WHY CALORIE COUNTING IS THE BEST WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT
Why Calorie Counting Is The Best Way To Lose Weight
Journaling can be for many things. I have journals starting from the age of 8. Throughout the years I developed a habit of writing about big events in my life. Being able to look back on the past as an observer really made the memory of the occurrence a therapeutic experience. Being able to look at an event through a more mature lens allows us to see it in a new perspective. Similar is the case of recording food consumption. Although it might seem daunting to actually record ALL of your food that you consume on a daily basis, it is helpful information to analyze. If you can take a look at what you eat on a regular basis, then through time you will start to see patterns that you can tweak! Once the food is written down in front of you and you learn how to stop judging yourself (cry face emoji) when observing the data, you will start to feel more in control of what and how you eat.
COUNTING CALORIES HELPS YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU REALLY ENJOY EATING AND HOW YOU CAN BEST UTILIZE YOUR ALLOTTED CALORIES TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS.
By analyzing this data of information you will probably start to understand why you haven’t been losing weight even though you exercise regularly. By recording the foods you consume, you create a contract with yourself where you decide to be accountable for everything that you eat. This trust game that you embark upon with yourself and your eating habits are probably the hardest part about a diet. For example, its easy to round up or down based on whether you need the total calories of the day to be more or less…
NOT ALL CALORIES ARE CREATED EQUAL
You may have heard this phrase before and it is as simple as this: 100 calories of fruit will effect you differently than 100 calories of a mini muffin. Also, 100 calories of dairy will affect your friend differently than it will effect you. Also, many people don’t know HOW MANY calories they should be consuming. This is where technology comes in. I have my clients wear a fitbit (or calorie counter) to know how much they are consuming each day and then we have them consume 500 calories less (as exact as possible) than what they consumed that day. Since there are 3500 calories in one pound of fat and 7 days in a week, if you consume 500 calories less than you burn each day of the week then you will possibly lose one pound per week - which is healthy weight loss. Yet, remember that not all calories are created equal. I’ve seen clients try to eat only refined carbs: chocolate, white flour based foods and little protein and then wonder why they aren’t losing weight since they are keeping to the numbers. Yet if you keep to protein, complex carbohydrates: quinoa, brown rice, fruit and vegetables and omit white flour foods and dairy, then you will most likely lose weight and you will ALSO find that most of these foods are pretty low in calories. Yet, many of my clients consume TOO FEW calories.
THERE IS NO ONE DIET FITS ALL
I originally got into nutrition through the fitness industry. I was working at a big gym in San Francisco and met other trainers, instructors who participated in fitness and figure competitions - similar to body building, but without the testosterone ;)
I found that people would train and taper their carbohydrates for competitions so that they were always chasing that “competition body” that looks super muscley and tanned. People who train for these competitions typically spend many weeks slowly tapering their carbohydrate consumption so that they are not eating any carbs during the week of the contest. People also greatly reduce their water intake to get that chiseled look. They look pretty stunning the day of the competition, but then all go out for pizza that night and gain back a lot of water weight in just 5-7 days. I saw a trainer go from super toned to not so toned in just a month or two.
Working at big gym, you end up talking to a lot of different people and on a couple of these occasions I met some ladies (separately) who had gained a lot of weight fast and didn’t know why. One of them was intolerant to FLAX SEEDS! and the other one couldn’t consume dairy or gluten. Two people I know can’t eat chicken.
SO NO ONE DIET FITS ALL
After studying holistic nutrition I still know that counting calories is the best way to lose weight due to its irrefutable accountability. Once you can SEE what is going on, you will have a higher chance of being able to change it!