Calorie Counter Benefits

With glossy magazines full of the latest fad or celebrity diet, it begs the question whether the traditional calorie counter approach to losing weight is still relevant. The answer is a resounding yes! Using a calorie counter is a proven and successful way to lose weight. It all comes down to balance - we need to ensure that the energy (calories) we consume are used up by the energy we expend in our daily activities. However, in the UK, we lead increasingly sedentary lifestyles and have not adjusted our diets accordingly - hence why the nation is facing an obesity epidemic.

Nutracheck has taken the tried and tested calorie counter approach and combined it with an easy-to-use online food diary - a tool recommended by doctors and dietitians. By using everyday technology - the PC and mobile phones - Nutracheck offers a sophisticated calorie counter in a convenient way to suit today's lifestyles.

What does the Calorie Counter & food diary service include?

The Nutracheck calorie counter is one of the biggest online with over 30,000 food and drink products, plus an easy-to-use food diary to keep track of what you've eaten throughout the day. Register online in a few minutes, and find out your personal calorie requirements along with an exercise target. A 5-day trial allows you to use the calorie counter free of charge, so you can check out the benefits before subscribing.

Is the Calorie Counter free?

The Nutracheck calorie counter gives you three searches for products completely free, using the 'Calorie Checker' box on our homepage. Simply type the description of the food or drink item you are looking for into the calorie counter. After the third search, a message will pop up to say that if you want to continue using the service, you'll need to register and join the service.

How many foods are included in the Calorie Counter?

The Nutracheck calorie counter has calorie and fat information for over 30,000 products. It contains all the major brands plus the main supermarket own labels - Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons and M&S. Take away items and fast food chains such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and Wimpy are also included, plus the popular lunchtime outlets Pret, Subway, Boots, Cafè Nero and Starbucks.

How does the Nutracheck Mobile Phone Calorie Counter work?

Knowing that much of what we eat is consumed outside the home, Nutracheck offers a special downloadable calorie counter and food diary for mobile phones. Nutracheck mobile has information on over 30,000 products, and is a discreet calorie counter at your finger tips, when out and about. For example, if you're in a bar and want to check the number of calories in your drink, by typing in the last four numbers of a product barcode, your mobile calorie counter will provide the answer.

How does the Calorie Counter approach to weight loss work?

By understanding the number of calories our bodies need, and using a calorie counter to tell us what's in the food we eat, we can make adjustments to our diet to help us lose weight. An average female requires 2,000 calories per day and male 2,500 calories. To lose 1 lb per week, it's necessary to reduce our usual calorie intake by approximately 500 calories per day - through a combination of eating less and exercising more. By using the Nutracheck calorie counter and food diary, you can check what is in the food you regularly eat, and ensure you stay within the personal calorie targets you've been set. When you set up your profile online, you'll be given a 'Goal Weight' date. Providing your stick to your daily calorie targets and also increase your activity level to try and burn the additional calories shown, this is the date you will achieve your goal by.

What is different about the calorie counter from Nutracheck?

With over 30,000 products in the Nutracheck calorie counter, it's important that you can find the product you are looking for quickly and easily. The Barcode Quick Search technology used by Nutracheck means that you can search for a food using just the last four numbers of its barcode. By typing these numbers into the calorie counter, it produces a shortlist of items - usually between 3 and 6 - from which you can quickly find what you're looking for. This is much easier than having to trawl through a long list of product descriptions. In addition, you can also search the calorie counter by typing in a description of the food.

Does the Calorie Counter give me useful serving sizes?

Often calorie counter books give information on foods as 'per 25g' or 'per 100g' which isn't very helpful if it's not the usual portion size you'd eat. This then requires you to work out (either with a calculator or in your head) how many calories there are in the portion you're eating. The Nutracheck calorie counter aims to remove the hard work by giving you realistic serving sizes. For example, nutritional information on a frozen pizza may be given as 'per 100g' or 'per slice', but very often the whole pizza is eaten by one person! So the Nutracheck calorie counter shows serving sizes as per slice, per quarter, per half, per whole pizza - as well as per 100g.