending on your system of monitoring your food intake, choose the right app or tool.
Workouts for Desserts?
Some foods are incredibly irresistible and may be worth the extra steps. How many hours of running does it take to burn a McDonald’s Big Mac? Roughly, it will take around 2 to 3 hours of running to burn, depending on your size. For days where you have intense physical activities like hiking or touring rugged terrain, you can consume extra food without tilting the weighing scale. For this, Mayo Clinic’s chart and other fitness gurus summarize some popular activities and the number of calories it can burn per hour.
