Extreme Diet Plans

Many people think that when they decide it’s time for calorie counting to lose weight, they have to count every single calorie that touches their lips. This really isn’t necessary. In fact, it could become quite tedious and cause you to give up.

So how do you know your daily calorie intake during a 24 hour period? Estimate! Count portions instead of each individual calorie. This is where effective meal planning comes in!

When you know approximately how many calories are in that piece of bread and 2 ounces of tuna, you can have a general idea of how many calories you’re consuming when you eat a tuna sandwich.

If you insist on tracking all of your calories, you’ll have to be diligent about reading labels and eating only the portions that the label gives calories for. You’ll also have to carry around a small notebook to jot down what you’ve eaten so you can assign a calorie value for reference.

A much easier way might be to utilize a spreadsheet that lists your daily planned meals along with their caloric content. Be sure to include other particulars such as protein, carbohydrates, and fat grams as well. Then print it out and post it on your refrigerator to give yourself something to aim for.

Almost all packaged foods will contain information about the caloric content of those foods, but what about those fruits and vegetables you consume. Maybe we should give you some ideas!

Simple Calorie Counting Chart

Food	Portion	Calories
Apples	1 medium	125
Asparagus	4 spears	15
Avocado	1	305
Banana	1	105
Beef Roast, Lean	3 oz.	205
Beef Sirloin Steak	3 oz.	240
Blackberries	1 cup	75
Broccoli	1 cup	45
Cabbage	1 cup	30
Cantaloupe	1/2 melon	95
Carrots	1	30
Celery	1 stalk	5
Cherries	10	50
Chicken, Roasted Breast	3 oz.	140
Chicken, Fried Breast	4.6 oz.	369
Yellow Corn	1 ear	85
Crab Meat	1 cup	135
Cucumber	6 slices	5
Egg, Fried	1 egg	90
Egg, Hard Boiled	1 egg	75
Egg, Scrambled	1 egg	100
Flounder, Baked	3 oz.	120
Pink Grapefruit	1/2 fruit	40
Ground Beef, Broiled	3 oz.	230
Halibut, Broiled	3 oz.	140
Lamb Chop, Broiled	2.8 oz.	235
Lamb Leg, Roasted	3 oz.	205
Lettuce	1 cup	5
Mushrooms	1 cup	20
Nectarine	1	65
Okra, Cooked	8 pods	25
Orange	1	60
Peaches	1	35
Pear	1	100
Peanuts, Salted	1 cup	71
Pepper, Green/Red	1	15
Pineapple	1 cup	75
Pistachios	1 oz.	165
Pork Chop, Broiled	2.5 oz.	165
Pork Chop, Fried	3.1 oz.	335
Pork, Ham, Roasted	3 oz.	250
Pork Rib, Roasted	3 oz.	270
Pork Bacon	3 slices	110
Pork Sausage Link	1 link	50
Potato, Baked	1	220
Raisins	1 cup	435
Salmon, Smoked	3 oz.	150
Spinach	1 cup	10
Strawberries	1 cup	45
Sweet Potato, Baked	1	115
Tangerine	1	35
Tomato	1	25
Turkey, Roasted	1 cup	240
Walnuts	1 cup	770
Watermelon	1 cup	50

Obviously, this is just a partial list, but it’s a start for you to reference when choosing healthy foods. As you can see, fruits and vegetables are almost all relatively low-calorie and can help you feel full without consuming a lot of calories.

You will want to consume fewer calories than what you burn off in order to effectively lose weight. Keep that in mind when planning your meals.

And we can’t stress this enough - read labels and take note of portion sizes! That way you can get a better idea of what you’re eating when calorie counting.

We promised you some great low-cal recipes, so let’s get to it!