Calorie Counter
Add up the calories in your food and the calories you burn, and see your daily balance.
Food calories are approximate averages per serving. Activity figures are estimates for a person weighing about 70 kg, per 30 minutes. These figures are averages and food labels vary — this counter is not medical advice.
How to use this calorie counter
This calorie counter adds up the calories in your food and the calories you burn, and shows the balance between the two. It does not need an account, and nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
Step 1: Pick a food from the list, set how many servings you had, and press "Add food". Repeat for everything you ate. Each entry appears in the list, and you can take any entry off again with its Remove button.
Step 2: Pick an activity from the list, set how many minutes you did it for, and press "Add activity". The activity list shows how many calories that activity burns.
Step 3: Read your totals. The counter shows the calories eaten, the calories burned, and the net balance — a surplus when you ate more than you burned, and a deficit when you burned more than you ate.
Worked example
Take a simple breakfast of two slices of bread and one boiled egg. Two slices of bread are 2 × 80 = 160 calories, and the egg adds 78 calories, so the total eaten is 238 calories.
Now add a lunch of one chicken breast (165 calories) and one cup of cooked rice (205 calories). That brings the total eaten to 370 calories. If you then cycle for 30 minutes, you burn about 240 calories, which leaves a net balance of 130 calories — a surplus of 130 calories for the day so far.
What is a calorie?
A calorie is a unit of energy. In food, it measures how much energy your body gets from eating something — the number you see on food labels is usually kilocalories, written as kcal, but in everyday use people just say calories. Your body uses that energy to keep you alive and moving: breathing, thinking, walking, running, and everything else you do through the day.
Different foods carry very different amounts of energy. A 100 g chicken breast has about 165 calories, while a cup of cooked pasta has about 220. The calories in this counter are approximate averages for the serving shown, because the same food can vary by brand, size, and recipe. Food labels vary too, so treat every number here as a guide rather than an exact count.
Food vs burn
Food adds calories, and activity uses them up. When you eat more than you burn, the balance is a surplus — over time, a regular surplus is how body weight tends to go up. When you burn more than you eat, the balance is a deficit — over time, a regular deficit is how body weight tends to come down. When the two match, you are in balance.
Moving matters, but it is usually the smaller half of the balance. Thirty minutes of cycling burns about 240 calories — roughly the same as the two slices of bread and a boiled egg in the example above. Thirty minutes of running burns about 300 calories, walking about 150, and yoga about 120. That is why the food you eat usually decides the balance more than a single workout does, and why the balance matters most when you look at days and weeks together, not one meal on its own.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate are the calorie numbers?
They are approximate averages. The same food can vary by brand, size, and recipe, and food labels vary too. Use the numbers to compare foods and to get a rough picture of your day, not as an exact count.
What is a serving?
A serving is the amount shown next to each food in the list — one slice of bread, one boiled egg, 100 g of chicken breast, or one cup of cooked rice. Set the servings to match how much you ate: two slices of bread means two servings.
How many calories do I need a day?
It depends on your age, sex, height, weight, and how active you are. As a rough guide, many adults need around 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day. This counter only adds up the food you enter and the activity you enter — it does not work out your personal daily need.
Does exercise cancel out food?
Activity burns calories, so it lowers your net balance, but it rarely cancels food out completely. Thirty minutes of cycling burns about 240 calories, which is roughly the same as two slices of bread and a boiled egg. The balance works over days and weeks, not single meals, so a regular pattern matters more than any one day.
Is this medical advice?
No. This counter is general information only, and its figures are averages. Everyone's needs are different, so talk to a doctor or dietitian for personal advice about food, weight, or exercise.