Weight Loss Food Diaries Tucson AZ

By Nick Nilsson

This is the million-dollar question...do you REALLY have to count calories to lose fat? It's something very few people LIKE to do but is it something that everybody SHOULD be doing to maximize fat-loss results?

And without further ado, the answer is yes...and no!

Allow me to explain...

Calorie-counting is one of those things that you either love or hate.

You either feel like you HAVE to do it in order to get results or you feel like there's NO WAY you'll ever be caught dead doing it. It's rare you find somebody who sits on the middle ground in this one.

As most people know, in order to lose fat, you've got to have a caloric deficit, taking in fewer calories than you burn on a daily basis. No surprises there.

Now here's the thing...in order to consistently achieve that caloric deficit and lose fat, you must be AWARE of your calorie intake.

I believe the REAL question we should be asking here should not be "Is calorie-COUNTING necessary?" but "Is calorie-AWARENESS necessary?"

So if, in order to be aware of how many calories you're taking in, you need to specifically COUNT them (by weighing food and referencing food charts), then THAT will be what you have to do to get results. And that is totally fine! But if you've already GOT a good awareness of how many calories you're eating in a day and you know what you need to eat (or not eat) in order to achieve that caloric deficit, then calorie counting is NOT necessary for you.

The key here, again, is awareness.

You see, the big problem with not counting calories arises when a person THINKS they're aware of their caloric intake but they really are NOT.

It's a fact that most people dramatically under-report their caloric intake when they are asked to estimate how much they eat in a day. When they keep a food diary and have to write down every little thing that goes in their mouth, in some cases their TRUE caloric intake nearly DOUBLES.

So even if you don't want to count calories, it may be time for a quick compromise. It's a temporary calorie count/reality check!

If you're not losing fat right now and you feel like you're not really eating much, here's something you can try in order to test your "caloric awareness":

First, write down how many calories you THINK you're eating every day.

Now for the next full week, write down everything you eat. And I do mean EVERYTHING. Every little taste and every little snack. EVERYTHING. Just write down foods and portion sizes - don't try and look up how many calories each thing has and don't suddenly change your diet because you want to make yourself look good - just keep doing what you've been doing. At the end of the week, go to a food chart and research everything you ate. Add it up and divide by 7. This will give you your average daily caloric intake.

If...