Welcome to /r/CICO!

What exactly does CICO stand for?

• CICO stands for "calories in, calories out."

What does "calories in, calories out" mean?

• Calories in, calories out is the basic argument that no matter what you eat, you can lose weight by burning more calories than you consume.

How do I find out how many calories I burn in a day?

• Lucky for you, your body automatically burns a substantial amount of calories a day by keeping you awake, so that means you don't need to do any exercise to burn calories. This number of calories burnt is referred to as your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE. You can find out your TDEE here.

How do I track how many calories I consume in a day?

• With the help of a hefty little food scale, you can find out exactly how many calories you consume in one day. Simply find out the calories for whatever you are eating and measure out your portions accordingly. Most food items have nutrition labels, but for those that don't, you can use Google.

Can you give me an example of how to count calories?

• For example, if you choose to eat an apple, the first thing you should do is go to Google and search for "calories in an apple." Google will tell you that a 182 gram apple has 95 calories, so you should measure the weight of your apple, divide 95 by 182, and multiply it by the weight of your apple. If your apple weighs 100 grams, then 95 ÷ 182 x 100 = 52 calories.

So I can lose weight by eating below my TDEE and not exercising?

• Exactly! I, for one, lost 80 lbs by counting my calories and I've never been big into exercising. I recommend eating at least 500 calories below your TDEE for quicker results. Good luck!