Losing weight is a physical & mental challenge. You have to believe that you can lose the weight through whichever plan of attack with diet that you choose
And while there are different dieting strategies to lose weight, the reason you (or anyone else) loses weight is from the total number of calories you’re taking in.
For example...
With a Keto diet, you can lose weight because you’re taking in less calories by reducing your carb intake
If you lose weight from a vegan diet, it’s because you’re taking in less calories from meat or other animal products.
With that said, there are two main reasons counting your calories can be ridiculously beneficial to accomplish your goals:
It’s Not A Guessing Game. When you know how many calories you’re taking in, and can see if you’re losing weight or not, you know what adjustments to make. If you’re not losing weight, you’re taking in too many calories and know to have less calories each day. With other approaches to dieting, if you’re not seeing progress it’s challenging to know what to do next to see the results you want.
More Fun Foods & Flexibility. You can fit in ‘fun’ foods (wine, ice cream, pizza) into your diet while still accomplishing your weight loss goals. When you’re aware of your calories throughout the day, and you have specific calorie goals to aim for, it gives you more flexibility than other rigid diets where you have to cut out certain foods to have success.
Unfortunately, even with those benefits, not everyone is successful counting calories and sticking with it long enough to lose weight.
I have good news though! If you’ve struggled with counting calories: It’s not (necessarily) your fault.
The lack of success, with counting calories, can be credited to mistakes made that you simply don’t know because they aren’t talked about.
And that’s why you’re here. To learn what mistakes to avoid along your journey.
Let’s dive into the details - the top calorie counting mistakes made AND how to avoid them moving forward to more easily get in shape (and feel better doing it)!
Mistake 1: Your Calorie Goal Is Too Low
We, as humans, are impatient. We want things solved immediately. We want answers now. We want instant results. Unfortunately, when setting your calorie goals, you cannot have that approach.
One of the easiest ways to track calories is through different apps like MyFitnessPal or MyPlate. A cool, but mostly detrimental, feature that these apps provide is an estimator that determines how many calories you need each day to accomplish your weight loss (or weight gain) goals.
You likely want to lose lots of pounds really quick. So, when given the option to lose 2+lbs per week, you’re like “Oh Hell yeah! Let’s do that!” without thinking about the unsustainable, unenjoyable challenge ahead.
MyFitnessPal spits out something like 1,300 calories as your goal to hit each day, to lose 2+ lbs per week..
**Side note: 1,300 calories is notttt much food to work with. Most humans can lose weight & make progress with more calories.**
And you’re motivated as hell on Day 1. You’re ready to crush it. Buttt Day 2 of 1,300 calories hits and you start getting hangry. Day 3, you’re ready to throw in the towel.
Finally, the 4th day of stupid low calories comes and you’re over it. You just want a giant cheeseburger in your life. So damnit, at lunch time you go & get yourself a nice cheese burger & fries.
And like that, you feel defeated & give up on the calorie counting before you even really got started.
In order for calorie counting to work, it needs to be sustainable & something you can stick with. That means that you need to take a more long term approach to it.
Aim to lose, on average, around 1 pound per week (may slightly more/less depending your starting point).
In this example, 1,550 calories is a more sustainable & realistic approach.
No, you won’t see as fast of progress eating 1,550 calories compared to 1,300 calories. But with 1,550 calories per day, the additional food is going to keep you in a better mood & be more enjoyable - this allowing you to stick with it easier.
Mistake 2: There Is Not A Universal Number Of Calories To Lose Weight
Have you heard this:
If you’re a woman, eat 1,200 calories to lose weight.
If you’re a man, eat 1,600 calories to lose weight.
Those seem to be the universal calorie numbers you should aim for to lose weight.
Think about that. Yes, you. You, a logical & smart human, think about it.
A 45 year old woman that doesn’t work out and weight 190lbs (of not much muscle) needs to consume 1,200 calories to lose weight.
But also, a 24 year old women who works out 5 days per week, and is 155lbs (of lotsa muscle) also needs to eat 1,200 calories to lose weight.
That makes zero sense, right? One person is substantially more active, weighs less, has more muscle and is younger.
If you’re sitting there saying “Yeah! What the hell! That doesn’t make sense!” ….. You’re exactly right. It doesn’t make sense.
Every human is different.
Different activity levels (big factor)
Different amount of muscle
Different ages
Different levels of body fat
Different genetics
There is no universal calorie goal for you to hit to lose weight. You are different from the next person. Don’t get tied down to a random, arbitrary number that you heard through the grapevine.
Mistake 3: If Your Go Over Your Calorie Goal, You Should Give Up On The Day
Let’s talk, homie.
You’re not going to be perfect. That’s a fact of life.
Even if you have a sustainable, realistic calorie goal, you’re going to have a day where you end up eating a few hundred calories over your goal.
Situations where this could happen:
There’s pizza at the party & you have one too many pieces.
You’re at the bar, get super lit, and have more drinks than you planned for.
This new season on Netflix is amazing & you can’t put down the snacks.
However, when you’re in that moment, and realize that you are over your goals for the day, what you do next is of the utmost importance.
Say you just finished eating 3 pieces of pizza & realized you’re 220 calories over your goal for the day.
Do you chalk the day up a loss, completely disregard calories for the rest of the day, and polish off the last 4 pieces of pizza?
Orrrr, do you enjoy the pizza you had, accept that you slightly went over your goals (well worth it), and leave it at that?
All calories matter.
If you go over your calorie goal for the day, the more calories you eat, the further of a hole you’re putting yourself into that you have to climb out the next few days.
If you only go over your goal by 220 calories instead of 1,000+ calories, you’re going to be in a lot better position moving forward.
Mistake 4: Letting A Bad Day Turn Into A Bad Week
Continuing on the same train of thought here.
Let’s say you do polish off an entire pizza by yourself.
You had a ‘bad’ day with nutrition. You’re down on yourself about it.
And that one ‘bad’ day of eating an entire pizza turns into a week straight of eating fast food, never skipping dessert, and forgetting what a vegetable is.
No regards to calories & no regards to your goals.
That’s not what you want. That’s not what’s going to make you feel good. Or get closer to your goals. It’s not the type of person you want to be and it won’t allow you to have the body or habits that you want.
If you have a bad day, get back on track the next day with your goals.
That first meal (or two) might be a struggle because more pizza is talking to you.
But each meal and day that you don’t get back on track, the more challenging it will be to get there.
Enjoy the ‘bad’ day of eating because it comes with tons of tasty foods. But don’t let it become the norm.
Mistake 5: You’re Not Making Adjustments
“I’m counting my calories & hit my goal every day, but I’m not losing weight.”
This can happen. No matter if you’ve been counting your calories for 3 weeks or 3 months, you might reach a point where you’re on point with your calorie goals each day butttt aren’t seeing progress. You weight the same and don’t look any different.
First, before I drop the punchline, in order to see if a specific amount of calories works, or not, I recommend sticking to that goal for at least 2 weeks before making changes. If you’re not doing that, you’re not giving the goals a fair shake.
Butttt, if you’re stuck with your progress, and nothing is happening, you need to make changes to your calories goals.
You need to lower your calorie goals.
Lower them by around 100-200 calories (more if you’re at a higher body fat percentage, less if you’re at a lower body fat percentage)
Hit those goals consistently for another few weeks (or until your stop making progress), then repeat this if needed.
Mistake 6: Stressing When You’re Not Perfect
One of the critiques of counting calories is that you will be obsessing over hitting a specific goal number and if you don’t hit that exact number, you failed.
Say your calorie goal is 1,800 calories per day and you eat 1,833 calories today.
Were you perfect? No.
Are you close enough to your goal that you will still make progress? Yes, probably.
Should you stress about being 33 calories over your goal? HELL NO
Consistently being around your calorie goal is better than being perfect every day because you’ll stick with it.
Mistake 7: There Aren’t Enough “Healthy” Foods In Your Diet
Counting calories gets a bad reputation for another reason:
People try to fit in as much junk food as possible within their calories goals instead of “healthier” foods like fruits, veggies, or lean sources of protein (chicken, fish, egg whites).
No matter what style of dieting you do, you need to be eating at least sooooome healthy foods. No way around it - these foods must at least be tolerated.
First, these ‘healthy’ foods are packed with nutrients that ‘junk food’ doesn’t have much of. These nutrients are going to allow you to feel better, have more energy, and think more clearly each day.
Additionally, they’re needed for your long term health. If you go 15 years of eating mostly junk food, you’re not going to be doing so hot. If you go 15 years of getting in a good amount of healthy food, you’re going to be functioning extremely well.
Next, as it relates to losing weight & seeing progress in the short term, you need these nutrient-dense, healthy foods because these foods do a great job of filling you up for lower calories.
For example, a small bag of M&M’s is around 250 calories. You’ll eat that & it won’t do much for you or your hunger. On the flip side of that, you could have a big salad with different veggies (cucumbers, onions) and a 4 oz serving of chicken for less than 250 calories.
The salad would satisfy your hunger & make you feel better better than the small bag of M&M’s.
Technically, you could fit your calories each day with junk food and see progress. Buttt, you’re going to be really hungry & have minimal energy.
Make sure you’re basing your calories around ‘healthy’ foods first & foremost.
Peace & Blessings & Making Lotsa Progress Through Calorie Counting.
Want to learn more about accomplishing your fitness while still enjoying your life?
Orrrr if you’re ready to take action on your goals & want to work with me to accomplish them…