To count or not to count...

              Calorie counting is a pretty hot topic in the fitness world. The main issue seems to center around how important calories are in one’s effort to achieve their wellness goals, and if calorie counting should be a part of a person’s daily routine.

Here is my take given my own experience.

1. Not all calories are created equal. For example, consider consuming 100 calories from a cookie, or 100 calories from a banana. Which calories will provide you with vital nutrients and sustain you, and which will be stored as fat, and leave you hungry? This is something to always keep in mind.  Are you getting the greatest nutritional value for the amount of calories you’re consuming?

2. Yes, calories are important. There is a pretty fundamental truth that changes in one’s physique are influenced by the relationship between how many calories they expend vs. how many calories they consume. Luckily today, nutritional information is usually readily available on labels or online. While grocery shopping, or before going out to dinner (at a restaurant that posts their nutritional info) keep an eye on the nutrition facts, and use it to avoid accidently consuming a half of your daily calories in a single meal!

3.Count with caution. Sites like "My Fitness Pal" are great tools in certain respects. Initially, if you are just beginning to pay attention to your diet, it can be a good tool to figure out where you need to be calorically to meet your fitness goals. Calorie counting sites often take into account your height, weight, and activity level ,giving you an estimate of how much you should be consuming to reach your goal, whether it be to gain, maintain, or lose weight.  They serve as a great learning tool, to see how your normal meals add up and to see what healthier changes can be made.  I believe when one is truly trying to make a change, sites like this can be an awesome resource.

                However, once you have seen positive change , and have learned what a normal day for you should consist of to reach your goal, it’s important to let the site go. As I said before, they are a great guide.  Yet, when it comes down to it, everyone’s body is different. We all react to foods differently and have our own unique metabolisms. Hence, what these sites say should not be regarded as infallible. I have learned sites like these have the potential to make one a little overly obsessed with diet/calories etc. If this is you, trust me you are not alone. It’s important to reconnect with our own body’s signals, to learn how to recognize which choices will allow us to have a “normal day” on our own without needing to record every morsel we consume.  Our body’s reactions will let us know how we’re doing, much more than a number calculated by a computer. The training wheels served their purpose. But for our own sanity, they need to come off. I encountered issues like this in the past, and when I let the constant counting go, I felt completely liberated. Better yet, I was able to calmly stay exactly where I wanted to be.

Be Well. 

Love, Julie