Calories in Foods

Calories

If you want to succeed in fat loss, I think it's very important that you know the calorie value of the foods you are eating.

Last week I received a fast food flyer in the mail. In the McDonald's flyer, Ronald and his merry band of misfits were offering me "2 can dine for 7.99". With this deal, I could get 2 sandwiches, 2 fries, and 2 pops for just over $8 once all the taxes were figured in. That's about 2000 (or more) calories for $8, or 250 calories per buck.

Now it's hard to argue with that kind of efficiency when you don't have a lot of money and you have a family to feed. Perhaps that's one of the reasons lower socioeconomic classes are so overweight. I mean, how do you compare those generous portions to a bag of apples which costs more and gives less? But we all know that we must avoid fast food for health and body composition reasons.

The latest research news about fast food is this, from the Annals of Internal Medicine, "Most people, no matter how large or small they are, tend to underestimate how many calories are in fast-food meals -- a big problem as portion sizes have ballooned."

The bottom line?

It's hard to stick to "portions" we can't control. Nobody really knows what "1 serving of French Fries" is. Nobody knows how much of a big Mac they really need.

Instead, it's easier to stick to portions when you are eating food units such as a piece of fruit, a slice of whole-grain bread, an ounce of almonds (22 almonds!). And if you know how many calories are generally in each food unit, it will be much easier for you to stick to your nutrition plan.

If you are not armed with the knowledge of how many calories are in common foods, your fat loss plans can get killed. So let me help. Since I was 16 I've been buying muscle mags and mens' health mags and I've read a lifetime of food & calorie charts. On average, 1 large piece of commonly eaten fruit (apples, bananas, oranges) offer you 100 calories - although there is some variation within and between these varieties.

A piece of bread also gives you about 100 calories, no matter the type of flour used. A 3-4oz serving of lean meat (about the size of a deck of cards) gives you about 120-150 calories. A serving of dairy (1 cup) gives you 10g of protein and about 100 calories. A ounce of almonds (requires about 22 almonds) and gives you almost 200 calories.

The calorie amounts in fibrous vegetables (i.e. broccoli), as far as any sane and non-competetive bodybuilder person is concerned, aren't even worth counting - provided you don't add dips or dressings. If you do, you're on your own there to keep track of those calories that add up quicker than the cost of home renovations.

Obviously any packaged food comes with the calories right on the label, but BEWARE the serving size. One bag of chips (not that you'd ever eat these on a fat loss plan, of course, right?) contains several servings and the wrong numbers quickly add up. So this little bit of knowledge is a good place for you to start so that you can start self-monitoring yourself for your calorie needs each day - without having to use any software (although fitday.com and calorieking.com will help you be more specific).

By having this "calorie content" knowledge, I can roughly estimate the calories in any meal, and the total number of calories I've eaten in a day.

I don't have to write things down, weigh foods out, or get flustered at any time during the day, as long as I stick to the right foods.

So you can take it from me when I say nutrition is simple. Or better yet, take it from the good doctor, Chris Mohr in his TT Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines - available when you order Turbulence Training for Fat Loss or become a TT Member.

You can also easily "google" the calories for most foods,

CB

P.S. Do you know how powerful nutrition is for a fat loss program?

These TT users do...

"Craig, thanks to the TT Nutrition guidelines, I woke up the next morning and already saw improvement in my whole body! Unbelievable. I can hardly wait to see my physique after 2 weeks of Turbulence Training."
Arthur Capone

"I love your workout routines. The best part is, for me, is that I can do them at home using what I have in my home gym. What impresses me most about what I've learned is just how much I "thought" I knew about exercise and nutrition. My whole mode of thinking has changed and I'm finally breaking through that brick wall, slowly but surely. You have been a tremendous inspiration for me. Thank you for all the great routines you've created to keep people like me from getting bored and stuck in the same old patterns of working out."
Dawn Carter

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