Do I need to count calories?
This is a touchy subject for most people who are trying to lose weight or build muscle, there are always plenty of reasons why not to track what they are eating. Whether this be a time restraint, can’t be bothered, worried about what the stats may actually show. I mean no one likes to be told that what they think is right is actually completely wrong.
Ultimately, in order to guarantee the results you want (weight loss/muscle gain) you need to know how many calories you are consuming through both food and liquid. Once I had put the cakes from bettys down and started to really push it in the gym, I decided to track calories and really give it a good go. At first the results were great, then as I got busier as a personal trainer and working longer hours I decided to turn to coffee to fuel me. The problem was my sweet tooth came back and I was having 2-3 caramel latte with extra sauce and whipped cream each day. I didn’t see anything wrong as I got my coffee and my sweet fix, what I didn’t realise for nearly a month was that I was drinking 350-450 liquid calories with each drink. This was putting me way over my daily calorie goal and therefore storing the excess energy as body fat.
This is a great example of me ‘CHOOSING’ not to look at calories or estimating what they actually were (this is before calories were on menus), another example which many of my clients struggle with is eating mixed nuts as a source of protein. READ THIS CAREFULLY - There are many more lower calorie options with a much higher protein value than mixed nuts, therefore nuts are a poor source of protein, HOWEVER this isn’t to say that eating a handful of nuts is bad for you. They are full of great fats and other nutrients, it is just important that you know how much you are eating as a handful can range from 100 calories to 500 calories depending how big your handful is.
There is nothing wrong with including any kind of food in your diet, but it needs to align with your goals and your calorie target. Like anything it is very important that when tracking calories you don’t become addicted/reliant/obsessed with it, if this happens you will start removing all kinds of foods that you enjoy and the what enjoyment do you have?
From my personal experience, when you feel like you are ‘veering off track’ a little just track your calories again (using a weekly average value rather than daily) to give you the feeling of control back, include certain foods you enjoy where they fit. By doing this though you will need to ‘sacrifice’ the odd thing here or there, whether that be the midweek glass of wine/beer or the chocolate bar and bag of crisps at lunch. BUT if this allows you to stay within your calories, make steps towards your goals and still allows you to have that wine/beer on the weekend, or that cake and a coffee with the family on a sunday morning walk then I think we are onto a winner.
If you are unsure as to how many calories you should be eating, then why not drop me a message and I can help you understand calories and how they work!