Is it important to track calories?

Kathleen LeGrys , NASM Elite Trainer

Fitness

If your goal is to lose weight (or gain weight), yes it's important. It is very easy to underestimate the amount of calories we consume each day. Underestimating by 300 calories per day would total 9,000 calories in one month. That 9,000 calories would equate to approximately 2.5 pounds!

Calorie tracking can be a great way to help keep yourself on course and if you track as you go through your day (rather than wait until the end of the day) you have the chance to make any necessary corrections to still stay within your daily goal.

Keri Glassman, MS, RD

Nutrition & Dietetics

It's more important to listen to your body and eat real foods than track your calories. Watch me explain why whole foods are best, and how different types of calories can function differently in the body.

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Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.

Calories

Every time we talk about food it seems we also talk about calories. Calories, those numbers found on nutrition fact labels and what diets tell us to watch. Calories are really the measure of how much energy is available to our bodies from what we eat. Every calorie is the same, whether it comes from legumes or lard. We burn calories from food when we perform any activity. When we eat more calories than we burn, then our bodies happily store the remaining calories as fat. Each pound of fat stores about 3,500 calories. How many calories you should have each day depends on many things, from your level of activity to your age and desired body weight.

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