Should I Count Calories?

 You’ve seen the statistics. Americans are more overweight than ever and the trend is expected to continue. The lifespan of our children will likely be shorter than ours for the first time in the history of mankind, due to chronic diseases related to obesity. In this day and age, weight loss doesn’t happen by accident, but weight gain does. Why? Consider the following:

The majority of Americans do not get the minimum physical activity needed to maintain good health and a proper weight.

The average American consumes approximately 3,000-5,000 steps per day, which means they’re sitting most of the day.

Portion sizes are significantly larger than a generation ago.

Food is available in endless quantities, anytime of day, and high-calorie foods are often cheaper.

The bottom line is our environment encourages sitting and eating 24/7. Sitting while commuting to work, sitting at a desk to make a living, sitting for entertainment (phones, movies, video games, TV), and of course sitting while eating.

To make matters worse, humans are programmed to eat and take the path of least resistance — a survival mechanism that helped our hunting and gathering ancestors survive, but is now killing us. Literally.

Here are more facts to ponder:

1 out of 10 people do not know how many calories they need to maintain their weight.
Most people think they eat less than they actually do (20-50 percent less on average).
Translation — we’re not very good at consuming the right amount of food and beverages to maintain a healthy body weight. If a person was getting the normal amount of activity needed to maintain their weight, their body would be burning about 1800 calories a day.

If you want to change something, like your clothing size, body fat percentage, or the number on the scale, the first step is to become aware of your body’s needs and the choices you’re making. In other words, awareness opens the door to change. Otherwise, you’re clueless and you don’t even know it. You end up becoming a victim of creeping obesity — that 1-3 pounds the average American gains every year during adulthood because they’re not paying attention.

Perhaps you are paying attention, maybe even counting calories, and you’re wondering, is it worth it? Here’s what the research shows:

People who track what they eat at least 5 days a week lose twice as much weight as those who don’t.

People who track what they eat regularly maintain weight loss better

People who use a body sensing device that tracks activity and calories burned lose 2-3 times more weight than those who don’t. I use a fitness watch and it tells me how many calories I burned that day. I checking your calorie burn everyday you can approximate how much you can eat. You want to count the calories you consume, that's food and drink, every day. Too lose weight you want to consume fewer calories than you burn. About 200 fewer calories.

This makes sense. After all, how do you manage something, whether it’s your checkbook, your blood pressure or your waistline, if you’re not tracking it? Well…you don’t. You end up with bounced checks, uncontrolled blood pressure and having to buy bigger clothes.

What you don’t know does hurt you. Especially when it comes to your health.

When you pay attention and discover that your morning coffee drink and muffin is nearly 1,000 calories AND you know your body burns about 1,800 calories a day, you are empowered to make a smarter choice. When you use measuring tools to find out that your morning bowl of cereal is five times more than it should be, you can make an adjustment. When you read the nutritional guide in a restaurant and see your favorite salad is over 1,200 calories, you can choose something else.

Counting every single calorie to the point of obsession is probably not healthy, as most obsessions aren’t, but getting and staying informed about your body, your activity level and your food choices is 100 percent empowering. In my opinion, tracking is not a chore but a choice. A choice to pay attention and stay in control of my body and my health.

Here is something that might help.

To make it easy for me to count calories, I’d pack my lunch and snack the night before and added up the calories as I made lunch. If I only ate and drank the things I brought then I know how many calories I ate. Also, I didn’t get creative with my food. Keep it simple, never add sugar or any other calories. Add flavor with spices, there’s no calories in spices. Bring plenty of food so you don’t end up buying snacks. I always brought extra fruit, you can always bring it home again. Apples and oranges are the best, they last the longest without over-ripening.

Remember the 1800 calorie rule, if you eat more than that, you’ll gain weight. For those who want to lose weight,  You can’t eat 1800 calories of carbs and think you can lose weight.

Even small amounts of high carb food is wrong for your body. The food your eating has to fuel the body and help the body burn body fat. Most people have trained their body to burn the food they are eating, but the only way to lose weight is for the body to burn body fat. If your on fresh food diet you probably don’t have to count calories, but if your eating a combination of fresh foods and processed foods you should count calories to make sure your don’t overeating. Weight loss is still a game of calories. Burn more calories than you consume and you can lose weight, but you must feed your body the right food to keep your body burning the most calories.

For instance, if I was sick all day and spent the day in bed, I might only burn 500 calories. But if I’m going to work and spend most of the day on my feet, I might burn 1800 calories. Never fool yourself into thinking you burn more calories than a normal person. Unless your spending 4 hours a day in the gym or a marathon runner your not going to burn more than the average person your size.

Follow me on Twitter @gertsraymo70369 to get a link to my latest posts.

If you want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. 

Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.