Counting calories is a popular diet strategy for weight loss. Unfortunately, many people unknowingly miscalculate their calorie intake and, in turn, eat more calories than they think. Here are the most common calorie counting mistakes and some suggestions on what to do instead.
Whether your goal is to gain weight, lose weight, or maintain weight, tracking calories or macros helps to track your food intake to ensure you are consuming the right amount of food to reach your goals. For weight loss, tracking calories can help to ensure you stay in a calorie deficit, and for weight gain, tracking calories can help to ensure you stay in a calorie surplus.
While research has shown that calorie counting is not completely accurate, as some food labels have shown a 20% variance in declared values, tracking calories can help to mitigate further discrepancies (1). Counting calories can help to provide a more accurate framework for calorie intake and make achieving goals like weight loss and weight gain much easier.
That said, it’s important to ensure that you are counting calories correctly and as precisely as possible to mitigate further variance. Unfortunately, many people regularly make mistakes when counting calories, fortunately, they can easily be corrected to ensure they can reach their goals more effectively.
The Most Common Calorie Counting Mistakes
Here are the most common mistakes people make when counting calories for weight loss.
1. Not measuring portions.
The most common mistake people make when counting calories is not measuring their food. Weighing your food intake is crucial for calorie counting, as it is the only way to know exactly how much you are eating. In fact, it’s impossible to accurately track your calorie intake without weighing the food you eat.
Unfortunately, many people fail to weigh their portion sizes and estimate how much they are eating, which merely results in an estimated calorie intake, not an accurate one. To avoid errors in calorie counting, you must weigh or measure every portion of food and beverage you consume.
2. Measuring by volume, not weight.
Not only is it important to measure your food, but how you measure it impacts the accuracy of your calorie counting. Measuring food by weight, be it in grams or ounces, is far more accurate than measuring by volume, be it cups or tablespoons. Weight measurements are more accurate than volume measurements because weight measurements are less susceptible to variations in how tightly packed or shaped ingredients are.
For example, one tablespoon of peanut butter officially weighs 15 grams and provides 95 calories, however, a tablespoon of peanut butter can easily be filled up to 40 grams, which provides 252 calories (2). Moreover, using a 1-cup measuring cup to measure cooked rice can result in serving sizes from 180 to 225 grams, which range from 169 calories to 218 calories (3, 4).
For the most accurate calorie counting, it’s best to use a kitchen scale and measure and track portions of food and beverages to the nearest gram.
3. Not tracking cooking oils.
Tracking cooking oils is essential for accurate calorie counting, as they are the most calorie-dense foods. Unfortunately, many people don’t track or underestimate the amount of oil used in their meals, potentially skewing their calorie counting by hundreds of calories per day.
While dietary fats are important for optimal health, they are high in calories, as fats provide 9 calories per gram, compared to protein and carbohydrates, which provide 4 calories per gram. Be it a drizzle of olive oil, a knob of butter, or a bit of cooking spray, tracking cooking oils is essential for accurate calorie counting.
4. Not tracking liquid calories.
Much like cooking oils, you can easily minimize your weight loss progress by ignoring liquid calories. Liquid calories from beverages such as juices, sodas, milk, smoothies, flavored coffees, and alcohol all contribute to total calorie intake. Even many “healthy” beverages are high in added sugar and, in turn, high in calories, which can add up quickly and significantly throw off a calorie target if not accounted for.
Be it a green juice, a vanilla latte, or a glass of wine, be sure to track all beverages and liquid calories, ideally by weight, for the most accurate calorie counting.
5. Not tracking condiments.
Tracking condiments is essential for an accurate calorie count. Although certain condiments contain zero or few calories, such as mustard, vinegars, and certain hot sauces, some condiments are high in calories, such as ketchup, BBQ sauce, tartar sauce, salad dressing, and mayonnaise.
For instance, a 2-tablespoon serving of ketchup, BBQ sauce, and ranch dressing contains 40, 53, and 129 calories, respectively, and, if untracked, can contribute to a total of 222 unaccounted calories in a day (5, 6, 7). For this reason, tracking condiments is essential for a precise calories count.
6. Ignoring bites and licks.
Whether it’s a handful of almonds as you walk through the kitchen, a slice of cheese while you make a sandwich, or a bite of your kids’ snack, small nibbles, bites, and licks of unaccounted food can easily add up throughout the day and cause you to eat more calories than you’ve tracked.
Research has shown that people often underreport their calorie intake by an average of 47%, and the mindless eating of unreported foods is a major contributor to this (8). While there is certainly nothing wrong with enjoying small bites and snacks, practicing mindful eating and tracking them can help to ensure you’re reaching your goals faster and not making this common calorie-counting mistake.
7. Tracking by meal, not ingredient.
To ensure calorie tracking is accurate, food should be tracked by individual ingredient, not meal type. Instead of selecting “lasagna”, “grilled cheese”, or “chicken tacos” from a calorie-counting app database, it’s best to input the individual weight and ingredients of the dish (e.g., 92 grams bread, 47 grams cheddar cheese, and 31 grams butter) for the most accurate calorie reading.
Because these meals are recipes, the ingredients of the dish and the amount used can vary widely from one recipe to the next. While this can be more difficult for restaurant meals, for homemade recipes, it’s best to measure and weigh each ingredient individually, input it as a meal, and measure each serving for the most accurate calorie reading.
8. Underestimating restaurant meals.
Restaurant meals are far more calorie-dense than homemade meals, and underestimating them is a common mistake people make when tracking their food. The average restaurant meal in the US contains around 1,205 calories, which accounts for 60% of the recommended daily calorie intake for adult females and 48% of the recommended daily calorie intake for average adult males (9, 10).
Restaurants tend to use more oil, butter, and fats in their food preparation, which quickly increases the calorie content of a single meal. Therefore, when dining out, it’s best to overestimate the calorie content of meals and refer to the nutrition information provided by restaurants whenever possible.
9. Not tracking consistently.
Consistency is key to calorie counting, particularly for goals of weight loss and weight maintenance. Not only does it help individuals reduce and maintain their mean calorie intake level, but it’s associated with the formation of stronger, healthy eating habits, which promote the maintenance of reduced energy intake and weight loss over time (11).
Moreover, tracking of both “good” days and “bad” days can help individuals gain a better understanding of their eating habits, track progress, and improve mindful and intuitive eating behaviors over time.
The Bottom Line
Ensuring your calorie intake is accurate is essential for success in reaching your weight loss goals. The most common calorie-counting mistakes include not weighing food, not tracking cooking oils, condiments, and liquid calories, not tracking nibbles, licks, and bites, underestimating the calorie content of restaurant meals, and not tracking consistently.
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