Should You Be Going Crazy Over Counting Calories?
Hello Ladies, summer is in the air and most of us want to shed off that extra unwanted body fat. Some of us go crazy counting every single calorie we consume in a day. The reality is that most of us do what we think is best but we might not always be right. In the beginning of my fitness journey this is one of the many struggles that I had to overcome. I started to consume fewer calories but I didn’t really focus on the types of foods I was putting into my body. Although I was eating fewer calories I felt like complete poop I had low energy, I was breaking out, my hair wasn’t vibrant and long and my nails were weak along with many other things. So I started to questions why is it that I’m consuming less calories but I don’t feel any healthier and full of energy. In today’s blog we will be talking about why all calories aren’t equal and why counting calories might not help you reach your fitness goals any faster.
Having the right meal plan is 70% of your results so it is extremely important that you get a meal plan that is right for you. Now the real question is should we go crazy counting calories and can that help? ladies do not pull out your hair counting every single calorie. What you should get very familiar with is what foods you are eating. You should ask yourself if the foods in your meal plan are foods that are going to help nourish your body, help optimize your health and repair and build muscle.
Here is why you shouldn’t go crazy counting calories 1 gram of carb is 4 calories, 1 gram of protein is 4 calories and 1 gram of fat is 9 calories all these foods have different effects in our bodies. If I were to ask you, which macro-nutrient would you eliminate from your diet to lose body fat, which would you pick? I am assuming you would pick fat because it has the most calories and ladies this is a big NO NO. You should almost never eliminate all fats from your diet; healthy fats should be an essential part of your diet because we need it for every day bodily functions like brain health and the production of cells. If you check out my blog Do Fats Make You Fat I go into more depth on why we should consume fats and what types of fats you should stay away from.
Then you’re left with protein and carbs, well which one should you eliminate if they both have the same calorie value. Like I said before calories do not give or take away from their nutritional value. Protein will help us repair and build muscle and carbs can also assist in muscle growth and give us energy. So ladies the point that I’m trying to make here is that your meal plan should always be customized. Chances are you might need to eat all three or maybe you might only be able to have protein and fats it all depends on what your goal is and what activities you’re doing for example are you a runner, power lifter, MMA fighter, dancer ect. Another factor to take into account is your starting fitness level is your body out of balance or are you just looking to improve your athleticism.
There is not one way to do things no one’s body is the same so no one’s meal plan should be the same. Stop pulling out your hair counting every single calorie and get yourself a meal plan that is customized for you so you can get to your goal as fast as possible the healthiest way possible. I hope this made eating right a lot easier for you the way it did for me, till next time.
-FitnessWithFlexHers
