Back when I was fat, if anyone told me that the way to lose weight was to count calories I would automatically turn up my nose. Even to this day, when I successfully lost all the weight, I do not understand my reaction. Perhaps it was because it sounded complicated and required effort. Or it was too simple – “What do you mean its all I have to do is eat less calories? I’m overweight and its hard and the solution must hard to understand too!”.
Deep down inside, I think it is a combination of both.
On one hand, counting calories is simple in concept. Each food has an amount of calories and to lose weight you consume less calories than you burn during the day. Many people get all excited about the latest diet fad. But if you really think about it, when these diets do work it is because the person is eating less calories than they use. Regardless of whether it is eating only cabbage or things that you can suck through a straw, the way that any successful diet works is by it being low in calories.
So, the question comes to mind is – why bother with all these weird diets when you can just cut straight to the chase and consume less calories?
On the other hand of course, calorie counting reeks of effort. You have to look up the calorie content of each food in a book or the back of a packet. You have to record what you eat during the day and make sure you don’t go over a certain calorie limit. Why bother? Lets just go and do one of these new fancy diets that promise the earth.
As you can see, it is a bit of circular argument, isn’t?
Look, let me be blunt. If you want to lose weight, you have to count calories. Period. No ifs or buts. If you can’t be bothered then you can’t be bothered losing weight. Go do something else with your time and come back to it when you are serious about your health. And I mean, serious.
Now, if you are still reading this I assume that you are serious about your weight loss goals. Let me share with you some ways to count calories the easy way.
Firstly, get yourself a calorie counting book. These pocket sized gems can be bought at any bookstore or on Amazon. Make sure the one you buy one that lists the foods that you like to eat. For example, if you are a sucker for fast food then make sure it has the foods from your favourite take out (yes, you can eat fast food when you are on a calorie controlled diet because it is about controlling your calorie count not restricting certain foods). The one I like is: The Calorie King Calorie Counter (website: Calorie King).
You are also going to have to record what you eat during the day. How do you do that? Step 1: Get an iPhone (you have one already don’t you?) Step 2: Purchase a calorie counting app from the App Store. I like: Tap and Track. Step 3: Use it. Probably the best thing about using an app on the iPhone is that it is with you all day and is quick and easy to put the data in. (Note: Tap and Track actually has a built database of USA foods so if you live in America there is no need to buy a calorie counting book.)
Ok, ok, ok, you don’t have any iPhone then? Well, you’re going to have to do the old pen and paper trick. Use a small piece of paper that you can put in your wallet and record what you eat on that. Try to avoid waiting until then end of the day because you will often forget what you ate (especially the little snacks in between meals) and won’t always know how close you are to your calorie limit.
The final step, before you implement all of this, is to determine what your daily calorie limit should be. The Tap and Track can do this for you but if you don’t have an iPhone (you’re going to get one now, aren’t you?) you’ll have to use some of the calories counters that are available on the internet. Unfortunately, many can vary widely in what they think your calorie count should be. The one I like is: Weight Gain and Weight Loss Calculator.
One of the best advantages of a calorie controlled diet is that you can eat what you want – with in reason and inside the calorie limit. I even met a guy at the gym who lost weight only eating his favourite food – Kentucky Fried Chicken. Everyday, he simply chose the foods on the menu that kept him under his calorie limit. Now, this isn’t a recommended option because of the higher risk of diseases from such a diet but it proves a good point – you can still enjoy the food that you love with a calorie controlled diet.
Now, lets get on with it and train.
