Many of us believe that calorie counting is required for losing weight. But, is that the only purpose of counting the calories? If you are reading this article, it is clear that you too have reached here in quest of finding an apt reply to this question. Well, it is true that calorie counting has something to do with weight. However, it is performed for three different purposes: to lose weight, to gain weight, and to maintain weight, though some people use it just to be healthier. If you were counting calories, you would know that egg white calories are much lower than whole eggs. Or that Almond milk benefits were much more than regular or skimmed milk.
Irrespective of what your purpose is, you can achieve it very well with little modifications in calorie counting. So, what kinds of modification are to be made? Well, for that, you first need to know the concepts of ‘calorie in’ and ‘calorie out’. As the name suggests, the former means the calories you consume, while the latter means the calories you burn. So, let’s now apply the modifications to these two factors to understand how calorie counting differs for each of the aforementioned goals.
In case of the weight loss goal, the amount of ‘calorie in’ needs to be less than the amount of ‘calorie out’ while you count your daily calorie intake as well as calorie burned. On the other hand, if the goal is to increase weight, the amount of ‘calorie in’ has to be greater than ‘calorie out’. Further, if the goal is to maintain the weight, both these factors needs to be equal. You can keep a track of both the factors for counting calories by maintaining a food journal, an automated online application, or by using a nutritional calculator.
