Health

Daily calorie intake

Log what you eat and drink through the day. Pick a food, say how much and how it was made, and watch your running total climb. Aim for 12 to 16 items to cover a full day.

How it works

  1. Search the built-in list of everyday foods and drinks. If it isn't there, search online for branded products.
  2. Choose how much and how it was made. Meat asks for the cooking method and oil, coffee and tea ask for milk and sugar, and rice and pasta ask for sauces and fats.
  3. Add it to your day. Your total updates straight away. You can edit or remove any item, and log up to 16.

Before you start

  • These are estimates. Real calories vary with brand, recipe and portion. Treat the total as a guide, not a measurement.
  • Counting isn't for everyone. If tracking food makes you anxious, or you have a history of disordered eating, skip it and talk to your GP or a dietitian.
  • Speak to your GP or an accredited practising dietitian before changing how you eat if you have a medical condition, take regular medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are under 18.

Build your day

1. Find a food or drink

Type a name, or pick a group to browse.

    Can't find it? Search packaged and branded products online. Open Food Facts suits Australian supermarket items. USDA FoodData Central suits US brands and generic foods.

      Your day

      Today's total

      Nothing logged yetSearch for your first food or drink on the left. Your running total shows here.

        Want to know what you burn? Use the calorie expenditure tool, or work out your daily needs with the BMR calculator.

        How the numbers are worked out

        Where the calorie values come from

        Moderate Built-in list. The list covers everyday staples plus common dishes from about 20 of the world's major cuisines, and lives in a separate file you can edit (food-database.js, with the same data in food-database.json). Each food has a typical energy value per 100 g or 100 mL, rounded from public food composition tables such as USDA FoodData Central and the Australian Food Composition Database. Values are for the food as eaten (cooked weight for meat, rice and pasta). Brands, ripeness and recipes vary, so two "apples" or two "white rice" entries can differ by 10% or more. Home-cooked dishes such as sambar, dosa and biryani vary even more with the recipe and the oil used, so treat those as rough.

        Our estimate Cooking methods. The list gives plain cooked values. We add fixed amounts for methods that add batter or crumb (about 70 kcal per 100 g for crumbed and shallow-fried, and 100 kcal per 100 g for deep-fried or battered). For oil and butter we count each teaspoon at its usual energy (about 40 kcal for oil, 34 kcal for butter), then assume only a share ends up in your meal: about 40% for grilling or BBQ, 50% for roasting and slow cooking, 60% for air frying and crumbed shallow-frying, and 70% for pan-frying. Those shares are our own estimates, because the real amount depends on the pan, the heat and the cut.

        Our estimate Milk, sugar and sauces. Milk values are typical per 100 mL (whole 65, reduced-fat 47, skim 35, soy 45, oat 50, almond 20, coconut 25 kcal) and vary a lot by brand, especially for oat and soy. Sugar is 16 kcal a teaspoon and about 10 kcal a cube. Sauce and spread servings are typical values per serving shown.

        Moderate Online search. When you search online, results come from Open Food Facts (a community database, so quality varies) or USDA FoodData Central (mostly US products). We show energy per 100 g and use the serving size when the entry has one. Check the pack if the figure looks off.

        Well established Reference line. The bar compares your total with 8,700 kJ (about 2,080 kcal), the average adult intake used on Australian food labels. It is a reference point, not your target. Your own needs depend on your size, age, sex and activity.

        Our judgement Limits. Calorie counts are estimates, even from labels. Don't use this to set a strict diet. For that, see a GP or an accredited practising dietitian.

        Sources and further reading

        USDA FoodData Central: food composition data

        Food Standards Australia New Zealand (search for the Australian Food Composition Database)

        Open Food Facts: open database of packaged foods

        Foodwatch: what does 8,700 kilojoules mean?

        Eat for Health: Australian Dietary Guidelines

        Dietitians Australia: find an accredited practising dietitian