I hopped on the scale this morning because I’ve been experimenting with calories for this week’s weigh in topic and I was curious to see the effect — Click here if you missed yesterday’s 10 Thoughts on Calories post.
Not surprisingly, it’s down a little and honestly, I feel fantastic. I’ve been focussing on whole, unprocessed, lower calorie dense foods while still keeping an eye on protein because of all the weight training I do. Here’s Monday’s food journal as a sample:
BreakfastCaloriesFatFiberSugarCarbsProteinHormel Real Bacon Bits – Real Bacon Bits – Ready to Serve 7 g, 7 gGeneric – Organic Baby Spinach, 1 cup 42.5 gramsJack Link’s – Premium Cuts Teriyaki Beef Jerky Jumbo, 56 gGeneric – Portabello Mushroom Cap, 1.5 medGeneric – Pork Sirloin Roast Boiled, 4 ouncesNature’s Own Sandwich Roll Whole Wheat – Hamburger Buns, 1 bunBirdseye – Frozen Broccoli Florets – With Potassium Data, 1 cupSquash – Winter, spaghetti, cooked, boiled, drained, or baked, without salt, 150 gLucerne – Greek Non Fat Vanilla Yogurt, 227 gGeneric – Cocoa Nibs, 0.5 oz 28gClick here to see it on MyFitnessPal.
There’s no doubt in my mind calorie counting works for weight loss. The key is to do it consistently without getting obsessive or (on the other end of the spectrum) feeling defeated by it. Do I believe you can lose weight without calorie counting? SURE! People do it all the time. They are just able to eat fewer calories without the aid of a food journal.
Calorie counting can give you a lot of information, like portion sizes and what makes smarter choices to keep you full without going overboard. On the other hand, calorie counting is work, it’s time consuming and many get obsessive with it.
At the end of the day it’s just another tool — like the scale — and a useful way to give us information.
For this week’s weigh in please share your experience with calorie counting. Have you tried it? Found it useful? Harmful?
Remember there’s no “right” way, there’s only the way that works for you.
Click here to join one of my live meetings today on Yardstick were we’ll discuss this topic live.
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