Whether you are wondering how many calories come in a medium sized apple (65) or how many calories in three Oreo cookies (160) you can find it in a calorie counter database.

You can also put together the calories for a whole meal, though you have to gather each input separately.  For instance, for a Spaghetti and Meatballs dinner, you will have to look up the pasta, tomato sauce, and ground beef separately.

Another thing to keep in mind when you are using a calorie counter database is that you have to accurately reflect your portions.  Many people underestimate how much food they actually eat.  The solution to this is to weigh the food before eating it.  That’s why many databases will reflect calories per 100 grams of food.

When you eat at restaurants and fast food establishments, the portion sizes are pre-determined (McDonald’s even has a sandwich called the Quarter Pounder based on the pre-cooking weight of the patty).  That makes using a calorie counter database for these meals easy.  Most of the software programs include calorie counts for meals at the most popular restaurants.

Some of the calorie counter databases have a separate journal option.  In this fashion, you can look up the calories of the food you are eating and record it.  This is useful for many reasons.

The first reason the journal is helpful is that you can track how many calories you’ve eaten in a day.  That way, if you have had more than you had “budgeted” for the day, you can have a light dinner or put an extra half hour in at the gym.

The second reason is because it allows you to track patterns over time.  After you have used the journal feature for at least seven days, look for trouble spots.  For instance, many people find that they pack on more calories at lunch than they would like because they eat out most frequently at that meal.  By packing a healthy lunch and taking it to work or school, they can eliminate that “problem area” in their diet.

Other people begin to notice that they are drinking their calories.  This doesn’t just apply to alcohol.  Many beverages are high in calories.  Orange Juice, for instance, has 120 calories in a single glass.  For someone on a low calorie diet, this “health food” can be a diet buster.  The journal may help a dieter make better choices about which foods – and drinks – to incorporate into his or her day.

If you are dieting, it is good advice to check out a calorie counter database to see exactly how many calories you’re putting into your body each day.

The first important step is to eat more fiber.  You should eat at least 25 grams of fiber a day.  The reason is that bulk fiber is like a sponge which, when combined with water, moves the fat through your body more quickly.

The best high fiber foods are fruits and vegetables.  In addition to having a lot of fiber naturally, fruits and vegetables are very low in calories.  Whole grains are preferable to processed flours for the same reason.

Part of what makes natural food so good for you is the “chew” factor.  It takes longer to eat these foods, so your brain has time to get the signals that your stomach is sending that it is full.  Researchers have found that eating high fiber plant food with any meal reduces the average amount of calories by 100.

The next step is to opt for a sensible amount of high quality carbs.  The flat abs diet does not require that you dramatically limit your carbohydrates the way the Adkins or South Beach plans do.  However, if you want to lose your belly fat, you will have to control your carb intake.

Again, fruits and vegetables provide the highest quality carbs available.  They are the foods least likely to promote bloat.  Because they are composed of a lot of water, they have fewer calories and carbs for their volume.

You should have no more than 65 percent of your diet in carbs.  That means that on an 1800 calorie diet, you will have between 200 and 300 grams of carbs.  On the Adkins diet, you can have no more than 35 grams of carbs, so as you can see the flat abs diet is more generous.

Next, you want to drink lots of water – at least eight 8-ounce glasses a day.

Many people think that drinking water will make them bloat when the opposite is actually true.  Water washes away the sodium in the body and thus reduces bloat.

If you are having trouble consuming that much water, try these variations:

·    Drink 2 glasses of lukewarm water twice a day.  It is easier to consume lots of water in a single setting if it is not ice cold.
·    If you like cold water, freeze fruit or small pieces of fruit and float it in your water.  It will keep the water cold and add a nice flavor to it.
·    Use small amounts of fruit juice or other extracts such as mint to flavor the water.

Along those lines, tip number 4 on the flat abs diet is to avoid sodium wherever possible.  A woman needs 500 mg. of sodium to keep her body functioning regularly but the average American woman gets between 3000 and 6000 mg. daily.  If you eat a typical meal at a Chinese restaurant, you will get about 3000 mg. of sodium.  The body responds to this sodium intake by retaining water.  The next day, you will see the result on the scale and in the mirror.  It’s not that the Chinese food added too many calories – it’s that it has so much sodium.

The next bit of advice is to not eat too much at night.  When you put food in your body less than three hours before going to sleep, it causes you to bloat.  Plan to shut down the kitchen after a light to moderate dinner.  If you must eat, consider limiting it to a snack of 100 calories or less.  A cup of tea can often satisfy your need for food after dinner.

Finally, the last bit of advice on our flat abs diet has nothing to do with food at all.  Instead, you will want to work on reducing stress.

Stress triggers the hormone cortisol which turns up your appetite and directs your body to deposit fat around your abdomen.  One way to eliminate stress (and lose weight) is to exercise.  You should also practice ways of relaxing when you get into a stressful situation.

So, there you have it.  When exercise alone isn’t working to remove your belly fat, try the flat abs diet.

Figuring out how to loose weight by dieting is tricky.  Do you start eating only X amount of calories per day without worrying about what kind of foods you’re eating, or you do stick to a very detailed eating plan that allows only certain kinds of things?  Do you want to go low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, or just eat a variety of foods in moderation?  You’ll find an expert that says every one of these ways is the correct and healthy way to do it and that you should avoid the others.  Getting a straight answer is difficult.

The problem with all these people trying to tell you how to loose weight is that people read their books and follow their plans and either stay fat or lose weight and then gain more back.  It’s hard to pick the right plan when it seems that every plan fails at least some people.  The important thing is to choose a healthy way of eating.  Moderately low-carb diets can be healthy, as can low-fat diets.

When you’re figuring out how to loose weight, try a diet that seems reasonable to you.  Expect any type of diet to require a little bit of adjustment time in the beginning.  But after a few days, you should get used to it.  You should choose an eating plan that you’ll feel good on.  If you’re physically ill, very edgy, or feel too full or even starving all the time, that diet isn’t right for you.  You don’t have to suffer to lose weight, no matter what some of the experts will tell you.

Of course, if you feel great on a diet but aren’t losing weight, it’s probably not the right eating plan for you either.  When you’re learning how to loose weight, and it is a learning process for each person, you might have to experiment with your diet quite a bit at first to find a happy medium that lets you feel satisfied with the food you eat but lets you lose weight, too.

While the main reason you’ll lose weight is because you’re eating fewer calories, some types of food have different effects on different people.  This is why some diets might work great for some people, but not for you, regardless of the calories.  The trick is learning how to loose weight in a way that works best for you, whether or not it works for anyone else.