Seriously, calories don’t matter if you have the best genes on Earth and if you don’t care how your body looks.
The Journey Begins…
Ever since I realized how chubby I was (highschool), I worked really hard to transform my body into a six pack looking body. I did everything that I could just to get that look. Started by replacing meals with juice, no sugar diet, no salt diet, not eating at night, not eating carbs, or even spending everyday doing cardio and working out. Doing all those things probably got me to where I want to be right?
Wrong
Why Calories is Key
I continue to struggle for a couple months, because I followed those diets but still couldn’t lose the fat. I tried fasting for 24 hours and eating just one meal, but still couldn’t do it. So I decided to learn everything and become a personal trainer!
After finding out more about calories, I realize how important it is to weight loss. I started to notice something in common with all of the diets that I did in the past. They were all ways to restrict food to the body, which essentially is cutting calories.
Lets take a look, the diet of “Don’t eat after 6 PM” is more or less, limiting calories to your body. Instead of having a heavy dinner of lets say 1,000 calories, you skip it, which then saves you 1,000 calories for the day. How about this one, replacing meals with a nutritious shake? Again, it is the same isn’t it? Instead of giving your body a meal that is worth 500–1000 calories, you are only giving it a shake which is roughly worth 200–300 calories.
Restricting food which is restricting calories
But why are people still not counting calories?
*This is my opinion, but it might be totally wrong, so take it with a grain of salt.
To me, there are 3 main reason why people are not counting calories and prefer the other diets.
Easy as it is, most people don’t know what calories is or never even heard about it. To them, the only way to lose weight is to see how their friends did it. So if their friend does it through doing DIET A, they will try to implement it. This is not ideal because not all diets fit everyone, due to genes or lifestyle.
Imagine this, you are in your kitchen measuring all the little ingredients in your meal to the TEE, to find the exact calories. Now take that and move it to the time you eat out. Yeah, it is really hard to find out the exact calories in your food. You can try to google the meals, but every place serves food differently, even though the name is the same. Due to this, most people don’t even want to start doing it.
“Hey dude, what are you doing with that scale” — friend
“ I am counting calories dude” — You
“What a nerd!!” — Friend (walks away)
Exactly, I personally got this from my close circle of friends, when I started counting everything. And I bet most people get this too from their friends or family. Sometimes, these insults get to them and as a result they stop.
I Want to Loose Weight, Should I Start Counting Calories then?
The answer is, it depends what works for you. If you have never tried those “diets” try them. Surprisingly, they work for some people. However, if you want to be exactly like me, count calories. By exact I mean, I can eat whatever food I like, as long as it fits my calories. This will not happen in other diets, because the other diets usually restrict a lot of good food. If you go out and meet people that are on a diet, chances are, they will not be able to eat these fried bananas. I can guarantee you 100%, they will say NO and maybe get angry at you if you are eating it in front of them.
That’s why I always tell people, if you want to lose weight, count calories. Simply, it will give you more “life”. You can choose food that you want to eat for the day and still lose the weight, as long as the food fits your calories. You can eat out with friends without worrying about not eating at night, or carrying your shake. You can just act like a normal person and still lose weight. This is the joy of counting calories, it gives you options and lets you live a normal life, while still losing fat of course!
At the end of the day, counting calories is not for everyone. But if you have never tried it, I highly suggest you do. It’s not hard to start, but can affect the way you perceive your diet in a big way.
Cheers!