It’s a great question:
Should you count calories to lose weight?
Counting calories is where you literally count how many calories you eat every day…
Overall, counting calories is kind of a pain in the butt. I’m not going to lie to you. Now it’s not THAT bad. Once you get used to it, once it becomes a habit, then you don’t really have to think about it that much. It becomes pretty automatic. But it does take a little work to track what you eat every single day.
But…it’s also probably THE single most effective way to lose weight.
And here’s why. If you want to lose weight, you MUST eat less. I recently did a post explaining why nutrition is 90% of your physique.
But the take-home message is: you must EAT LESS to lose weight. Exercise helps, but you MUST EAT LESS.
The problem, for many people, is that it’s hard to really KNOW for sure…how much you’re actually eating.
There are a lot of secret, hidden calories that creep into our diets without us actually knowing. The cream you put in your coffee. The barbecue sauce on your chicken. The salad dressing and bacon bits in your salad. These little sneaky calories aren’t much on their own…but over the course of a day they can REALLY add up and sabotage your attempts to lose weight.
And that’s why MOST people underestimate how many calories they eat. An average person might THINK they ate 2000 calories in a day…when they really at 2500 calories. That’s not unrealistic. And that extra 500 calories a day can mean the difference between losing weight…and gaining weight.
So…should you count calories to lose weight?
Well, if you’re SERIOUS about losing weight… I mean if you’re dedicated… Counting calories is probably the most effective thing you can do.
One way to count calories is by using an app like MyFitnessPal. I use it, and it’s probably the best way out there to track not just your calories, but also how much protein, fat, and carbohydrates you eat every day.
BUT…if that sounds a little too intense for you…there are other ways that are easier that accomplish almost the same thing.
So…if you don’t want to have to actually track every single thing you eat, and count every single calorie, you could try a system like Weight Watchers. Which does work.
Weight Watchers, if you don’t know, is basically a simplified form of calorie counting. They assign a number of points to each food. So a hamburger might be 8 points. A piece of chicken might be 4 points. Etc. And over the course of a day, you have a total number of points you can eat. Say you get 28 points a day. Or something. I’m making up these numbers but that’s the general idea.
So with a system like that, you don’t have to track calories exactly…but you have to track points.
A Hidden Benefit of Calorie Counting
One of the best things about counting calories is that it teaches you a lot about food. You learn which foods are high in calories and which foods aren’t. You learn things like, “I could have ONE serving of pizza, OR I could have salmon and a baked potato with veggies,” and that second meal actually does a better job of satisfying your hunger.
And after a while…you start to internalize this information. It starts to become easier and more intuitive for you to make smart, healthy choices.
One of the things you learn, for example, is that if you eat the same few meals over and over…then it becomes a lot easier to know how many calories you’re eating. That’s part of the reason why people who successfully lose weight often eat the same few things over and over again. Because it allows them to KNOW how much they’re eating.
So even though you may count your calories for a while…you don’t necessarily have to ALWAYS count calories FOREVER. Because after a while you’re going to be able to eat intuitively and have a much better idea of how much you should actually eat.
Want to Learn More?
If you liked reading “Should you count calories to lose weight?” and if you’re interested in learning more about this topic, I recommend checking out my new book: 7-Minute Skinny Jeans. Check it out at 7minuteskinnyjeans.com.