Should You Be Tracking Calories?

If you’ve been hanging out with me for a while and reading my blog posts or emails, you likely know that I believe in a non-diet-mentality approach to eating and, yes, losing weight.

I’m not a fan of fad diets that require you to cut out (or extremely limit) certain macronutrients, restrict long lists of food items, or continually “start fresh again on Monday” because it’s impossible to adhere to over the weekend.

I know for sure that when it comes to the right “diet” for you, it has to be something you can both healthily and enjoyably sustain long-term.

That brings us to the question of calories: Should you be tracking them to lose weight? Do calories even matter?

Here’s what you need to know:

To lose weight/fat, you WILL need to create a calorie deficit in some way or another – whether through diet, exercise/movement, or ideally, a combination of both.

I know some of us hear the words “calorie deficit,” and we immediately think of starvation diets and being hungry all the time.

The reality is that you DON’T have to count every calorie that goes into your mouth, but that doesn’t mean that calories are irrelevant and don’t matter.

If you want to lose weight (maintaining is different), your body needs to be in a small, but reasonable, calorie deficit.

Now even with that said, I still DON’T suggest my clients focus on calorie counting.

Why?

Because there are plenty of ways to create that deficit without even consciously thinking about it, and certainly without going hungry and getting all obsessive over food.

In other words, I believe it’s better (and much more enjoyable) to create that calorie deficit without having to turn your plate into a complicated math formula or having to pull out your calorie tracking app every time you take a bite.

For example, not snacking between meals, intermittent fasting/timed eating, and increasing low energy density/high volume foods (i.e. veggies and fruit) are just 3 of the strategies some of my clients use to reduce total calories on autopilot without consciously thinking about it.

Also, we know that not all calories are created equal. And calories consumed don’t always equate to calories absorbed by your body.

For example, the more highly processed a food, the more of those calories your body will absorb versus a less processed one that requires more energy to digest and assimilate. Also, the fibre component found in many unprocessed, whole foods isn’t digested or absorbed by the body.

With that said, sometimes tracking calories for a short period can help you better understand your baseline numbers and ensure you’re not consuming more food than your body requires.

It’s easy to underestimate how much “energy” you’re taking in while overestimating what you’re expending (i.e. through daily activity).

And let’s not ignore the fact that you can have a healthy diet but still be somebody who overeats (very common indeed!).

In these cases, a little work upfront may allow you to experience more food freedom over the long run.

And isn’t this what we all want? — The freedom to enjoy our meals, including our favorite foods, in a way that still allows us to effortlessly maintain a healthy body weight while having a pleasurable relationship with food?

You shouldn’t have to miss out on holidays, social events, and gatherings with family and friends to “stick to your diet.”

If you need to wait for a “down period” or avoid all social interactions (and sit on the sidelines of life) to lose weight, your results will never be sustainable, let alone permanent.

This is why a part of the work I do with my clients is helping them create a personalized protocol that allows them to reach their goals while still living their lives at the same time.

And we do it in a way that they don’t have to count every calorie that goes into their mouth. So much more fun!

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Learn more about my private 1:1 program here.

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