Calorie counting made easy with these 7 hacks

No one enjoys monotonous calorie counting, but it’s an effective way to manage weight loss. Thankfully, you can make it easier (and sometimes even enjoyable) by using the following tips:

1.      Start with food you like

You’re not going to get far with calorie counting unless you enjoy what you eat.

Make a meal plan based on what you already like and you know sustains you well through the day, such as fibre-rich meals.

Don’t make any huge changes, or think about calories or portions just yet.

2.      Use an app

Let technology do the work for you. Apps such as MyFitnessPal can count the calories for you, organise your food into meals, track your activity levels and adjust the calories accordingly.

But you have to be 100% honest!

3.      Look for patterns

The beauty of calorie counting is its way of highlighting troublesome overeating habits we weren’t aware of. 

Do you always nibble crisps after alcohol? ‘Treat’ yourself to whipped cream on your coffee every single time you have one?

It doesn’t mean you can’t have cheat days – but becoming aware of your temptations can help you better organise your overall calorie template.

4.      Eat a few core meals

Organise your eating plan around a few basic meals that are easy to prepare and track the same way each time.

This will save you time, cuts out the guesswork and means you only have to enter a few meals into the app once.

5.      Pre-load favourite meals

Save all your regular meals in the app, then all that’s left to do is click on ‘breakfast’  to autofill the data each day. You can tweak the details if required, and add in different daily meal options, but this is a serious timesaver that you will love.

6.      Use pre-portioned food

Initially, you want to make this as easy as possible, so take advantage of pre-portioned foods such as nuts, protein bars and single-serve hummus which can save you time and energy.

Their labelled nutrition content tells you everything you need to know, then you can start introducing more meals from scratch as you get the hang of calorie counting.

7.      Track other factors too

Calories aren’t all that matter. Also monitor your water intake, fibre, and even nutrients so you can see what food helps keep you full and brimming with energy.

Goes without saying - keep visiting the gym and keep active throughout the day. Track that on the app too.