Calorie counting
Workplace cafeteria: how to count when the server dishes it out
None of the tricks that work at home apply in a cafeteria: there are no scales, the ingredients are unknown, and portion size is decided by someone with a ladle.
Blog
Every article takes a claim you have already heard about food and follows the mechanism behind it — what actually happens in the body, what the research supports, and where the claim stops being true.
Calorie counting
The communal pot: how to calculate your portion
A recipe gives you the calorie content of the entire pot, but you only eat one bowl.
Calorie counting
Holiday table: where do the calories in Olivier and herring under a fur coat come from
Olivier salad does not have one correct number: one cook's version may have twice as many calories as another's, despite using the same ingredients.
Weight loss
Energy density: why the same calorie count can mean different amounts of food
Energy density is calories per gram, and it is already printed on every package: that very line "per 100 g" that people usually overlook while searching for the per-serving figure.
Shopping
Ready-to-eat food by weight: how to find calories without a label
Regulations require four lines on a deli salad container: name, production date, shelf life, and storage conditions.
Calorie counting
Shawarma, burgers, and rolls: what makes up the calorie content of street food
Arguing about which is higher in calories—shawarma or a burger—is pointless: the variation within each name is greater than the difference between them.
Shopping
Where there is more sugar than in cola: an analysis of 34,000 products on Russian shelves
We took an open dataset from Open Food Facts—four and a half million products—and calculated how much sugar is in what is sold in Russia.
Health
How many calories are burned by cleaning, walking the dog, and other daily activities
Energy expenditure for household chores is calculated using a single formula and a standard reference: the Compendium of Physical Activities, where each activity is assigned a MET value.
Weight loss
How to lose weight without counting calories
Counting calories is a tool, not a requirement.
This article is for general information. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a prescription for treatment or a diet, and it does not replace a consultation with your doctor. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, take medication, or follow a diet prescribed to you, decisions about food belong with your doctor.
Figures from regulations, guidelines and studies are given as they stood when this article was prepared and may since have changed; check them against the primary sources. This article is not advertising, an offer, or individual advice, and neither the author nor the site owner is responsible for decisions taken on the basis of it.