Does Counting Calories Really Help You Lose Weight?

Is counting calories helpful when you're trying to lose weight? This is a common question I get asked ...do you REALLY have to count calories when dieting? It's something very few people enjoy doing but it can help everybody maximize their fat loss results.

Here's why?

Counting calories is one of those things that you either find useful or a total pain. It's rare you find somebody who sits on the fence on whether counting calories is helpful.

If you've been reading pages on this site, you'll have learned that in order to lose fat, you have to create a caloric deficit, preferably daily, taking in fewer calories than you burn. No surprises there.

But here's the thing...in order to consistently achieve that caloric deficit and lose fat, you will need to have an AWARENESS of your calorie intake. Then take RESPONSIBILITY to reduce it by a few 100 cals a day.

I remember a management technique ... something around

Awareness + Responsibility = Performance (as in RESULTS)

but Awareness without Responsibility is JUST WHINGING!!

(Ha, ha! So you have to ACT on that awareness or you'll just carry on eating as normal and either maintain or put on.)

That's got to be a sure YES, right?

Yet, in order to be aware of how many calories you're taking in, do you need to specifically COUNT them (by weighing food and referencing food charts), is THAT will be what you have to do to get results.

Hmm, I'm less sure. I believe it's more important to jot down on a pad you keep handy (in the kitchen or in your bag/wallet) what you are having ... then perhaps before your evening meal or after if you've already planned a medium, healthy meal ... you can 'add' up the calories - roughly - and see how far off or past the mark you are. For example, if you are trying to eat around 500 less calories, for a women, you'd perhaps be aiming for 1200 -1500 calories a day. So if around supper time, you find you've had 1400, you know that's it until tomorrow. If you're totalling 1000, you could have a little something more ... mmm.

That really works well for me. And helps me plan over time, each day I got better and better at the counting calories 'game'.

However, if you find that regime doesn't work so well, because you can't estimate calories very well, then you may well have to use a calorie chart or book. And if that's what gets you results - surely you're going to be ok with that!

The key here, again, is awareness.

You see, the big problem with not actually counting calories arises when a person THINKS they're aware of their calorie intake but they really are NOT - or they are kidding themselves!

It's a fact that most people drastically underestimate their calorie intake when they are asked to report how much they eat in a day.

One way to get awareness without actually counting calories, is to keep a food diary. If you have to write down every little thing that goes in your mouth, in some cases the TRUE calorie intake can be almost DOUBLE.

So even if you not one to be counting calories, it may be time for a quick compromise. Just calorie count for a few days to get a reality check and see if you're awareness is reasonably accurate.

If you're not losing fat right now and you feel like you're not really eating much, here's something you can try in order to find out your "calorie awareness":

First, write down how many calories you THINK you're eating every day. Jot down your meals, snacks, drinks over the last day or two (what you can remember) - then estimate the calories in each meal or item.

Now for the next 7 days (or less if you take in a weekend), write down everything you eat. And I do mean EVERYTHING. Every little morsel and every little snack. EVERYTHING. Just write down foods and portion sizes - don't try and look up how many calories each thing has and don't suddenly alter your routine because you want to make yourself look good - just keep doing what you've been doing.

At the end of the week, go to a food chart and look up every item you ate. Add it up and divide by the number of days you did it for (e.g. divide by 7 if you followed this the whole week). This will give you your average daily calorie intake.

If you're within a few 100 calories of your original guess, congratulations! You've got good "calorie awareness!"

But if you're off by a significant margin, this will give you some VERY useful feedback on what you need to do to get your weight loss going again.

So let's look at the other side of the coin _NOT counting calories

And I'll be blunt here...calorie counting, no matter how careful you are, is simply NOT particularly accurate.

Think of it this way ... no two items of food are alike. When you buy a piece of steak at the supermarket or butchers, they don't charge you per steak, they charge by the lb or kilo. And even when they charge by weight, two steaks of the same cut can have very very different composition - one could be lean (filet) and one could be fatty (sirloin)!

But if you look at a calorie chart, you'll see "3 oz sirloin steak - 100 calories"...or something to that effect.

So even if you weigh and chart every single bit of food you consume, you're STILL going to be off by a fair margin. That's just unavoidable.

And while how MUCH you eat has an impact on fat loss, WHEN you eat it and what foods you eat together makes a BIG impact on your results. "Calories are calories" is only partially true.

For example, if you eat a big meal after a workout, most of that will get used for recovery purposes. But if you eat that same big meal late at night, nowhere near a workout, a good portion of that will just be stored as fat.

Another example - bet you didn't know this!!! - is eating sugar-based carbohydrates with fatty foods - the insulin response you get from sugary foods will jam that fat right into your fat cells with very little trouble!

So now that you have absolutely no idea WHAT the heck to do now, here's one colleague, Nick Nilsson's step-by-step solution ...

1. If you like counting calories and it gets you results...keep it up!

2. If you like counting calories but you're NOT getting results, either eat less or make sure you're writing down EVERYTHING you're eating AND are being as accurate as possible with your charting.

3. If you DON'T like counting calories and you ARE getting results...keep it up! Calorie counting is NOT necessary if you're aware of how many you're taking in AND you're getting results.

4. If you DON'T like counting calories and you're NOT getting results, it's time to take one week to count your calories and improve your caloric awareness. It's only a week and it'll give you a MUCH better idea of what you're actually taking in. This will pay off BIG in the long run because once you get a feel for your TRUE intake, you can very easily keep yourself honest and ADJUST on the fly.

To my mind, the bottom line is RESULTS. If you're NOT losing fat, then you're not getting the results you want...simple as that. Your approach should be focused on doing what you need to do to get those results.

Want an easy option for counting calories?

OK, so here's a great tip ....

If you want to find an easy way to counting calories - then you need to include a nutrition boosting shake drink.

1. Take two shakes a day (250 calories each!!! but packed full of nutrition and protein in a balanced way to optimise your metabolism)

2. plus one medium, healthy meal (around 500 calories)

3. add in a snack (125 calories) and 2 pieces of fruit (75 calories)

4. drink the thermo-fat-burning herbal beverage5. exercise if you can ...

and hey presto ....

YOU HAVE A DAILY CALORIE PLAN OF JUST 1200
(with room for flexibility and choice!!!)

ORDER a sample pack today!

My TWO most recommended FAT LOSS BOOKS

Click the cover image for more info ...

Some online CHARTS to guide COUNTING CALORIES

http://www.calorieking.com

http://www.caloriecountercharts.com

http://www.3fatchicks.com/food-calorie-counts/

------------------

This article on counting calories was based on one provided by my venture partner Nick Nilsson, Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. Nick has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 17 years.

Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass", "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at Fitness eBooks

Subscribe today for your FREE book 'Skyrocket Your Fat Loss Success'