Alice B. reviewed The CalorieKing Calorie, Fat, & Carbohydrate Counter 2012 on + 3558 more book reviews
This book is a must for those counting calories or carbs. Our local weight loss program recommended "The Calorie King" book for counting carbs for diabetics or calories for those wanting to lose weight or both., and it really is a great book. The original book is a small paperback size, with print to match. It's OK with my reading glasses., size regular print 6 7/8 " x 4 1/4 ".Lovely gift copy!
CalorieKing deserves it's reputation for thoroughness. It can be very difficult to estimate carbs in restaurant food. Each menus of the larger restaurant chains are included.. But as far as grocery food, the apple and broccoli carb counts won't change from year to year, and packaged groceries will always have a label telling, among other things, how many carbs per serving.
To give you an example of what a lifesaver CalorieKing is, I took a trip last year with my son, traveling by air. It was fantastic to just look in this book and total the carbs as he ordered a meal from Arby's in the airport food court. It couldn't have made it easier!
Though we use this book for carb counting, for each item you are given three values: the total calories, the total grams of fat, and the total grams of carbohydrates. Examples:
.........................................................Calories.....Fat......Carbs
Arby's:
Chicken -
Chicken Bacon & Swiss: Crispy..............600.........27.......55
.....Roasted............................................470.........19.......43
Chicken Filet: Crispy..............................530.........25.......52
.....Roast................................................400.........16.......40
Banana (weight with skin):
1 small (6", 4 per lb), 4 oz.......................90..........0.........23
1 medium (7",3 per lb), 5 oz..................105..........0.........27
1 large (8"), 7 oz...................................120..........0.........30
1 extra large (9"), 9 oz...........................135..........0.........35
without skin, 1 oz....................................25..........0..........6
What I've done with bananas, is kind of average all these counts, to make it easier. Now we measure the banana and figure 3.8 carbs (grams) per inch. Pears come out to about 3.5 carbs per oz. Apples to 3.2 per oz. And to measure the food in ounces or grams I can highly recommend the reasonably priced, easy-to-use, great little scale made by EatSmart: EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale, White
For different size portions, you extrapolate. The book states that a 7 oz pear is 25 carbs. If your pear is 11 oz, then its carb calculation:
11 oz divided by 7 oz = 1.57 (the 11 oz pear is 0.57 larger than (or 157% of) the 7 oz pear)
1.57 x 25 carbs for a 7 oz pear = 39 carbs for the 11 oz pear
The calculations, until you get to the point where you can eyeball sizes for an estimate, can be tiresome, but that's how it goes. To have this marvelous book to give basic carb counts is invaluable.
Very handy book. I bought one copy for each glove compartment, one for each grandparent house, one for the house, one for my purse, and one for travel.
CalorieKing deserves it's reputation for thoroughness. It can be very difficult to estimate carbs in restaurant food. Each menus of the larger restaurant chains are included.. But as far as grocery food, the apple and broccoli carb counts won't change from year to year, and packaged groceries will always have a label telling, among other things, how many carbs per serving.
To give you an example of what a lifesaver CalorieKing is, I took a trip last year with my son, traveling by air. It was fantastic to just look in this book and total the carbs as he ordered a meal from Arby's in the airport food court. It couldn't have made it easier!
Though we use this book for carb counting, for each item you are given three values: the total calories, the total grams of fat, and the total grams of carbohydrates. Examples:
.........................................................Calories.....Fat......Carbs
Arby's:
Chicken -
Chicken Bacon & Swiss: Crispy..............600.........27.......55
.....Roasted............................................470.........19.......43
Chicken Filet: Crispy..............................530.........25.......52
.....Roast................................................400.........16.......40
Banana (weight with skin):
1 small (6", 4 per lb), 4 oz.......................90..........0.........23
1 medium (7",3 per lb), 5 oz..................105..........0.........27
1 large (8"), 7 oz...................................120..........0.........30
1 extra large (9"), 9 oz...........................135..........0.........35
without skin, 1 oz....................................25..........0..........6
What I've done with bananas, is kind of average all these counts, to make it easier. Now we measure the banana and figure 3.8 carbs (grams) per inch. Pears come out to about 3.5 carbs per oz. Apples to 3.2 per oz. And to measure the food in ounces or grams I can highly recommend the reasonably priced, easy-to-use, great little scale made by EatSmart: EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale, White
For different size portions, you extrapolate. The book states that a 7 oz pear is 25 carbs. If your pear is 11 oz, then its carb calculation:
11 oz divided by 7 oz = 1.57 (the 11 oz pear is 0.57 larger than (or 157% of) the 7 oz pear)
1.57 x 25 carbs for a 7 oz pear = 39 carbs for the 11 oz pear
The calculations, until you get to the point where you can eyeball sizes for an estimate, can be tiresome, but that's how it goes. To have this marvelous book to give basic carb counts is invaluable.
Very handy book. I bought one copy for each glove compartment, one for each grandparent house, one for the house, one for my purse, and one for travel.
