Nutrition Health Center

Finding the Best Fat Calorie Counter

By Terry Dunkle*

Dieters who really know what they're doing understand that counting fat grams is as important to weight loss as counting calories. One reason: every gram of fat contains nine calories—more than twice the calories in a gram of carbohydrate or protein, and nearly 30-percent more calories than in a gram of alcohol.

Another reason: Getting too many of

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your calories from fat elevates your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and many other ailments.

Hence, if you want to feel less hungry on the same number of calories and reduce your health hazards, watching your fat intake is vital.

Tracking Calories via Fat Calorie Counter

Every reputable calorie counter is based on this rule: if you eat 3500 calories less than your body needs, you'll lose one pound.

The only question is, of course, how long you take to lose each pound. Most authorities recommend forgoing less than than 1000 calories a day, meaning you'll lose no more than two pounds per week. A more extreme diet may not provide all the nutrients you need for good health. In addition, pounds that disappear rapdily are more likely to reappear later.

Tracking Fat via Fat Calorie Counter

Make sure the calorie counter you choose not only tracks grams of fat, but also the percentage of your calories that you get from fat. Most nutritionists advise maintaining a rate under 30 percent. This will ensure lower health risks and less hunger.

Before You Start Using a Fat Calorie Counter...

...make sure it gives you a calorie budget that agrees with the calculator below, which is carefully checked for accuracy.

Based on 20 years of research by DietPower, Inc., this calculator is accurate to 5 percent for most users. (It's not for people who are pregnant or have metabolic disorders. Always see a doctor before starting a diet.)

Birth Date

Sex

Tobacco user?

Height

Weight

Goal Weight

Target Date

Email Address

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ft. in.

lbs.

lbs. ?

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Close Goal Weight
Your Goal Weight is the weight you want to achieve. (If it's a lot different from your current weight, you might want to set a goal that represents only the first step. Even a 10-percent weight loss will significantly improve your health.)
Close Target Date
Plan on losing no more than a pound or two per week.  Otherwise, you may eat too little for good nutrition and your weight loss may be temporary.
Close Lactating?
If you are breastfeeding, check this box and the calculator will add calories for producing milk.
Close Tobacco User?
Nicotine speeds your metabolism, making you burn calories faster. (That's why people who quit smoking gain weight.) Check this box if you average more than one cigarette, one-half pipeful, one-quarter of a cigar, or one dip of snuff or chewing tobacco per day.
Close Email Address
Once a month, DietPower will send you the most important nutrition news of the past 30 days, selected by national award-winning editors covering hundreds of medical journals. You can cancel this free, no-obligation service anytime with a single click. We produce it only to promote our weight-loss software. It won't put you on other mailing lists—We're Not That Kind of Company™.

Pick an Easy-to-Use Fat Calorie Counter

Anyone can count fat and calories by tallying figures from food labels. But it's faster and more convenient to use your computer.

You can find many fat calorie coutners on the Web. Some work strictly via the Internet; others can be downloaded and installed on your PC, which provides more privacy. (PC-based programs are also faster, because they don't have to communicate with the Internet every time you log a food.)

A Fat Calorie Counter That Does More

Since you'll be recording all your meals anyway, it pays to choose a program that tracks not only fat grams and calories, but other nutrients (calcium, sodium, protein, folic acid, and such). Many programs also track calories burned in exercise. One popular program, DietPower®, automatically adjusts your calorie budget to changes in your metabolism. It also suggests foods that are best for your personal nutrition.

Founder and Chairman of DietPower, Inc.