week 2 itinerary:
CALORIES
Know your calorie
intake.
STATISTIC: Nearly 40% of UNR Students
describe themselves as overweight.
Food is made up of calories…and calories are what fuel your body
throughout the day! Understanding calories is an important piece
of becoming a healthier you! Most of us have no idea how many
calories we consume daily, but a few days of tracking calories will
allow you to better understand the calorie content of different
foods and encourage you to make healthier choices. In order to
track calories you will need to understand calorie balance, serving
sizes and food labels. So let’s get started!
OBJECTIVE: Track daily calorie intake.
GOAL: To learn more about the calories
you consume and make healthy choices
This week’s raffle prize is:
Why would you ever want to track calories? Here are some of the
benefits…
 To know what goes into your body.
 To understand the calorie content of foods. For example,
some small foods may contain large amounts of calories and
some large foods may have small amounts of calories.
 To make food choices that maintain balance in your diet!
 To live healthy and gain N-ergy!
RAFFLE TICKET OPPORTUNITIES:
do these and receive one ticket for each
[1] Track daily calories using your food
journal and tracking card
[2] Attend scheduled N-ergy activities
[3] Continue to do and track your
workouts!
[4] Complete module evaluation online
Knowing your personal calorie balance
When you obtained your body composition assessment at week one, you were given
your Total Energy Expenditure (TEE). TEE is the number of calories your body uses
each day to maintain itself at your current weight.
FEMALE: Current body weight x 11 = TEE
Calculating Total Energy Expenditure (TEE)
MALE: Current body weight x 12 = TEE
EXAMPLE: 150 lbs female: 150 x 11 = 1650 calories
It is useful to know our own personal calorie balance because it will determine how much you need to eat to
lose, maintain or gain weight. If weight loss is your goal, it may be helpful to calculate how many calories you
should consume each day in order to create a calorie deficit and start losing weight. How do you create a calorie
deficit? Eating fewer food calories than your daily needs (TEE), burning calories through physical activity, or a
combination of both.
Calculating Calories
for Weight Loss:
1 pound is equal to about 3500 calories. To lose 1/2
pound per week subtract 250 calories from your TEE.
This is the number of calories you should eat each day in
order to lose 1/2 pound per week, not including any
exercise that you might do.
Example: (TEE) 1650 calories – 250 calories = 1400
calories/day to lose 1/2 pound per week
A safe rate of weight loss equals approximately 1/2 to 2 pounds per week. Your individual rate of weight loss
may vary somewhat depending on your age, your gender, your metabolism, and how physically active you are.
It is also important to note that in order to receive adequate nutrition, women should not consume less than
1200 calories per day and men should not consume less than 1500 calories per day. It is of particular
importance to fuel your body consistently with balanced meals containing adequate nutrients, so that your
body and your brain can function optimally. To lose weight, counting calories can be helpful for some, for
others it may be more effective to begin to make small dietary changes and avoid counting calories. Either
way, calorie knowledge can be important.
How to
Track
Calories
In order to track
calories you must
know two things –
how to measure food
and how to read a
food label –
simple…you can do
that!
See the example to the
right.
First, read the serving size here
Second, read the calories per
serving here
Third, using a measuring cup, scale,
or counting, determine how much
you will eat.
Finally, multiply the amount of
calories in a serving by the number of
servings you ate. For example:
If you at 1.5 cups (a serving and a
half) x 110 calories per serving = 165
calories
Where is the Food Label?
Many foods have the food label in plain view on the packaging. But some
foods, like fruits and vegetables or foods eaten at restaurants make things a
bit more challenging. But there are lots of easy ways to get the calorie
contents of foods:
Ask the restaurant for them. Restaurants are supposed to have nutrition
information available for customers. You may also check their website.
www.calorieking.com Is a website the provides the calorie content of
thousands of foods. Even popular restaurant items can be found here (For
example, you can search “Starbucks Latte” or “small apple”
If you would prefer to have a book handy, “The Pocket Calorie Counter” by
Suzanne Beilenson” would be useful.
How many servings did you eat?
Serving of
Ice Cream
Serving of
Cereal
1 Cup
Serving of
Juice
1 to 2 Cups
1 Cup
Pay attention to how much you actually eat! Just because you ate it in one serving doesn’t mean it was only one
serving. Filling up a bowl of cereal, a cup of juice or an ice cream cone might be 2 or more servings.
Example: Julie’s Daily Calorie Log
Monday
Breakfast: 1 cup of Honey bunches of oats with 1 cup 1% milk, ¼ cup blueberries, 1 cup orange juice; Calorie total =
413 calories
A.M. Snack: Bagel and cream cheese; Calorie total = 400 calories
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on 2 slices of whole wheat bread with 4 oz turkey, 1 slice of cheese, 2 tbsp mayo and 1 tbsp
mustard, 6 oz. yogurt; Calorie total = 710 calories
P.M. Snack: 1 cup carrots and 2 tbsp ranch dip; Calorie total =172 calories
Dinner: 1 cup salad with 2 tbsp ranch and two slices of pepperoni pizza; Calorie total = 688 calories
Total calories for Monday = 2383 calories
Tracking Tools:
There are many great tools for tracking calories:
You can simply write them down! Use the log book you get today!
Smart phone apps: Myfitnesspal, Fooducate, Tap and Track, Livestrong, Calorie King Calorie Counter or
Ascendo Fitness
Websites: www.mypyramid.gov or www.sparkpeople.com (free)
Calorie Density
What does calorie density mean? It means that some foods of equal size may contain vastly different amounts of
calories. Fruits and veggies are packed with nutrients, but not with calories.
Check out these calorie comparisons and start replacing sweets with fruit today!
=
=
ONE banana
nut muffin
7 bananas!
ONE pint
gourmet ice
cream
=
ONE 6oz
slice of cake
15 apples!
=
200 whole
strawberries!
ONE glazed
donut
1 whole
cantaloupe!
Other Student Resources:
Interested in knowing more about calories and weight loss? UNR Student Health Center Registered
Dietitians can provide you with more guidance. Call to make an appointment 784-6598