How to Calculate Food Calories At Home

Calories are in the food we eat. Counting calories is very important, especially for people who want to lose weight or have problems like diabetes or arthritis. In most of these health issues, doctors advise weight loss because reducing weight helps relieve many symptoms — whether it’s back pain, joint pain, or other physical problems.

Now, weight loss starts with understanding how many calories you consume daily, because many people don’t realize that calorie deficit plays a bigger role in weight loss than exercise does. Exercise helps, but it’s a minor portion. Without knowing how many calories your food has, it’s impossible to stay in a calorie deficit.

Let’s first talk about normal daily calorie needs. On average, the body needs around 1800 calories per day. For people who do more physical work, this may go up to 2000–2300 calories. For those who do heavy exercise, it can even reach 2800–3000 calories. On the other hand, people who are completely inactive may need only around 1600–1700 calories.

Even in a resting state, your body burns calories — about one calorie per minute — which equals 1440 calories in 24 hours. So roughly, your daily calorie requirement is between 1600–2000 calories, depending on your activity level.

Now, in food, we get calories from macronutrients — proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

• Fat is the most calorie-dense nutrient — 1 gram of fat = 9 calories.

• Protein gives 4 calories per gram. Foods like soybeans, paneer (cottage cheese), fish, mutton, and chicken are rich in protein.

• Carbohydrates also give 4 calories per gram, found in foods like roti, rice, and fruits.

So, fats have 9 calories per gram, proteins 4, and carbs 4 calories per gram.

Now let’s look at common foods and their calorie counts:

1. Roti (Indian bread)

• One medium-sized roti = 100 calories.

• If you add ghee or butter, it increases to 130 calories.

• A puri (deep-fried roti) = 125 calories each.

• A paratha (stuffed/fried roti) = 200 calories or even 300 calories if heavily stuffed or fried.

So if you eat 4 big parathas in breakfast along with side dishes, you may easily consume around 1000 calories just in the morning — half of your daily need! This makes it very hard to stay in a calorie deficit.

2. Rice and Dal (lentils)

• One bowl of rice = 136 calories.

• One bowl of dal = 100 calories.

3. Vegetables

Most green vegetables — like cabbage, spinach, brinjal (eggplant), okra, capsicum — have around 100 grams = 60 calories.

If you cook them with too much oil, the calorie count goes up.

Starchy vegetables like potatoes, arbi (taro root), and sweet potatoes have 80–90 calories per cup.

4. Fruits

Fruits like pomegranate, banana, papaya, orange, and sweet lime have around 50 calories per 100 grams.

• Banana: 80 calories/100g

• Mango: 60 calories/100g

• Grapes: 80 calories/100g

Fruits are low in calories but rich in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. The sugar in fruits (fructose) does not spike blood sugar as fast as refined sugar does. So fruits are good, even if eaten a bit more.

5. Salads

Salads like cucumber, tomato, radish, and carrot have only 15–20 calories per 100 grams.

They are rich in fiber, which slows sugar absorption and keeps you full for longer. Hence, eating lots of salad is great for weight control.

6. Sweets and Desserts

Sweets completely ruin your calorie control because they are very calorie-dense — containing sugar, oil/ghee, and refined flour.

• A small piece of burfi (sweet) = 200 calories or more.

• One rasgulla (syrupy sweet) = 200–400 calories.

• One cup of halwa (semolina sweet) = 400 calories.

If you eat just two rasgullas, that’s already 800 calories!

Hence, sweets should be strictly limited — regular sweet-eaters find it almost impossible to lose weight.

Chocolates have around 538 calories per 100g.

Cold drinks (soft drinks) have around 100 calories per 250ml.

So sweets, chocolates, and cold drinks add up quickly.

7. Biscuits and Namkeen (snacks)

• One plain biscuit = 50 calories.

• One cream biscuit = 150 calories.

• 5 cream biscuits = 750 calories.

• Namkeen (fried snacks): 500 calories per 100g.

Even baked or roasted namkeen has slightly fewer calories, but still high.

8. Breakfast items

• One cup of tea = 60 calories.

• One cup of coffee with milk and sugar = 100–180 calories.

• One samosa = 250 calories.

• One plate of poha = 180 calories.

• 100g of pakora (fritters) = 300–350 calories.

So just breakfast can easily give you 600–800 calories or more.

9. Non-Vegetarian Foods

• 100g of chicken = 240 calories.

• 100g of mutton = 260 calories.

• 100g of fish = 200 calories.

If someone eats 300g of mutton (about 1/4 kg), that’s around 750–800 calories from mutton alone — without adding the oil, rice, or roti served with it!

That’s why weight control is tough for people who eat heavy non-veg meals regularly.

10. Milk and Dairy Products

• 100ml of milk = 130 calories.

• 100ml of lassi = 150 calories.

• 100ml of buttermilk (chaas) = 30 calories.

So buttermilk is the lowest in calories.

• 100g paneer (cottage cheese) = 280 calories.

• Water = 0 calories.

Vegetable soups are also low in calories and healthy.

Summary of Low and High Calorie Foods:

Low-calorie foods:

• Water (0 calories)

• Salads and vegetables

• Fruits

• Buttermilk

• Vegetable soups

High-calorie foods:

• Oil, ghee, butter

• Fried food

• Namkeen

• Sweets and desserts

• Biscuits and chocolates

• Non-veg (especially fried or oily dishes)

Grains (wheat, rice, lentils) are moderate in calories — neither too high nor too low.

Now, one more important thing — if you aim to stay within 1800–2000 calories/day, it’s not just about calories, but also about micronutrients — vitamins and minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, and vitamins A, D, E, K, and the B-complex group.

If you eat only calorie-dense foods like sweets or fried snacks but skip vegetables, milk, and fruits, your body will lack essential nutrients. After a few weeks, you’ll start feeling weak, hormonal imbalance may occur, skin and hair health will decline, and bones may weaken.

That’s why eating a balanced diet is very important — including vegetables, salads, fruits, and dairy along with calorie control.

So this was a basic idea of how to count calories in food — to help you understand your intake and maintain a healthy calorie deficit for effective and safe weight management.

Hello friends, today’s topic is how to count calories in food — how to know how many calories are in the food we eat. Counting calories is very important, especially for people who want to lose weight or have problems like diabetes or arthritis. In most of these health issues, doctors advise weight loss because reducing weight helps relieve many symptoms — whether it’s back pain, joint pain, or other physical problems.