I just talked with a friend of mine who pretty much admitted that she needs to lose weight but refuses to count calories. She'd rather cut out carbs or "something easy" like that. No one said that losing weight and staying in shape is easy. Believe me, I am not "Miss Perfect" when it comes to my diet. I indulge my cravings every now and then. But, 9 years after reaching my goal, I still count calories. When I don't for any length of time, guess what happens? I usually gain weight. For health reasons, I am on a low-fat diet and I have learned to love it. But just watching the fats I consume isn't enough. It really boils down to calories.
A pound of body fat contains 3,500 calories. If you decrease your caloric intake by 500 calories a day, over a seven day period, you should lose a pound - whether you do it by cutting fat, eliminating carbs, or by only eating plant-based foods. Now, for health reasons, I do not recommend cutting carbs from your diet - I have a real problem with anyone being on the Atkins diet for more than a few weeks. Remember: we are delicate mechanisms that require certain nutrients to operate at our optimum capacity, and we need our carbs! We should eat the "right" carbs, of course (another Blog topic). But don't cut them out altogether. Please...
If you find that cutting 500 calories a day is too much for you - leaving you hungry - cut 200 or 300 calories instead. You'll still lose the weight, only not as fast. Do the math and you can figure out how long it will take you to reach your goal. But without counting calories and getting in the habit of doing so, unless you eat the same things day in and day out (another thing I do not believe in), you are pretty much going at it blind. And I find that we have a horrible habit of underestimating how much we are really eating if we don't keep track of it. That's one of the things I like about Weight Watchers - if done correctly, they keep careful track of everything they eat.
I hope that, with most of you, I am preaching to the choir, and, if I am, please forgive me. But I felt so bummed after talking with my friend. I feel bummed after talking with anyone who claims that no matter what they try, they can't lose weight. I simply can not accept that! I care that you eat right, lose weight intelligently (if you need to), and keep the weight you lose off after reaching your goal. To get an idea if you really need to lose weight, next time I will discuss your BMI (Body Mass Index). So until then, happy and healthy eating!
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