###### tags: `plan-smart-eat-real`

# Course Video #3

### Calorie Counting

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Do you have to? Do you want to?
Who’s calorie counting for and who should avoid it.
How to figure out a rough estimate of where you should start.
There is no way to get an exact amount, so experiment.
But no one should be eating under 1400 calories.
Do you have to track workouts in MFP?

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Here's the good news... I did not build PSER as a calorie counting program.

The main goal of the program is to learn how to easily eat real food that is nutritionally dense until satisfied... to learn to eat intuitively.

Eating food that is real and healthy, means there is zero guilt and no need to try and eat as little as possible out of food guilt or fear.

Because of this big picture idea, calories are not included with PSER 1.0.

However... I get it. Some people prefer to track. Maybe you're experimenting with macro counting, maybe you want to make sure you're in a caloric deficit for weight loss or maybe a surpluss for gains.

If you're set on tracking, I want to make sure you're set up to do it safely. So let's go over calorie tracking.

First... go through week one without tracking. Just get used to the idea of a meal plan without adding the extra stress of tracking.

After week 1, if you still want to track, time to figure out how many calories you need...

LINK TO https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp

Note, there is no way to find out the exact amount you need. The rough estimation I'm about to give, is just that.

Second... use a system like MFP but do not use their recommended calorie suggestions. You'll need to go into the app and change the settings to your number you determined above. MFP often suggestion calories for children for grown adults.

Also, do not link up your fitness to MFP. Explain why.

In the next video, we'll talk more about macro nutrients and how to calculate how much protein, fat and carbohydrates you need.