Do You Need To Count Calories For Weight Loss?

Should you take the time to count calories to get the weight loss you want? You can. Sometimes when heavy snow hits and you’re stuck in the house, it might seem like an activity that can use up that extra time. That’s not very often and really not a good use of time. While it’s true that if you consume 3500 calories fewer than you burn you’ll lose a pound, when you eat healthy there’s no need to count calories. It’s hard to eat that many calories with healthy whole foods.

What are whole foods?

Whole foods are foods that aren’t processed very much. For instance, a hot red pepper is a whole food, whereas a jalapeño popper is a highly processed food. They obviously don’t contain the same calories. Many of the processed foods have the nutrients processed out of them and contain chemicals that prolong their shelf life. They often lose their natural flavor and color in the processing, so sugar, salt and artificial colors are added to make it taste and look more appetizing. You may cook whole foods at home, but use methods that retain much of their natural goodness.

Planning meals on your own when you’re counting calories can be cumbersome.

Some people stick with simple salads, fresh fruit and veggies and a portion of lean meat just to make it simple when they count calories. Trying to identify the exact calorie count of every ingredient in a recipe is just too difficult. That leads to boredom and ultimately a straight line to the junk food section of the grocery. You can depend on the calories shown on the box of prepared foods, but then you don’t know if you’re getting adequate nutrition.

Why add more hassle to an already tough endeavor.

I like to keep things as simple as possible for people to follow. That way, they’re more likely to do it. While the workouts are tough, they aren’t really complicated and neither should your dietary plan be. That’s one reason I fell in love with the concept of an app that does the work for you. You simply follow the recommendations and you lose weight. Someone else did all the work so you don’t have to do it. It doesn’t mean you’ll have to use the app forever. It’s a teaching tool.

• When you use a program that you can download to your phone, you’ll always have it with you. There’s no guesswork as you learn to create healthy lower calorie meals along the way.
• It’s important to also track your progress, so using an app for your phone that does it, is a bonus.
• Learning to eat healthier means you never have to diet again. Consider programs that give you menus as training ground for healthy living the rest of your life.
• While counting calories will help you lose weight if you stick with it, it doesn’t provide you with a nutritional guide to ensure you’re eating healthy.