Calorie Counting Diet

GENERAL INFORMATION:

What is a calorie counting diet?

• A calorie counting diet has a certain number of calories that you should eat within a time frame, such as a day. A calorie is a unit of energy that your body gets from food. Calories give you energy for your daily activities. Counting the number of calories in your diet may help you to reach a healthy weight. When you eat too many calories, they are stored as fat and you may become overweight. If you do not eat enough calories, you may become underweight.
  
  
• The goal of a calorie counting diet is to eat the right amount of calories each day to reach a healthy body weight. You will need to eat fewer calories if you are trying to lose weight. Losing weight may decrease your risk for certain health problems, or improve your health if you have health problems. Some of these health problems include heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes. Some people are underweight and need to gain weight. People who exercise a lot or who have certain health problems may need more calories than others. You will need to eat more calories in order to gain weight.
  
  
• You may need a special diet if you have certain health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Talk to you caregiver about the type of diet that is right for you.

What can I do to make a calorie counting diet a part of my lifestyle?

• Changing what you eat and drink may be hard at first. Think of these changes as "lifestyle" changes, not just "diet" changes. You may need to make these changes part of your daily routine. Your caregiver, a dietitian (di-uh-TISH-in), or a nutritionist (noo-TRI-shun-ist) will tell you how many calories you need every day.
  
  
• Read food labels to check the calories in packaged foods. The calories in each serving are listed just below the "Amount per Serving" on the food label. You will get more calories than the amount listed on the label if you eat more than one serving. Ask your caregiver for more information about reading food labels.
  
  
• You can use calorie amounts of foods to plan your meals. Add the number of calories before or after each of your meals and snacks during the day. Knowing how many calories you have eaten can help you plan meals and snacks for the rest of the day. Keep track of the food groups that you have eaten most of your calories from. Knowing this, you can plan the rest of your calories from the other food groups. Most people feel best when their calories are divided up evenly throughout the day.

What should I avoid eating and drinking while on a calorie counting diet? Your dietitian or nutritionist will tell you which foods to avoid based on your body weight and your health condition. You may need to avoid high fat foods if you are at risk for, or have heart disease. You may need to eat fewer foods from the breads and starches food group if you have diabetes.

What can I eat and drink while on a calorie counting diet? The following is a list of food items and drinks, with the number of calories in each. The number of calories listed for each food is an approximate (not exact) amount. You can use calorie amounts of foods to plan your meals. A dietitian or nutritionist will tell you how many calories you should have from each food group each day.

• Breads and bread products: Eat ____ calories each day from this food group.
  
  
  • One-half of a three-inch bagel, or one four-inch square of sliced bread (80).
    
    
  • One-half of a hamburger bun or hot dog bun (80).
    
    
  • One eight-inch flour tortilla, or one-half of a cup of cooked rice (100).
    
    
  • One six-inch corn tortilla (80).
    
    
  • One six-inch pancake, or one cup of bran flake cereal (110).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of cooked cereal (80).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of cooked pasta (85).
    
    
  • Three-fourths of an ounce of pretzels (75).
    
    
  • Three cups of air-popped popcorn without butter or oil (80).
  
  
• Dairy Foods: Eat or drink ____ calories each day from this food group.
  
  
  • One cup of skim or one percent fat milk (90).
    
    
  • One cup of two percent fat milk (120).
    
    
  • One cup of whole milk (160).
    
    
  • One cup of two percent fat chocolate milk (220).
    
    
  • One ounce of low-fat cheese that has three grams fat in each ounce (70).
    
    
  • One ounce of cheddar cheese (114).
    
    
  • One-half cup of one percent fat cottage cheese (80).
    
    
  • One cup of plain or sugar-free, fat-free yogurt (90).
  
  
• Meat and other protein sources: Eat ____ calories each day from this food group.
  
  
  • Three ounces of fish (not breaded or fried) (95).
    
    
  • Three ounces of breaded, fried fish (195).
    
    
  • Three-fourths of a cup of tuna canned in water (105).
    
    
  • Four ounces of chicken breast without skin (140).
    
    
  • One fried chicken breast with skin (350).
    
    
  • One-fourth of a cup of fat-free egg substitute (40).
    
    
  • One large egg (75).
    
    
  • Three ounces of lean beef or pork (165).
    
    
  • Three ounce of fried pork chop (185).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of cooked dried beans, like kidney, pinto, lentils, or navy (115).
    
    
  • Three ounces of ham (185).
    
    
  • Three ounces of bologna or lunch meat (225).
    
    
  • Two links of sausage (140).
  
  
• Vegetables: Eat ____ calories each day from this food group.
  
  
  • One cup of salad greens such as lettuce, spinach, or Romaine (15).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of steamed asparagus (20).
    
    
  • One cup of broccoli or cauliflower florets, or one-half of a cup of cooked summer or zucchini squash (25).
    
    
  • One large raw carrot, or one-half cup of cooked carrot slices (40).
    
    
  • One-third of a medium cucumber, or one stalk of celery (5).
    
    
  • One six-inch baked potato (160).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of green or wax beans, or one medium tomato (25).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of mixed vegetables without corn or peas (40).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of sliced mushrooms (10).
    
    
  • One cup of breaded, fried vegetables (230).
  
  
• Fruits: Eat ____ calories each day from this food group.
  
  
  • One six-inch banana, or one-half of a four-inch grapefruit (55).
    
    
  • Fifteen grapes (60).
    
    
  • One medium orange or apple (70).
    
    
  • One large peach (65).
    
    
  • One cup of fresh pineapple chunks (75).
    
    
  • One cup of melon cubes (50).
    
    
  • One and one-fourth cups of whole strawberries (45).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of fruit canned in juice (55).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of canned fruit in heavy syrup (110).
    
    
  • One third cup of raisins (130).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of unsweetened fruit juice (60).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of grape, cranberry, or prune juice (90).
  
  
• Fats: Eat ____ calories each day from this food group.
  
  
  • Ten peanuts, or two teaspoons of peanut butter (55).
    
    
  • Two tablespoons of avocado, or one tablespoon of regular salad dressing (45).
    
    
  • Two slices of bacon (90).
    
    
  • One teaspoon of oil, such as safflower, canola, corn, or olive oil (45).
    
    
  • Two teaspoons of low-fat margarine, or one tablespoon of low-fat mayonnaise (50).
    
    
  • One teaspoon of regular margarine (40).
    
    
  • One tablespoon of regular mayonnaise (135).
    
    
  • One tablespoon of cream cheese, or two tablespoons of low-fat cream cheese (45).
    
    
  • Two tablespoons of vegetable shortening (215).
  
  
• Desserts and sweets: Choose foods from this group only if they are included in the diet plan from your dietitian or nutritionist. Eat ____ calories each day from this food group, if your caregiver tells you to.
  
  
  • Eight animal crackers, or five vanilla wafers (80).
    
    
  • One frozen fruit juice bar (80).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of ice milk, or low-fat frozen yogurt (90).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of sherbet or sorbet (125).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of sugar-free pudding or custard (60).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of regular ice cream (140).
    
    
  • One-half of a cup of regular pudding or custard (175).
    
    
  • One two-inch square chocolate brownie (185).
  
  
• Combination foods: Following are food items that may be eaten together, and their approximate calorie amounts.
  
  
  • One bean burrito made with an 8-inch tortilla, without cheese (275).
    
    
  • One chicken breast sandwich with lettuce and tomato (325).
    
    
  • One cup of chicken noodle soup (60).
    
    
  • One regular beef taco (175).
    
    
  • One regular hamburger with lettuce and tomato (310).
    
    
  • One regular cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato (410).
    
    
  • One fourth of a 12-inch cheese pizza (280).
    
    
  • One fried fish sandwich with lettuce and tomato (425).
    
    
  • One hot dog and bun (275).
    
    
  • One and one-half cups of macaroni and cheese (310).
    
    
  • One taco salad with a fried tortilla shell (870).
  
  
• Very low calorie foods: Following are foods low in calories that may be added to meals or snacks, or eaten alone. Be sure to count the calories in these items if they are used.
  
  
  • One tablespoon of catsup, or one tablespoon of fat-free sour cream (15).
    
    
  • One teaspoon of mustard (5).
    
    
  • One-fourth of a cup of salsa (20).
    
    
  • One large dill pickle (15).
    
    
  • One tablespoon of fat-free salad dressing (10).
    
    
  • Two teaspoon of low sugar or "light" jam or jelly, or one tablespoon of sugar-free syrup (15).
    
    
  • One sugar-free popsicle (15).
    
    
  • One cup of club soda, seltzer water, or diet soda pop (0).

Risks:

• If you do not follow this diet, you may not reach your goal weight. Eating too many calories may keep you from losing weight if you are overweight. Not eating enough calories may cause you to have trouble gaining weight if you are underweight.
  
  
• Reaching a healthy body weight will improve your health. Losing weight can decrease your risk of having certain health problems. It can also improve your health if you have certain health problems. These health problems include heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes.

CARE AGREEMENT:

You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your diet. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

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