You’re here because you’re a bit skeptical about calorie counting for weight loss, right? You’ve read the pros and cons and cannot decide if you will do this thing.
But just imagine you could finally take a few small and easy steps to lose extra pounds without hitting the gym or starving yourself with those “fad” diets everybody’s talking about!
You may have tried everything to lose weight; you’ve been dieting to death or exercising but the results were not what you were expecting.
Actually, you may be in one of these stages:
- ❌ You feel unmotivated to start another diet with fear of getting little to no results
- ❌ You think that weight loss is not for you
- ❌ You are desperate to lose weight
- ❌. You’re looking for that holy grail to shed those extra pounds
Let me tell you that even though you’ve gone through diet after diet with seemingly no results, there’s indubitably a way out.
It’s actually something many people overlook and you will even read on the internet all kinds of BS around it, that it does not work anymore.
But hey it has worked for me and that’s why I will tell you that if you know what you’re doing, you will definitely see results and progress in your weight loss.
Shall we dive in? Let’s start!
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The Calorie Counting Concept
The calorie counting concept is straight-forward and in fact, it is so simple in itself that many people fail to notice its benefits.
I’m sure you’ve heard this once: ” The more calories you burn, the more you lose weight”. And this is 100% a true fact.
That means that for you to lose weight, you automatically have to ingest fewer calories than you burn per day.
There’s also another route: you can burn more calories exercising than you gain by eating.
But since we are talking about diet, we will stick to the first route, i.e, eating fewer calories than we burn.
Does Counting Calorie Still Work?
Let me say this as loud as possible: AS LONG AS YOUR CALORIC INTAKE IS LESS THAN WHAT YOUR BODY BURNS, YOU WILL DEFINITELY LOSE WEIGHT.
So, that’s really all there is to it and I can tell you it works perfectly for weight loss otherwise I wouldn’t be here spending my time writing about it.
After you know how to adopt calorie counting for weight loss, losing weight will turn into a simple numbers game. You’ll thank me later!
Why Calorie Counting Is Important.
Let me say this first: calorie counting is not a must.
You can read this article till the end and still not choose to do it if you don’t feel to.
I’m just here to give my readers the best weight loss tips that have worked for me and the few people I have helped to lose weight.
So, for me when I first started my weight loss program (where I lost 41 pounds), I found it super important and helpful to count my calories.
But as soon as I knew exactly how to eat, what to eat, and when to eat, I stopped counting my calories. It almost became second nature.
It all comes down to knowing your body after a few months of following a weight loss program.
Especially, if you’re eating healthy foods at the right time.
Without any further ado, let’s get to the meat of the subject!
Step 1: Clear The Air Out
There’s a lot of myths, misconceptions, you name it, around the word “Calorie”.
That’s why before you even start counting calories, you need to know what exactly you’re coping with.
A common misconception is that calories are these microscopic creatures inside of our body responsible for weight gain.
This is so far from the truth!
As a matter of fact, calories are the energy that our body needs to perform its daily functions. Without calories, I bet our body will struggle because calories are the fuel it needs to carry on with its activities.
So, you see calories are not some tiny monsters you might have thought they were until now! You’re welcome!
In fact, calories is pretty much a term used to measure the level of energy of the body. And no, I won’t extend on the medical aspect of this word!
But I just wanted you to only clear out your mind of this tiny misbelief.
Step 2: Know Your Calories
First thing is in order to get results from your weight loss plan, you must know how many calories your body needs every single day.
Second thing is you absolutely need to know how many calories your body normally burns to do its usual activities.
Let me put this into perspective: let’s say you need to burn 1300 calories and you have lowered your calorie intake but this latter is still over your expendable calorie level. Do you think you will lose weight?
That’s where many people fail when they diet without counting their calories and then they think they are not made to be thin!
And that’s why counting calories can be helpful for a guaranteed weight loss.
Now, let’s say you know exactly how many calories you should take to not exceed the amount of calories you need to burn, this will definitely bring you concrete results in your weight loss.
You can use the tool below to calculate how many calories your body burns on a daily basis. It’s actually a formula known as the Harris-Benedict formula that determines the amount of calories you burn based on your sex, weight, and how active you are in your life.
Step 3: Time To Cut Down On Calories
Ok. Now you’ve got an idea of how many calories you need every day, it’s time to cut down a few because your goal is to lose weight.
By reducing your caloric intake, weight loss happens. So, you need now to choose how many calories you will ditch.
Obviously, the more calories you cut, the more pounds you will lose. Pretty logical right!
But please do not starve yourself just to lose a few pounds. It all comes down to this: eat healthily, lose weight, and keep off that weight loss.
I will not tell you to cut this and that from your diet but a healthy diet will always recommend you to cut down only 250-500 calories each day.
For instance, if after making your calculations, you’re usual calorie intake is 2000 per day, that means that a healthy diet for you will be 1500-1750 calories per day.
One of the effective ways to this is to learn how to read labels. Every single food product you purchase from the grocery store will have a nutrition facts label at the back.
And this is where you can have an idea of what you are ingesting in terms of carbs, sugar, protein, fiber, etc…
Now, let me show you how to properly read a nutrition facts label when dieting.
The only two spots you should have your eyes on is the “per serving” and obviously the calories in each serving.
At the end of the day, your journal or calorie counting app should reflect the calories per serving of the different foods you’ve eaten during the day.
Step 4: Portion Control
One of the fundamental keys to succeeding in your weight loss program is to know how much you’re eating.
That’s where portion control comes into play.
While counting and paying attention to your caloric intake is super important, you should simultaneously keep an eye on how much you’re eating.
Let’s say you are eating a type of food that is measured by weight. You only have to put a portion on a scale and then convert this weight into measurement alternatives such as cups, slices etc…
There actually many easy apps you can use for this purpose such as myfitnesspal.
As long as you take the time to measure and control your portion every single day, you will see how this will have a positive effect on your weight loss.
Step 5: Track Your Caloric Intake
Last but not least.
I can’t stress enough about the importance of tracking your caloric intake when dieting.
If you want a smooth and consistent weight loss, week after week, doing this simple task every day will be so rewarding.
Keeping track of everything I was eating day after day has proved to be very effective in my weight loss.
As you may know not every week, one will lose the same amount of pounds. It fluctuates.
And by recording everything I was eating every single day, I was able to know which food was sabotaging my weight loss, at what time I should have eaten this or that food etc…
In other words, your weight loss journal will be the best tool you can have in your hands in order to analyze your progress and results.
That’s why I insist on the importance of calorie counting for weight loss.
Nowadays, we have lots of options for this purpose. For e.x, downloading an app or keeping a pen and paper at hand, using a board in the kitchen…
Having this record of calories will help you:
- Measure the progress of your weight loss
- Detect any culprit in your diet
- Decide what to cut and replace for better results
Recap
Let’s make a quick recap of this controversial subject of calorie counting for weight loss:
- Know what you’re coping with so you don’t have any misconception in the mind that may hinder your weight loss.
- Calculate the number of calories your body needs on a daily basis for its different functions
- Based on your calorie test, decide what food to ditch in order to cut down on calories
- Learn how to properly read labels so you know what you’re actually eating
- Control how much you eat by measuring your food portion
- Record your daily food intake to better analyze your progress and results.
Final Thoughts On Calorie Counting For Weight Loss
Maybe you’ve found it difficult or tedious but I assure you after a few days of counting your calories, it will become easy as pie.
Sparing a few minutes of your day to track down your calories will only have a positive impact on your weight loss and your life.
So, will you give calorie counting for weight loss a shot?
Let me know in the comments below.
