I spent over a decade of my life counting calories. Many years before I ever even thought about becoming a Health Coach, I had solid knowledge of calorie counts on most foods.   From SlimFast, WeightWatchers, Zone, Atkins and plain old food tracking in a journal (before phone apps) to eventually the MyFitnessPal app; tracking my food consumption was an obsession.

The worst Part of Counting Calories…

Even when I didn’t think I was dieting, I was using the MyFitnessPal app daily to track every morsel I consumed and made it my goal to stay between 1200-1500 calories in a day total.  Just the pure act of writing down and knowing what I ate satisfied this anal disordered act. The concept of quality not quantity was not in my vocabulary and not how I was trained to eat unfortunately. 

Here are the reasons why I quit counting calories:

I had no mind body connection.  When you’re obsessively counting your calories eating becomes a game.  Eating becomes a sick mathematical equation where you build strategies in your head of how and what to ‘save’ your calories for.  Instead of tuning into my body and fueling it based on my daily activity, hormones, or natural cravings (cravings aren’t bad!); I trained my body to save  calories for a restaurant dinner splurge, a bottle of wine and well mostly foods with little nutritional value. Anyone here ever got caught on the 100 Calorie Pack trap?   They’re all processed, non-perishable foods, un-natural foods with little to zero nutritional value. No wonder WeightWatchers never worked for me?!

The worst part about counting calories was that  I quit listening to my body.

I had no sense of what foods were the most nutrient dense, what foods would keep me full, what foods would help my mental performance, what foods would keep me going to the toilet on a regular basis and the list goes on.  Eating should be about helping our bodies (mental & physical) perform at their optimal levels.

Compare an Yoplait Light to a serving of full fat Greek yogurt.  The Greek yogurt has more calories, more protein and hardly any sugar compared to a cup of Yoplait Light yogurt.  Yoplait Light will only spike your blood sugar and keep you burning glucose instead of stored fat for energy. Higher insulin levels (high blood sugar) are contributors to all the major chronic illness (cancer) and attribute to higher levels of cortisol (stress hormone) that creates stored belly fat.

But can you guess how many years I spent choosing the Yoplait Light over the full fat Greek yogurt?  It literally makes me sick to my stomach thinking about all the times I choose the ‘healthier’ option that was really fake food and causing me more problems in the long run.  But time to move on and I am thankful for the present day shift.

How quitting calorie counting  changed my life:

Learning to let go of this mind game obsession was not easy.  To be honest, I quit counting calories during my year long training to becoming a certified health coach.  Everything I was learning I was putting into practice.  I was adapting new ways of thinking and shifting my mindset away from pitfalls of the past.

I learned that the key to a person’s health and wellness cannot be measured in calories.   The secret is learning and truly believing in the mind body connection and how to create harmony and balance between both.  Stepping away from the ‘all or none mentality’ of dieting was the biggest obstacle I personally overcame. I quit eating a certain way for the wrong reasons, for example, to look like a runway model.  I started eating for the right reasons; to feel good, have energy, reduce stress, be happy, have a bowel movement on the daily and much more.

If you’re curious for more on the ‘how’ then start working with me. I changed my life and I hope to help others out there do the same. All this ‘stuff’ really works and I know because it worked for me. I am my own walking testimonial. As a certified Health Coach, I will guide you through a six month transformation process and create accountability. After six months, you will be empowered to make decisions in your daily life that will create and maintain balance to your overall health and wellness.

Interested in chatting more and changing your life? Schedule a free health assessment.