Calorie Counting, is it really that hard?
Calorie counting has gotten a bad rap because it seen as a difficult task, but is it really? You be the judge.
Calorie counting is commonly used by physique competitors, weight class sports, or people with a personality type that is meticulous, needs rules and structure, and want to education themselves on the composition of foods.
Here are the 4 easy steps to Calorie Counting
Step 1
Two simple measuring tools…digital food scales and calorie counting app (myfitnesspal).
Step 2
Calculate your calorie budget! To find out how big your budget is…how many calorie you need for your weight and goals…you use calculator to estimate your calorie and macronutrient breakdown…(I have given you my personal calculator, see comments).
Step 3 Enter you calorie and macronutrient budget into the app. Remember: macronutrients = protein, carbs, fats.
Step 4 At every meal weight each ingredient (digit scales) or scan the bar code on packaged food. Enter into the app…done…it debits your calories/macronutrient from your budget.
Continue this step for all your meals until you have blown your budget…hopefully you’re not in the debt….if you are then give yourself less budget the next day.
Tips Eating out - if you are eating out…no access to scales…or restaurant doesn’t have food on the app…then you can be antisocial and not eat (not recommended)…or guesstimate…eyeball the portion size or select a similar food choice (maybe from a similar restaurant). You’ll eventually become really good and get really close to perfect.
Be Consistent in how you measure - as long as you are consistent in the way you measure or guesstimate and you monitor your body weight (goes up or down) as feedback then adjust your diet accordingly (eat more or less).
Example If I was coaching someone for weight loss then I would set their calorie/macronutrient budget and get the client to track their body weight to get feedback on the diet. If their weight was going up then we would remove some carbs, then see what the effect is….and continue to adjust until we reached the desire goal.
Remember: Remove carbs first, you should not remove protein, this is the foundation of all diets.
Your Next Actions So what are your next steps…start small. Have a goal that you will count calories at least one meal per day for a week. If you combat that goal then move on to 2 meals a day…before you know it you’ll be a calorie counting pro.
Remember: track feedback from the body weight scale and adjust accordingly.
Check this out Check the dropbox link for access to the calculator I use as a starting for my clients. Click here: https://goo.gl/2aRYy8
Coach Michael