Get your number first
Before you log anything you need a target. Our free TDEE calculator gives maintenance calories, and a 300–500 deficit under that is a rate you can hold. Anything more aggressive works for a fortnight and then stops working, because you stop doing it.
Weigh the things that are easy to get wrong
You do not need to weigh everything. You need to weigh the dense stuff, because that is where eyeballing goes 30–50% wrong. A “tablespoon” of peanut butter is usually two. A “splash” of oil is 120 calories.
Weigh: oils and butter, nut butters, cheese, cereal and oats, rice and pasta (dry), meat, and anything you would describe as a “handful”. Estimate freely: vegetables, salad, most fruit, black coffee and tea. A €9 kitchen scale is the entire equipment list.
Log it in the morning, not at midnight
Log the day before you eat it, in the morning, when the sensible version of you is in charge. Now it is a plan you follow rather than a confession you write at 11pm.
Our free calorie and macro tracker scans barcodes, reads food labels with the camera, and needs no account. Nothing leaves your phone.
Irish supermarket food and the label trap
Read per 100g, never “per portion” — a cereal portion is 30g and nobody's bowl is 30g. Own-brand products are frequently identical to the branded ones at two thirds of the calories per euro. Our free label checker reads the back of the pack for you.
For a worked week of real supermarket food with the maths already done, the 7-day meal plan is costed at €51 from Aldi or Lidl.
Takeaways, the pub, and food with no label
You cannot count a deli counter or a chipper accurately, so do not pretend to. Two honest options: log a generous estimate (guess high, you will be closer than you think), or budget for it — eat lighter earlier in the day and accept the evening is approximate.
One uncounted meal does not undo a week. Three uncounted days do, which is the actual reason weekends wreck people's progress. See protein targets for keeping the rest of the day full enough that it does not happen.
The specific things people miss are listed on hidden calories.
When you can stop
After two to four weeks you will know what 500 calories looks like on a plate, and you can stop logging every day. Most people keep the scale, log loosely, and go back to strict logging for a fortnight whenever progress stalls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to weigh all my food?
No. Weigh calorie-dense things — oils, nut butters, cheese, dry rice and pasta, cereal, meat. Estimate vegetables, salad and fruit. That covers where nearly all the error lives.
How accurate does calorie counting need to be?
Within about 10%. Consistency matters more than precision: logging the same way every day tells you whether to eat more or less, which is the only thing you need it for.
Should I count calories or macros?
Calories decide whether the weight moves. Macros decide what you lose. Start with calories and a protein target; carbs and fat can be roughly whatever suits you.
How do I count a takeaway?
Guess high and log it before you order. If a dish could be 800 or 1,200 calories, log 1,200. You will still be closer than not logging it.
Is calorie counting bad for you?
For most people it is a temporary education, not a permanent habit. If tracking makes food frightening or you have a history of disordered eating, skip it — portion habits and protein targets get you most of the way without a number.
About the author
Keith O’Beirne went from 90kg to 72kg around a full-time job and two kids, after paying a personal trainer to learn the basics. He is not a doctor, dietitian or coach and does not sell coaching — he writes No Nonsense Fitness to give away what he paid to learn, free, with no ads, no subscriptions and no commission on any link. Based in Dublin.
References & further reading
- Lichtman SW et al. Discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake and exercise in obese subjects. New England Journal of Medicine, 1992.
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990.
- Burke LM et al. Dietary assessment methods in athletes: issues and recommendations. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2019.
Figures on this page come from product labels and the research above. How we calculate every number is set out in our methodology.
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