If you’re trying to lose weight you may be tempted to start keeping track of your calories to control just how much you’re eating. The problem is that calorie counting has various problems that may make it extremely difficult to work with. I, for one, don’t recommend these kind of weight loss plans.
In this article I want to go over some of these problems and show you why counting calories may be the wrong strategy to take when trying to lose weight.
Problem #1 – Who Are We Kidding?
The first problem is pretty straightforward: most people don’t really know how many calories they eat each day. In fact, when asked, most people get it drastically wrong. Most people who try to keep track of how many calories they eat tend to give a gross under-estimation of the amount they actually consume. We are just not aware of how much we eat. This means that even if you feel like counting calories is good, you will probably get it wrong. Most people do.
Problem #2 – Counting Calories is Hard Work
Before you commit yourself to a calorie couting diet plan take a moment to consider how much work will be involved. You will need to know or research the amount of calories in every single food that you eat. You will also have to weigh each of the meals you prepare to know how many calories it contains.
This may be done with the meals that you prepare, I guess, but eating out will become nearly impossible. You will have to learn, in advance, how many calories there are in every meal that you order, in every snack, in every beverage. This is the kind of meticulous work that will likely eliminate any motivation you have for weight loss.
Problem #3 – Calorie Counting Calculators and Software Don’t Work
You may be thinking that you don’t have to count calories yourself. After all, there are many calorie calculators online that you can use. The problem is that you have no way of knowing how accurate these calculators are. While it’s easy to answer a question such as how many calories there are in an egg or another single food item, it can be quite complicated to know how many calories there are in a salad or another dish. You will need to enter each of the items separately. Even then, the result may be off.
Problem #4 – Disregarding quality
When you focus on the quantity of calories, important as this may be, you’re disregarding the quality of what you eat. The type of calories that you consume doesn’t just influence your health, it also changes the hormonal balance in your body and this can make it harder for you to lose weight. Your body needs calories from a variety of healthy sources: good fat, carbs, and protein, vitamins and minerals. Just counting calories is not enough to give your body what it needs.
Problem #5 – Socially hard
I’ve already touched on this point but it’s important so I’ll mention it again: counting calories makes it very difficult to eat out or even at someone else’s house. This is a problematic weight loss method for anyone who has a social life that includes eating with other people.
What Should You Do?
You shouldn’t disregard calories altogether. You should have some control over how much you eat. What you shouldn’t do is try to pinpoint exactly how much you’re eating. It’s very hard and counterproductive. The key to losing weight is to focus on good and healthy foods and to workout regularly.
To learn how to eat for better health and a fast fat loss I recommend the following two resources: The Diet Solution Program and the Fat Burning Kitchen program. Both can show you how to enjoy food without counting calories and lose weight quickly.
