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It is surprising to find out that some of your favorite foods have way more calories than expected.  According to walking.about.com, 2,000-2,500 calories is a healthy amount per day.

Any non-diet soda is extremely high in calories.  According to McDonald’s nutrition chart, a large Dr. Pepper is approximately 310 calories.  One can of Coca-Cola is 140 calories.  You can have a snack for around the same amount of calories.  Also if you’re drinking a soda, you will most likely be eating with it, which adds even more calories to your meal.  By the time you’re finished at McDonald’s, you could already be at 800-1,000 calories.  An Angus-Bacon Cheeseburger from McDonald’s is 790 calories alone.  Now you are at 1,100 calories, and you still have your fries to eat.  Drinking water is always your best option.

Weightlossforall.com states that a large tub of movie theater popcorn is 1,030 calories: over half of what you’re supposed to eat in a day.  If you want to get popcorn at a movie, split it with your family or get a smaller size.  You could even save your calories and use them all on the popcorn.  It all depends on what you pick and choose to eat for the day.

A good idea to track your calorie intake is to download the MyFitnessPal app if you have a smart phone.  You can set a goal of how much weight you want to lose in a certain amount of time and it will tell you a set amount of calories that you can eat in a day.  It also has a pie chart feature that documents how much fat, protein, and other dietary breakdowns that you have consumed in the week.   It has a breakfast, lunch, and dinner section and is as easy as just searching for a food in the search engine and picking the one you ate.

Counting calories is an easy way to watch what you’re eating and become more informed about how good or bad a food is for you.