Should You Count Calories?
I have gone back and forth on this topic my whole life. On the one hand, it seems unnatural and obsessive to track every little thing you eat and every calorie you burn. On the other hand, it’s what I have discovered the easiest way for me to stay on point when I lose my way. What I mean by that is that ideally we can listen to our what our body needs and eat intuitively. It’s a real thing and it is magical when you get connected to it.
How do you get there?
Two things that worked for me is practicing yoga a meditation to get connected to my Self and secondly to track what I’m eating to make sure I am eating the right amount of food. It goes both ways, if you eat too few calories you are causing harm to your body and if you eat too much, you gain weight. There have been days where I thought I hardly ate ANYTHING only to find that the ‘healthy salad’ I made had more cals than a Big Mac.
I think it all depends on personality. I LOVE to graze and snack and find myself sticking my dirty little paw in the snack cabinet all the time out of boredom or when I am feeling emotional. Those snacks add up! When I know that I’m going to have to "count" out the number of scoops of almond butter I am going to eat I am MUCH less likely to overindulge.
Do I track calories every day?
No freaking way! Only when my pants start to get tight or if I feel l’ve lost touch my my ability to eat intuitively. I LOVE the free app MyFitness Pal to log my "calories in" (food) and "calories out" (workouts). It reminds me of playing a video game! Takes 20 seconds each time to enter what you eat throughout the day (to the best of your ability) and it'll keep you in check when your days come to an end. Which, for me sometimes brings me to the answer to my "can I have a glass of wine"? question.
How Many Calories?
Without doing a full assessment I can only give you a general guideline. According to countless studies, the general consensus is that for an average woman, (trying to lose weight) a great target is 1200 calories/day and 1600+ (to maintain weight). You should never eat LESS than 1200 calories a day, it will cause more harm than good by jeopardizing your health plus you'll be losing muscle mass. My vain 22 year old self did that and DESTROYED my metabolism and it took years to rebalance. Not what we are going for!
Side Note- Remember to include the number of calories you burned during your workout and add that to your calories for the day.
What About Macros?
There are tons of controversial debates about macros out there. In my opinion it is because every ones body responds differently. I like to follow Ayurveda and find out what specific imbalances my body has and cater my macros to that. Some imbalances call for more fat, others more protein etc. MyFitness Pal has an option on the free app with generic 'macro guidelines' that you can look at as a simple way to see if you are dominant in a specific category. Ill betcha its carbs!
It may boggle your mind to see what "healthy foods" you may be eating actually look like in terms of numbers!! If all this feels like WAY too much work, I’ve gotchu! I wrote a balanced 6 week meal plan with everything from grocery lists/recipes to a personal development workbook that will get you more connected with your goals and triggers for eating.
More info about the Meal Plan Here
P.S. DON'T FORGET- EAT REAL FOOD!!