Eating well in real life, explained plainly.
Straight answers on calories, macros, photo logging, cheat days and eating out, plus where to eat well around Sacramento. Every number is dated and sourced.
How many calories should I eat a day?
Most adults need 1,600 to 3,000 calories a day. Here is the Mifflin-St Jeor formula, the activity multipliers, and two worked examples you can copy today.
How to set your macros for fat loss without cutting carbs
Set protein at 0.7 to 1 gram per pound, fat at 20 to 35 percent of calories, and let carbs fill the rest. A worked example, a table, and the research.
How accurate is AI photo calorie counting?
AI photo calorie estimates typically land 50 to 150 calories off a normal plate. Here are the 2024 and 2025 studies, where photos fail, and the one fix.
Best calorie counting apps in 2026, compared honestly
The best calorie counting app is the one you still open in week six. How the main apps differ on logging speed, database, price and life after a big meal.
Photo, barcode, or typing: the fastest way to log a meal
Photo logging takes about four seconds, a barcode about six, and typing thirty to ninety. When each one wins on speed and accuracy, and which to use when.
How to eat out and still hit your calories
Restaurant meals average well over a thousand calories, and 92 percent exceed what one meal should be. How to order, what to log, how to bank calories.
What a cheat day actually does to your week (and how the plan recovers)
A cheat day is usually a 1,000 to 2,500 calorie overage, one to three days of a normal deficit. The scale jump is mostly water. Here is the math and the fix.
Does tracking food actually work? What the research says
Yes. A 2011 systematic review and a 2019 trial both found that the people who log the most lose the most. Why most people quit, and how to make it stick.
Healthy restaurants in Sacramento: a calorie-aware guide
Ten Sacramento restaurants where a protein-first, calorie-aware order is already on the menu, by neighborhood, with addresses. Checked September 2026.
Healthy eating near Sac State: a student's guide
Eight off-campus restaurants and three on-campus options within a mile of Sac State, with addresses, what to order and distances. Checked September 2026.