Track your foods with Lifesum, the awarded calorie counter app

Lifesum’s calorie counter app is one of the most efficient ways to lose weight. We give you a full overview of your nutrition intake, so you can make healthier choices and follow your progress. Lifesum has more than 30 million users worldwide and is rated 4.4/5 on iOS and Android. The best part? We have a free app version available too!

Why should I use a food calorie counter app?

Calorie counting is one of the best ways to lose weight. If you know what you’re doing, you can read the food labels for all foods you eat, estimate the portion size and then calculate it altogether. A much simpler way to approach calorie counting is by using an app, where you get a flexible calorie intake depending on your activity level, portion size recommendations and nutritional information for every food you log. For the most accurate calorie calculation, a food scale is recommended.

Lifesum’s calorie counter allows you to compare food to make more conscious choices, as well as plan your day in advance. If you know you’re going out for sushi, you can track your meal in the morning to see how many calories you are recommended to eat earlier in the day. That way you’ll stay full and energized throughout the day, making your weight loss journey much easier. Also included in the Lifesum app is a barcode scanner, so that tracking calories is made even more simple. Just sign up to Lifesum and download the app from App Store or Google Play to get started!

What you want to know before using a calorie calculator app

1. What calories really are

Calories are a way to measure energy where, scientifically speaking, 1 kcal is the energy required to increase the temperature by 1 C° per 1 kg of water. More commonly viewed, it’s also the energy measure you’ll see on food packages.

When referring to calories consumed or calories within food, we’re generally talking about Kilo Calories. (1000 calories = 1 kilocalorie = 1 kcal) For example, an apple contains 75 kcal. When saying it out loud, you’ll probably say it contains 75 calories, but what you actually mean is that it contains 75 kilocalories = 75 kcal.

2. Why calorie counting is important in your health journey

Counting calories provides a great foundation for weight loss as it makes your food intake measurable. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, or more calories than you burn, you’ll lose weight or gain weight.

Your body burns around 2000 to 2500 kcal per day, depending on your age, gender and activity level. This means you’ll maintain your weight if consuming that same number of calories daily.

In order to gain 1 lbs of body fat, you need to eat a surplus of 3500 kcal, which is around the same amount of calories as 3 pints of Ben & Jerry’s. In other words, you rarely gain a pound overnight, but on the other hand, you hardly lose one overnight either. The reason for weight shifting fast is water weight and water retention. If you eat a carbs, sugar or salt, your body will store more water, explaining why it sometimes feels like you gained 2 lbs after a big treat.

3. Not all calories are created equal

Carbs, fat, and protein contains different numbers of calories per gram.

While carbs and protein contains 4 kcal/g, fat provides 9 kcal/g, explaining why a fat reduced diet used to be popular to lose weight. However, eating fat — in particular unsaturated fat — is vital for your metabolism, so excluding it from your diet would be a big disservice to yourself.

What’s interesting about protein is that up to 30% of its calories become body heat. This means that some people only use up 70% of the calories from protein, while still getting all the building blocks their bodies need.

4. Calorie counting and satiety

How satisfied, full and energized do you feel after eating a certain food type? While it’s easy to reach 500 kcal of candy, you’ll struggle to eat 500 kcal of chicken fillet. You could in theory lose weight from only eating candy, but you’ll certainly feel like crap, hungry all the time, and with your energy level at rock bottom. In other words, it’s very important to choose good, nutrient dense calories to lose weight in a healthy manner.

Lifesum offers a macro counter in addition to the calorie counter to make sure you get the right type of energy. To learn about macros, read our Guide to tracking macros here.

Do you want to follow one of our in-app diet plans?

Take our Diet Test to find the best diet for you!