How I Track my Calories and Meal Plan

Lets get straight to the point, Ok? I find so many people giving up on their weight loss journey for lack of knowledge especially around food. With the amount of information floating around us, I dont blame you. It took me real deep study and a few hits and misses to create a food tracking system that is quick, easy and simple. Now, who wouldn’t like that?

The below 3 steps not only helped me to manage my food intake, but also consistently lose weight.

Calculate your Macro to learn how much carbs, proteins and fats you need to consume. Use this link to calculate: MACRO CALCULATOR
Make a list of your favorite food options Over time I have made a list of my breakfast items and main meals and snack options. My main meals are about 300-400 calories and snacks are 100-200 calories food block. (See below image). This is my go-to list when I meal plan for the week. I am currently working on a new list now for Keto meals and snacks.
Track all my foods on MyFitnessPal app. The app helps me to adjust my servings and substitute options so I hit my macro every single day. The app has many cool features like saving your recipes and using them as your meals.

Now this may seem daunting to some to measure everything they eat, especially if you never calculated your macro or tracked your food calories. Dont worry. Let me make it simple and break it down into easy to follow steps.

First step- To calculate your macro, you can use an online calculator. I found one that is so easy as it does all the maths for you. You can adjust your number of meals and opt for moderate to max Protein intake. Here’s the link:

MACRO CALCULATOR

Second step is to make a list of your favorite foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Needless to mention, they must be all healthy based on your macronutrient breakdown. Each of my breakfast option is roughly between 250-300 calories, lunches are roughly 400 cals and dinners are about 250 calories. See how I taper down my calories as the day advances? My snack list are all 100-200 calorie blocks.

See in the below image on the left, I have listed some of my favorite meals, ingredients and total calories for each. Use the MyFitnessPal app to adjust the ingredients. You dont have to measure every single spice used, but at least get an approximate calorie count for each item.

To make life easier, start with 3 options for each meal. The advantage you have is that these will be already measured so it eliminates the guesswork everyday. Downside, it limits your options. But then, you build this list to add other options. My list now has roughly 7-10 items to chose from which I mix and match.

Let me give you an example:

Main meal: An egg sandwich, orange with coffee (a bit later) = 310 calories. This will be using 2 pcs of Low Carb bread, 2 Hard boiled egg (whites only), 1 whole egg, 2 tsp High Protein Cottage cheese, 1 tsp salsa, 1 orange and coffee.

A 200 calorie snack can be a banana with 1 tbsp Peanut butter or a large navel orange with 12 raw almonds. An 100 cal block can be half cup cottage cheese with 1/4 cup of blueberries.

TIP : I learnt from fitness instructors that its better to stick to the same food as much as possible every single day unless you are having a cheat meal. Fixed foods have a fixed measure and the body adjusts very well when it consistently gets the same food everyday. I rotate my food choices among the 7-10 choices I have listed in my journal.

Third Step- Use the app MyFitnessPal to track your daily food and drinks. The app has a large repository database of foods and drinks across different cuisines around the world, from rotis to momos, its got it all.

A very useful feature of the app is its scanner to scan the barcode on items. Just take a picture using the app and it will break it down by carbs, proteins and fats. I do this often at the supermarket when I buy a new item I havent used before.

The app will allow you to save your meals so when you are having it the next time, you can simply copy and paste it. You can log all your 7 meal options in the app, so next time you are having it, you simply tick it and its added to your macro. How easy is that? Would you like a demo of how to save your meals? Let me know in your comments below.

TIP: My advice is to plan your next day meals the night before. Sit with the app and log the next day meals and snacks to track your macros and adjust the serving size and food options so you hit your macros perfectly. Another tip is to allocate couple of hours on the weekend to save all your favorite meals on the app. It will save you ample time.

Once you have done your homework, its so easy to jot your meal plan for the week. Prepare your grocery list accordingly and do not deviate from the plan. Allow some flexibility of course. There will be days you may not feel like having a certain planned meal. I tend to swap my meals in the week, still hit my macro, thanks to the app.

TIP: Meal prepping in bulk: I try to cook fresh everyday, but at times it helps when there is leftover food from yesterday. At times, on a free Sunday afternoon, I would cook a batch of meat and veggies, but this is not often. Work around your convenience but try to eat as fresh as possible.

It may seem like a lot of work, but the good news is that you wont have to count your calories forever. Yay!! Once you do this for a few weeks, you will be able to eyeball your food and tell how many calories it might be.

Proper preparation and planning is so so vital in scientifically losing weight. Research, experiment, modify. Flexibility and consistency are virtues you will need in abundance in your journey to lose weight.