Guides
The numbers, explained.
Everything Caldown does rests on a handful of figures. These are those figures, written out plainly — including where they are only estimates.
Start hereCalorie deficit: what it is and how to run one
The full guide — the arithmetic, how big a deficit should be, how long it takes, and why the scale disagrees with you in week three.
How accurate is Apple Watch calorie tracking?
Heart rate it measures well. Calories it estimates — and the error is larger than most people assume. What the Move ring actually counts, and how to use it without fooling yourself.
Can you build muscle in a calorie deficit?
Yes — but it depends almost entirely on who you are. Who gets body recomposition, who does not, and what to do either way.
Calorie deficit during menopause
Falling oestrogen moves fat to the abdomen and wrecks sleep, so shape and appetite change even at stable weight. What actually responds.
Calorie deficit with an underactive thyroid
An untreated underactive thyroid does slow your resting metabolism — by less than most people assume, and most of the early weight is fluid.
Why calorie deficit calculators disagree with each other
Put the same details into five calculators and you get five answers, sometimes 400 kcal apart. The three places the difference comes from, and how to tell which number to trust.
What a "calorie deficit diet" actually is
There is no such diet — and that is the useful part. Why every eating plan that works runs on the same mechanism, and how to pick one you will actually stick to.
A calorie deficit for complete beginners
A two-week start: log before you cut, weigh instead of guessing, and read the scale weekly. What to expect, and the four mistakes that end most attempts.
Calorie deficit for men
A higher maintenance buys real room for a bigger deficit, and overshooting is still the usual error. Plus the alcohol arithmetic that almost nobody logs.
Calorie deficit for women
Why the same 500 kcal cut is a far bigger deficit on a lower maintenance, where the 1,200 kcal floor comes from, and how to read the scale around your cycle.
Calorie deficit in Australia: kilojoules, pub portions and 8,700
Australian labels are in kilojoules, so the deficit maths needs one conversion before it works. Here it is, with what a parma, a pie and a schooner really cost.
Calorie deficit in Canada: Tims, poutine and the five-month winter
Canadian labels are already in Calories, so no conversion is needed. What does need watching is a double-double habit, a poutine and a winter that halves your step count.
Calorie deficit in Ireland: the deli counter, the chipper and the pint
A chicken fillet roll and a spice bag can account for a full day between them. Here is what Irish food really costs and where an Irish deficit usually goes wrong.
Calorie deficit in Jamaica: coconut milk, fried sides and the steamed option
Jerk chicken and callaloo are excellent in a deficit. Rice and peas, fried dumpling and a bag juice are where it goes. What Jamaican food actually costs.
Calorie deficit in Kenya: ugali, the chapati surprise and sweet chai
A Kenyan chapati is roughly three times an Indian one, and six cups of sweet chai is a meal. What local staples really cost, and how to run a deficit on them.
Calorie deficit in New Zealand: kilojoules, kūmara and the Friday pie
Kiwi labels read in kilojoules and the 8,700 kJ benchmark is not your target. Here is the conversion, plus what pies, kūmara, lamb and fish and chips actually cost.
Calorie deficit in Nigeria: swallow, soup and where the oil hides
Jollof and eba are not the problem — palm oil and malt drinks usually are. What Nigerian staples actually cost, and how to build a deficit without leaving the kitchen.
Calorie deficit in Singapore: hawker food and how to order it
Char kway teow is 740 kcal and fish soup is 350 — at the same hawker centre, for the same money. The ordering phrases that run a deficit without cooking anything.
Calorie deficit in South Africa: pap, braai and the biltong advantage
South African labels read in kilojoules. Here is the conversion, what pap, boerewors and a bunny chow really cost, and why biltong is the best deficit snack in the country.
Calorie deficit in the Philippines: counting rice in cups
Rice is not the enemy, but three cups a meal is 600 kcal of it. What Filipino staples cost, and how to run a deficit without giving up adobo or sinigang.
Calorie deficit in the UK: meal deals, pints and portion reality
A supermarket meal deal can be 1,000 kcal and a round of pints another 600. Here is what British food actually costs, and where a UK deficit usually leaks.
Calorie deficit in the US: portions, chains and the numbers that matter
Maintenance for most American adults sits between 1,900 and 2,800 kcal. The hard part is not the arithmetic — it is that a restaurant entrée is often half of it.
Meal planning for a calorie deficit
Planning is for removing decisions, not for eating clean. A repeatable template beats a seven-day menu, and it survives contact with a real week.
Calorie deficit after 40
Metabolism does not collapse at 40. What changes is lean mass, movement, sleep and recovery — and recovery is what really limits an aggressive deficit.
Side effects of a calorie deficit
Hunger, mild fatigue and the odd headache are expected. Dizziness, hair shedding or a lost period are not — they mean the deficit is too large.
Calorie deficit while breastfeeding
Lactation costs roughly 500 kcal a day, so add it to maintenance before subtracting a deficit — the arithmetic generic calculators get wrong.
Calorie deficit with PCOS
Insulin resistance makes the same deficit harder to hold rather than impossible — and about 5% of bodyweight is enough to shift symptoms.
Calorie trackers without a subscription
Most calorie apps now rent by the month. What a subscription actually buys, what a one-time purchase can and cannot offer, and how to tell which you need.
How many calories does 10,000 steps burn?
Roughly 250–400 kcal for most adults — but the number your tracker shows is probably gross, not net, and the difference matters more than the headline figure.
How many calories does cycling burn?
Anywhere from 200 to over 1,000 kcal an hour — because air resistance means speed matters far more on a bike than it ever does on foot.
How many calories does dancing burn?
Roughly 200–600 kcal an hour depending on the style — but the bigger variable is how much of that hour you spend actually moving.
How many calories do you burn doing nothing?
More than you think asleep, far less than you think standing. Honest figures for sleeping, sitting and standing — and why NEAT beats any single workout.
How many calories do jumping jacks burn?
Roughly 0.2 kcal per rep, so 100 jumping jacks is about 20 kcal. That is the honest answer, and it says something useful about counting reps at all.
How many calories does lifting weights burn?
Usually 200–350 kcal an hour, and most of a session is rest. Why wrist trackers inflate it — and why the small number is no argument against lifting.
Calories burned rowing and on the elliptical
The rowing machine measures real work in joules so its figure is unusually trustworthy, while the elliptical is the most generous display in the gym.
How many calories does running burn?
About 1 kcal per kilogram of bodyweight per kilometre — which means a 5 km run costs much the same whether you take 20 minutes or 35.
How many calories does skipping rope burn?
About 14 kcal a minute for a 70 kg (155 lb) adult — one of the highest rates going. Almost nobody skips for 30 minutes, and that gap is the whole story.
How many calories does Surya Namaskar burn?
Roughly 10–15 kcal a round for an average adult, so 12 rounds comes to about 120–170 kcal — not the several hundred usually claimed.
How many calories does swimming burn?
Roughly 200 to 700 kcal per half hour — and swimming is the one activity where getting better at it makes the same distance cost you less.
How many calories does walking burn?
About 0.5 kcal per kilogram of bodyweight per kilometre on the flat — but a 5% gradient nearly doubles that, and pace barely changes it at all.
How many calories does yoga burn?
Anywhere from 150 to 400 kcal an hour depending entirely on the style — and hot yoga's dramatic post-class weight drop is water, not fat.
How many calories are in almonds?
A 28 g handful of almonds is about 165 kcal on the label — but whole almonds measure closer to 130 kcal, because your gut cannot reach all the fat.
How many calories are in an apple?
About 95 kcal for a medium apple — but a small one is nearer 75 and a large one nearer 120, so the portion matters more than the variety.
How many calories are in an avocado?
About 225 kcal in a medium avocado and 160 kcal per 100 g, which makes it by far the most calorie-dense fruit most people eat.
How many calories are in a banana?
About 105 kcal in a medium banana — but a small one is nearer 70 and an extra-large one 135, which is where most of the confusion starts.
How many calories are in barfi?
About 125 kcal in a standard 30 g piece of milk barfi and roughly 410 kcal per 100 g — denser per piece than it looks.
How many calories are in a beer?
A pint of 4% lager is about 180 kcal and a 330 ml bottle of 5% about 125 — strength and volume decide it, and colour has nothing to do with it.
How many calories are in biryani?
A home plate of chicken biryani is about 450-550 kcal; a restaurant plate of 400-500 g runs 700-1,000.
How many calories are in a biscuit?
About 70 kcal in a plain digestive, 85 in a chocolate one, 38 in a rich tea — and 250–280 in a bakery cookie.
How many calories are in a boiled egg?
About 78 kcal for a large boiled egg — and boiling is the one preparation that adds nothing, which is most of the point.
How many calories are in bread?
A medium slice of white bread is about 90 kcal, but slice thickness swings it from 65 to 110 — and what goes on top usually beats the bread.
How many calories are in broccoli?
About 35 kcal per 100 g of broccoli and roughly 70 kcal in a 200 g side — until cheese sauce or a stir-fry pan multiplies it threefold.
How many calories are in brown bread?
About 85 kcal a medium slice — within a few calories of white. And on many loaves, “brown” is a colour added at the mixer, not a flour.
How many calories are in brown rice?
About 120 kcal per 100 g cooked, or roughly 230 kcal in a cup — only a little under white rice, and for different reasons than most people assume.
How many calories are in a burger?
About 300 kcal for a plain single beef burger in a bun, rising to 750–900 for a double with cheese, bacon and mayonnaise.
How many calories are in butter?
About 36 kcal in a level teaspoon of butter, 100 kcal in a tablespoon and 715 kcal per 100 g — and it is almost never actually measured.
How many calories are in buttermilk (chaas)?
About 35 to 45 kcal in a 200 ml glass of chaas — it is mostly water, which makes it one of the few drinks that costs almost nothing.
How many calories are in cabbage?
About 25 kcal per 100 g, and roughly 18 in a cup of shredded cabbage — one of the lowest-calorie foods you can put on a plate.
How many calories are in cake?
About 400 kcal in a 100 g home slice of iced chocolate cake, and 550–800 kcal in the same cake cut as a café slice.
How many calories are in a carrot?
About 25 kcal in a medium carrot and 41 kcal per 100 g raw — roughly a teaspoon of sugar per 100 g, not the sugar bomb carrots get accused of being.
How many calories are in cashews?
A 30 g handful of cashews is about 170 kcal, or roughly 9 kcal a kernel — slightly lower in fat than other nuts, and considerably easier to overeat.
How many calories are in cauliflower?
About 25 kcal per 100 g and roughly 150 in a whole medium head — low enough that swapping it for rice saves about 180 kcal a serving.
How many calories are in a chapati?
About 105 kcal for a medium chapati — but a stack of four large ones is near 700, and that gap is almost entirely diameter and thickness.
How many calories are in cheese?
About 60 kcal in a processed slice and 125 in a 30 g piece of cheddar — with cheese, the type and the slice count matter more than any per-100 g figure.
How many calories are in chicken?
About 165 kcal per 100 g of cooked skinless breast, rising to 290 for roast wing with skin — and the cooking fat often beats the cut.
How many calories are in chicken breast?
About 165 kcal per 100 g cooked, with 31 g of protein — roughly 19 g of protein per 100 kcal, one of the best ratios in any whole food.
How many calories are in chickpeas?
About 165 kcal per 100 g boiled, but 380 kcal per 100 g dry. The gap is water, and mixing the two up is the most common chickpea logging error.
How many calories are in a chikoo (sapota)?
About 75 kcal in a medium chikoo and 85 kcal per 100 g — one of the higher-calorie Indian fruits, and almost never eaten one at a time.
How many calories are in chocolate?
About 240 kcal in a standard 45 g bar of milk chocolate, 60 kcal in two squares of dark, and 520–610 kcal per 100 g for almost every type.
How many calories are in chole?
A home-style katori of chole is about 180–220 kcal. The same chole with two bhature is 700–1,000, which is the number most people actually eat.
How many calories are in coconut oil?
About 120 kcal in a tablespoon of coconut oil and 860 kcal per 100 g — the MCT content does not make it a lighter fat.
How many calories are in coconut water?
About 45 kcal in a 250 ml glass of coconut water and 19 kcal per 100 ml — modest, unless the carton has sugar added to it.
How many calories are in coffee?
Black coffee is about 2 kcal a mug. A flat white is about 95, and a large sweetened chain drink can reach 420 — the span of a whole meal.
How many calories are in corn?
About 90 kcal in a medium cob and 96 per 100 g of kernels — but buttered corn, and especially cinema popcorn, run far higher.
How many calories are in cornflakes?
About 110 kcal in the 30 g serving printed on the box, but a real bowl with milk is usually 280 to 330 — and the milk is the larger half.
How many calories are in a cucumber?
About 30 kcal in a medium cucumber and 15 kcal per 100 g — low enough that what you dress it with matters far more than how much you eat.
How many calories are in curd (dahi)?
About 60 kcal per 100 g of whole-milk curd, so a 150 g bowl is roughly 95 — and the same bowl set from toned milk is nearer 70.
How many calories are in a custard apple (sitaphal)?
About 140 kcal in a medium custard apple and 100 kcal per 100 g of pulp — denser than it looks, and eaten a whole fruit at a time.
How many calories are in dal?
A katori of home toor dal is about 140-170 kcal; the same bowl of restaurant dal makhani is 330-450.
How many calories are in dates?
One Medjool date is about 66 kcal and a small dried date about 20 kcal, which puts dates near 280 kcal per 100 g.
How many calories are in dhokla?
One piece of dhokla is about 50 kcal and a plate of four around 200. Steamed, fermented and roughly 130 kcal per 100 g, it is unusually light.
How many calories are in a donut?
About 200 kcal in a plain ring, 250 in a glazed one, and 300–450 kcal once it is filled and iced.
How many calories are in a dosa?
A plain dosa is about 130 kcal and a restaurant masala dosa 320-420. The oil on the griddle moves the number more than the batter does.
How many calories are in an egg?
About 72 kcal for a large egg, with three-quarters of that in the yolk — plus what size grading and the frying pan do to the figure.
How many calories are in an egg white?
About 17 kcal for one large egg white, with 3.6 g of protein — one of the best protein-per-calorie ratios in everyday food.
How many calories are in fish?
From about 85 kcal per 100 g for lean white fish to over 200 for salmon. Species decides more than anything you do to it.
How many calories are in french fries?
About 330 kcal for a medium fast-food portion of fries, and about 140 of those come from absorbed frying oil rather than from the potato.
How many calories are in ghee?
About 45 kcal in a teaspoon of ghee and 900 kcal per 100 g — slightly more than butter, because the water has been boiled out of it.
How many calories are in grapes?
About 69 kcal per 100 g of grapes, 104 kcal a cup and roughly 345 kcal for a 500 g punnet — which is easier to finish than it sounds.
How many calories are in green beans?
About 35 kcal per 100 g boiled and roughly 44 in a cup — far lower than rajma or chickpeas, which are a different food entirely.
How many calories are in green tea?
A mug of plain green tea is about 2 kcal. The metabolism effect is real, but worth tens of kcal a day — not what the packaging implies.
How many calories are in a guava?
About 68 kcal in a medium guava and 68 kcal per 100 g — with roughly 5 g of fibre per 100 g, the most filling fruit per calorie on the stall.
How many calories are in a gulab jamun?
About 125 kcal in one medium gulab jamun lifted from the syrup, and roughly 300 kcal per 100 g — a third of that is absorbed syrup.
How many calories are in honey?
About 21 kcal in a teaspoon of honey, 64 kcal in a tablespoon and 300 kcal per 100 g — and the spoon varies more than the jar does.
How many calories are in ice cream?
About 130 kcal in a scoop of regular vanilla and 250–280 kcal in a scoop of premium — the same scoop, because premium weighs nearly twice as much.
How many calories are in an idli?
One medium idli is about 65 kcal, so a plate of two is around 130. The sambar and coconut chutney beside them usually cost more than the idlis do.
How many calories are in jackfruit?
About 95 kcal per 100 g of ripe jackfruit, but only 50 to 60 kcal per 100 g when it is raw and green — two different foods under one name.
How many calories are in jaggery?
About 380 kcal per 100 g of jaggery and roughly 38 kcal in a 10 g piece — within a few per cent of white sugar, despite the reputation.
How many calories are in jalebi?
About 100 kcal in one medium jalebi and roughly 370 kcal per 100 g, so a shop plate of four comes to 400–600 kcal.
How many calories are in khichdi?
A bowl of moong dal khichdi is about 300 kcal with a teaspoon of ghee, and nearer 500 with a generous ladle of it.
How many calories are in a laddu?
About 185 kcal in a medium 40 g besan laddu, but the honest range per piece is 90 to over 600 kcal depending on type and size.
How many calories are in a lassi?
About 190 kcal in a 250 ml sweet lassi made at home and 300 or more from a shop, with sugar and full-fat curd doing most of it.
How many calories are in lemon water?
A glass of water with the juice of half a lemon is about 3 kcal. It does not burn fat; what it does is replace drinks that carry calories.
How many calories are in lentils?
About 115 kcal per 100 g of boiled lentils, with 9 g of protein. A katori of home dal is 140–180 kcal, and the tadka decides most of the difference.
How many calories are in litchis?
About 7 kcal a litchi, 65 kcal for ten, and 66 kcal per 100 g of peeled flesh — but a kilo of whole fruit is nearer 440 kcal.
How many calories are in a packet of Maggi?
About 310 kcal in a whole 70 g packet, and most of its 13 g of fat is already there — the noodle block is fried before it reaches you.
How many calories are in a mango?
About 120 kcal in a medium mango and 60 kcal per 100 g of flesh — low enough that the 'too sugary to lose weight' warning fails the arithmetic.
How many calories are in milk?
About 64 kcal per 100 ml whole, so a 250 ml glass is roughly 160 kcal and skimmed about 85 — and a day's tea often totals more than either.
How many calories are in momos?
About 40 kcal in a steamed veg momo and 70 in a fried one, so a plate of eight runs from roughly 320 to 560 kcal before the chutney.
How many calories are in moong sprouts?
About 110–130 kcal per 100 g of home-sprouted whole moong, with roughly 9 g of protein — and one of the best satiety-per-calorie ratios in any kitchen.
How many calories are in muesli?
About 150 kcal in the 40 g serving printed on the box, and closer to 300 kcal in the bowl most people actually pour.
How many calories are in muskmelon?
About 34 kcal per 100 g of flesh and 70 kcal in a 200 g bowl — but melon is eaten by the bowl, and bowls vary by a factor of three.
How many calories are in mutton?
About 110 kcal per 100 g of raw goat meat, which is what mutton means in India. Lamb is nearly twice that, so most online figures run high.
How many calories are in naan?
A restaurant plain naan is about 280 kcal and a butter naan nearer 350, while a smaller home naan is about 190. Size and the brush decide it.
How many calories are in noodles?
About 360 kcal for a 70 g packet of instant noodles, but only about 140 kcal per 100 g of cooked fresh or dried wheat noodles.
How many calories are in oats?
About 150 kcal in a 40 g serving of dry oats, or 380 kcal per 100 g — what gets stirred in afterwards usually matters more.
How many calories are in olive oil?
About 120 kcal in a tablespoon of olive oil and 880 kcal per 100 g — and a free-hand pour into the pan is two to three tablespoons.
How many calories are in an onion?
About 44 kcal in a medium onion and 40 kcal per 100 g raw — the calories in an onion dish are almost entirely the oil it was cooked in.
How many calories are in an orange?
About 60 kcal for a medium orange — but a 250 ml glass of juice is nearer 115 kcal, and it takes three or four oranges to fill one.
How many calories are in paneer?
About 290 kcal per 100 g of full-fat paneer, with 18 g of protein. The fat is what makes it dense — toned-milk paneer lands nearer 190 kcal.
How many calories are in papaya?
About 43 kcal per 100 g of flesh and 85 kcal in a 200 g bowl — and the papain in it digests protein, not body fat.
How many calories are in a paratha?
A plain paratha cooked with a teaspoon of oil is about 210 kcal; a large aloo paratha with ghee and butter can reach 500.
How many calories are in pasta?
About 155 kcal per 100 g of cooked pasta, or about 360 kcal per 100 g dry — and the sauce usually costs more than the pasta does.
How many calories are in pav bhaji?
A restaurant plate of pav bhaji is realistically 700-1,000 kcal; a home plate 450-600. The butter, not the vegetables, is the whole number.
How many calories are in peanut butter?
About 95 kcal in a level tablespoon of peanut butter and 590 kcal per 100 g — but a spoonful out of the jar is usually closer to two.
How many calories are in peanuts?
A 30 g handful of roasted peanuts is about 180 kcal, or roughly 6 kcal a kernel — the cheapest protein of the common nuts, and the easiest to overeat.
How many calories are in peas?
About 85 kcal per 100 g and roughly 135 in a cup of boiled peas — three to four times most vegetables, and close to a boiled potato.
How many calories are in pineapple?
About 50 kcal per 100 g of fresh pineapple and 83 kcal a cup — but a cup canned in syrup is nearer 200, and bromelain burns nothing.
How many calories are in a slice of pizza?
About 275 kcal for a slice of medium classic-crust cheese pizza — but the real range across bases and sizes runs from 190 to 480 kcal a slice.
How many calories are in poha?
A home plate of poha is about 270 kcal; a street or restaurant plate with more oil, peanuts and sev runs 400-500.
How many calories are in a pomegranate?
A cup of pomegranate arils is about 145 kcal and a whole large fruit nearer 230 — high for a fruit, because you swallow the dense seeds.
How many calories are in a potato?
A medium boiled potato is about 140 kcal. The number barely moves until oil is involved — chips are three times that for the same weight of potato.
How many calories are in prawns?
About 85 kcal per 100 g of raw peeled prawns, with 20 g of protein. Count by the piece: one large prawn is roughly 13 kcal.
How many calories are in a scoop of protein powder?
About 120 kcal in a 30 g scoop of whey, carrying 24 g of protein — roughly 20 g of protein per 100 kcal, one of the best ratios you can buy.
How many calories are in pulao?
A cup of vegetable pulao is about 215 kcal, only 20-40 more than the same cup of plain rice.
How many calories are in raisins?
A 30 g handful of raisins is about 90 kcal and a small 43 g box about 130 kcal — the same calories as a whole bunch of grapes, in a fraction of the space.
How many calories are in rajma?
A katori of home rajma is about 180-220 kcal, and rajma chawal with a cup of rice comes to 380-430.
How many calories are in a rasgulla?
About 90 kcal in one medium rasgulla and roughly 190 kcal per 100 g — genuinely lower than most Indian sweets, because it is boiled rather than fried.
How many calories are in rice?
About 130 kcal per 100 g of cooked white rice, or about 360 kcal per 100 g uncooked — and confusing the two is the commonest logging error there is.
How many calories are in a roti?
A plain medium roti is about 105 kcal; the same roti brushed with ghee is nearer 150, which is the variable that decides your number.
How many calories are in a rum?
A 25 ml measure of 40% rum is about 55 kcal whether it is white, dark or spiced — but a rum and cola is near 195 and a piña colada can pass 450.
How many calories are in a samosa?
Roughly 250 to 300 kcal for one medium deep-fried potato samosa — most of it from the pastry and the oil, not the filling.
How many calories are in a sandwich?
Anywhere from 250 to 700 kcal, and the two slices of bread are usually the smallest part of it — the spread and the filling decide.
How many calories are in soya chunks?
About 345 kcal per 100 g dry, with 52 g of protein — but they triple when soaked, so a realistic serving is nearer 105 kcal for 16 g of protein.
How many calories are in spinach?
About 23 kcal per 100 g of raw spinach and only 7 kcal in a cupful — and the famous iron figure was overstated roughly tenfold for decades.
How many calories are in strawberries?
About 32 kcal per 100 g of strawberries and 65 kcal for a 200 g punnet — until the cream goes on, which is usually most of the calories.
How many calories are in a teaspoon of sugar?
About 16 kcal in a level teaspoon of sugar and 25 kcal in a heaped one — small numbers that add up quickly across a day of teas and soft drinks.
How many calories are in a sweet potato?
A medium baked sweet potato is about 135 kcal — slightly more per gram than a white potato, not less. The real case for it is micronutrients, not calories.
How many calories are in tea?
Plain black tea is about 2 kcal a mug. Milk and sugar do all the work: a full-fat chai with two sugars is nearer 95 kcal.
How many calories are in tempeh?
About 195 kcal per 100 g of plain tempeh, with 20 g of protein. The whole soybean is used, which is why it is denser than tofu.
How many calories are in tofu?
About 145 kcal per 100 g of firm tofu with 16 g of protein. Silken tofu is nearer 60 kcal, because firmness is really water content.
How many calories are in a tomato?
About 22 kcal in a medium tomato and 18 kcal per 100 g — but passata, purée and sun-dried tomatoes are the same fruit with the water taken out.
How many calories are in upma?
A standard bowl of rava upma is 310-360 kcal. Nearly all the variation comes from the semolina-to-water ratio and the fat in the tempering.
How many calories are in an uttapam?
A plain home uttapam is about 165 kcal and an onion uttapam in a restaurant 200-260. More batter than a dosa, but less oil per gram.
How many calories are in a vada?
One medu vada is about 130 kcal and a batata vada about 170. Most of the difference between a light vada and a heavy one is absorbed frying oil.
How many calories are in a vodka?
A 25 ml measure of 40% vodka is about 55 kcal — identical to gin, rum or whisky at the same strength, because vodka is not the lighter spirit.
How many calories are in walnuts?
A 30 g handful of walnut halves is about 195 kcal, or roughly 13 kcal a half — the densest of the common nuts, at 65% fat by weight.
How many calories are in watermelon?
About 30 kcal per 100 g of flesh and 45 kcal in a cup of diced watermelon — its high glycaemic index says nothing about its calories.
How many calories are in a whisky?
A 25 ml measure of 40% whisky is about 55 kcal, so the mixer usually carries more than the spirit: a double with 200 ml of cola is nearer 195.
How many calories are in a glass of wine?
A 175 ml glass of 13% red is about 150 kcal and a large 250 ml pour about 215 — glass size moves the number more than dry versus sweet does.
How many calories are in yoghurt?
A 150 g pot of plain yoghurt is about 90 kcal; the same pot flavoured or fruit is 140 to 190, and the gap is almost all added sugar.
Calories vs kcal: are they the same thing?
On a food label, yes. In a physics textbook, they differ by a factor of a thousand. Here is why both are true, and why apps and labels show kcal.
Does HIIT burn more calories than steady cardio?
Per minute of hard effort, yes, by a lot. Per session, usually not — and the afterburn is real but far smaller than it gets sold as.
5 foods under 10 calories per 100 g
Shirataki, agar jelly, sugar-free gelatin, stock and sugar-free ice pops. Every item in this band is manufactured, and that tells you exactly what it is for.
5 foods under 100 calories per 100 g
Egg white, 0% Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, boiled potato and white fish — the first band you could build a whole day of eating out of.
5 foods under 20 calories per 100 g
Lettuce, celery, cucumber, radish and courgette — half a kilo of any of them is under 90 kcal. The salad-bowl band, its real use, and the dressing that undoes it.
5 foods under 200 calories per 100 g
Cooked lentils, rice, eggs, pasta and chicken breast — the band real meals are made of, and the first one where 100 g is a portion someone would actually serve.
5 foods under 30 calories per 100 g
Mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower, cabbage and aubergine. Cheap by weight, but they cook down — and what you cook them in costs several times more than they do.
5 foods under 300 calories per 100 g
Avocado, hummus, salmon, bread and feta. This is the band where eyeballing a portion starts costing 100 kcal a go — which is where a kitchen scale earns its place.
5 foods under 400 calories per 100 g
Oats, rice, pasta, lentils and flour — all of them dry. Dry weight and cooked weight are different foods on a label, and confusing them is the most expensive mistake in food tracking.
5 foods under 5 calories per 100 g — and why they are all drinks
Below 5 kcal per 100 g there is almost no solid food left: water, plain tea, black coffee, clear stock and diet soft drinks. What that band is actually good for.
5 foods under 50 calories per 100 g
Strawberries, broccoli, skimmed milk, carrots and oranges — the first band where the food carries real nutrition and not just volume.
5 foods under 500 calories per 100 g
Cheddar, croissants, doughnuts, crackers and granola. At this density 100 g stops being a portion anyone serves — and 500 is not even the top of the ladder.
High-volume, low-calorie foods: how to feel full in a deficit
Appetite tracks the weight and volume of food more than its calories. Which foods give you the most plate for the fewest kcal, and the density numbers behind the effect.
How big should your calorie deficit be?
Between 15% and 25% below maintenance for most people — roughly 300 to 700 kcal a day. Why bigger is not better, and the floor you should not go under.
How long does it take to lose 10 kg (22 lb)?
At a 500 kcal daily deficit, about five months. Here is the full table by deficit size, what a safe rate looks like, and why the real answer runs slower than the maths.
How many calories are in a kilogram — or a pound — of fat?
About 7,700 kcal per kilogram, or 3,500 per pound. Where those numbers come from, why they are approximations, and how to turn one into a target you can track.
How many calories should you burn in a day?
It is the wrong question, and the right one is more useful. Most of your daily burn is involuntary — here is what that means for setting a target you can act on.
How to calculate a calorie deficit
Three steps and one formula: resting burn, activity multiplier, subtraction. Worked through with real numbers in both pounds and kilograms.
How to read a food label for calories
Read the servings-per-container line before the calorie number. Why serving sizes mislead, the tolerance labels are allowed, and what to check before trusting a barcode scan.
Does intermittent fasting beat a calorie deficit?
No — it is a way of producing one. Trials that match calories between fasting and normal eating find similar weight loss, which makes the schedule a question of adherence rather than metabolism.
Ketosis vs a calorie deficit: which one loses fat?
Ketosis is a metabolic state; a calorie deficit is an energy balance. Only one of them removes fat — and keto's dramatic first week is mostly water.
What are maintenance calories, and how do you find yours?
Maintenance is the number where your weight stays put. Here is how to estimate it from BMR, how to measure it from your own data, and why the measured figure is the one that matters.
In a calorie deficit but not losing weight
Six reasons the scale stalls, in the order they are actually likely — starting with the one almost nobody believes applies to them.
How much protein do you need in a calorie deficit?
Roughly 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight, or 0.7–1 g per pound — higher than at maintenance, because the job changes. What protein protects while you lose weight, and why the target rises as the deficit deepens.
How to actually stick to a calorie deficit
Adherence is the only variable that reliably predicts whether a diet works, and it responds better to design than to willpower. The strategies that hold up, including while travelling.
Can you target belly fat with a calorie deficit?
A deficit decides how much fat you lose; genetics decide the order. Spot reduction does not work — but visceral fat responds early, which matters.
Are treadmill calorie readouts accurate?
Mostly not — and the reasons are specific: an assumed bodyweight, inconsistent incline maths, gross figures, and handrails the machine cannot see.
Running a calorie deficit on a vegan diet
Dairy and eggs were doing the efficient protein work. What replaces them, where a supplement earns its place, and the fibre advantage nobody mentions.
Running a calorie deficit on a vegetarian diet
Calories are not the hard part of a vegetarian deficit — protein is. The protein cost per 100 kcal of the usual sources, and the swaps that fix it.
Walking or running: which burns more calories?
Per minute, running wins by three to four times. Per kilometre it is only about double — and neither figure is the one that decides the outcome.
What is BMR, and how do you calculate it?
Your basal metabolic rate is the largest part of what you burn each day. The Mifflin–St Jeor equation, worked through with a real example, and how accurate it actually is.