Can You Lose Weight Without Counting Calories?
Counting calories is not the most enjoyable of hobbies.
It’s nobody’s dream to decipher the miniature writing on a crumpled food packet or to work out 1/5th of 379 calories (it’s 75.8 BTW).
Not fun. Not rock and roll.
You may already be fed up trying to account for everything that passes your lips and not seeing the results, while everyone else appears to be eating what they want and dropping the lbs.
Or you may never have attempted to tot up the numbers at the end of the day through fear of actually finding out the bare truth about how much you really eat.
You should already be aware that weight loss happens when you burn more calories than you consume.
But can you drop the lbs without paying attention to the one thing that determines your weight? That is the question and that is what we shall look at today.
Yes & No
It’s absolutely possible that you can lose weight without counting a single calorie, but the chances are - especially if you’ve been struggling to lose weight for a while - ignoring calories clearly isn’t working for you.
If your diet has been terrible and dominated by take-aways, booze, and cakes, and you cut them all out, then you should see weight fall off like magic as your energy intake plummets due to these significant tweaks.
There are plenty of thin people out there who wouldn’t know a calorie from a cupcake, but these lucky folks have got there through habit driven behaviors. Basically, they are doing all the ‘right’ things either without really knowing or because they’ve found the right balance through a system that works for them.
Whether through calorie counting or pure chance, too many calories make you fat, and not enough leave you skinny. So surely if you can track and control your calorie intake you can be whatever size you want Turns out you can.
Can You Handle The Truth?
Getting to grips with your grub puts you back firmly in the driving seat. You may live in fear of knowing the truth because the thought of making changes can be scary.
I bet you’d probably prefer to have someone read your private emails than look at what you eat. But, accurately tracking your calories, and looking for changes in your weight, will help you discover whether or not you are actually in a calorie deficit to begin with.
Once you know this, you can make changes to your diet to ensure you’re in the state you want to be in with little to no guesswork.
You may find out you’re able to get away with eating more than you think if you know the maximum number of calories that will still result in weight loss, meaning you’ll be less likely to burn out from massively undereating.
You’ll also be able to plan for social occasions by cutting back a little in the few days before to allow for a little planned and accounted for over-indulgence (also known as having a cheat day).
Good Nutrition Is More Than Just Calories
As far as weight loss is concerned, your body doesn’t care whether your food is homemade, gluten-free, or organic – it only cares about the energy content. Food quality is important for health, but not directly in the weight loss equation.
But if you’re counting calories, you’ll become savvier about the things you eat and drink and not just lose weight, but:
- Raise your awareness of what your body needs.
- Help you understand what’s in what you eat and drink.
- Reduce your risk of illness and disease through better choices.
So while counting calories isn’t always necessary to lose weight, you definitely won’t lose weight if you are eating too many of them.
Nutrition tracking has never been easier, and with apps like myfitnesspal available to download for free, there really is no reason not to take a closer look at what you're feeding your body.
Just a couple of days under the microscope may be enough to kick start your weight loss and boost your health.
About the author: Ronny Terry is a personal trainer at Kiss Gyms Swindon. You can view his profile HERE