August 22, 2011

you don't have to count calories...

...but calories count.

A couple weeks ago I read that on Monica's blog, and I thought it was such a great way to think about healthy eating and calorie counting.

Although exercise is very important to a healthy lifestyle, what you put into your body can be even more so.  It can seem rather daunting to calculate the calories for everything you eat during the day, and no, I bet no one really wants to do that everyday for the rest of their lives.  But the truth of the matter is that weight loss (or gain) is highly dependent on the ratio of calories in vs. calories out.  So even if you don't want to be a calorie counter, it is necessary to be aware of the calorie counts in various foods.  And remember that every nibble/bite/quick handful counts.


Some of my favorite healthy foods, almonds and avocados, happen to be pretty high calorie (go figure) so it is important to eat them in moderation and really pay attention to portion sizes.  If you are interested in losing weight, I definitely suggest tracking your calories for at least a week.  You might truly be surprised at the amount of calories, high or low, in certain foods.  Get on restaurant websites, see what your favorite meals add up to.  Find out how many calories are in the things you eat everyday.

When I started my weight loss journey, I downloaded Calorie Counter Pro by MyNetDiary on my iphone.  It was one of my most important tools I used throughout this process.  Now I don't necessarily track everything I eat, because I'm pretty aware of what most of my meals add up to.  But if I plan on splurging on something here or there, it is awesome to put in that calorie count, and see how I need to adjust my eating for the rest of the day.  Something else that was really helpful, was putting in what I planned to eat the following day, before I went to bed.  I could see how everything added up, and if I was lacking any nutritional elements.

Through this process I've also learned that I really like to eat large volumes of food.  I'm not really satisfied with a small portion of a slightly higher calorie food, so I'm finding ways to get more, without sacrificing calories.  For example, I've taught myself to like egg whites.  At first I was eating two scrambled eggs for breakfast, then I switched to one egg + two egg whites, and now I'm eating three egg whites.  I add a little milk and garlic salt to keep them from being too bland, but the calories I save are huge, not to mention the cholesterol (however the cholesterol is not something that is a major concern to me).  If I decide to give in to my craving for Panda Express (like I did last night) I get mixed veggies instead of rice. In order to still eat the pasta dishes I love, I've swapped out half the pasta for more veggies.  And to tell you the truth I like it that way a lot more! 

I challenge you all to track your calories for one day.  Did you find any surprises?

8 comments:

Ashley said...

It's crazy the amount of calories some things are. Once by bosses bought this cheesecake from cheesecake factory and I had a slice two days in a row. Then I calculated it and it was like nearly a whole day of calories!!

And the other day I read off to my husband what I ate that day and he was like that's a lot of food.. But when your eating mostly clean you can eat SO much more than when you eat fast food. It's amazing haha

Meredith said...

I've been tracking via MyFitnessPal lately. I'm usually really good about tracking breakfast and lunch, but I'm not so good about tracking dinner because I usually have to input a recipe, and it just takes more time. That said, it's still helpful for me, because I have a range that I know I should be hitting for dinner, which also helps me make better choices (i.e. like Justin and I split a burrito last night after our two softball games, and boy am I glad that we did, because the total calorie count was about 1,000 calories!).

Jennifer said...

I'm going to start doing this again. I've hit a plateau and need to work my way out of it! :) Thanks for the tip!

Faith said...

thanks for the tips! i don't count calories but i can do some of the things you mentioned to help me out in this area. i hope to get better at keeping track of the amount of calories i consume per day.

Kelly said...

I am really bad about keeping track of my calories but I'm sure it would make a huge difference if I was more mindful of my totals each day.

Kelly said...

Can you explain the difference between My Net Diary Pro and the Calorie Counter Pro? I have the free version of the first one but am considering upgrading if you think it makes a big difference

Kelly said...

Ok- sorry for all the comments. Just found out they're the same thing ;)

steve arnold said...

I'm going to start doing this again. I've hit a plateau and need to work my way out of it! :) Thanks for the tip!

Calorie Counter App