There's an app for that...
Every New Year hundreds of thousands of people vow to change their ways, to improve themselves. These “resolutions” come in all forms, but one of the most common is about weight loss and fitness. My friend Greg over at Pre-Dawn Runner wrote a post recently about just these sorts of resolutions and why 90% of the time, people are bound to fail at them – whether it is over-ambition, too vague goals, or simply not knowing where to start, a lot of resolutions grind to a halt before they even get started.
One of the suggestions Greg had was tracking calories. I have had many a friend ask me what they can do to get fit and lose weight, and I almost always reply with “running and calorie tracking”.
You may have heard of and rolled your eyes at the concept of calorie tracking, thinking, “I’m not going to be one of those people who counts calories”.
If you are, I want you to stop for a second and reread what it is I suggest and what it is you say you don’t want to be.
Go ahead…
Go back and read my reply and now read your response.
There is a difference, albeit one based on semantics. What you call “counting calories” I call “tracking calories”.
I believe there actually is a huge difference between the two.
What’s the difference, you ask?
If you are counting calories, that implies you are keeping an eye on a certain number that you are allowing yourself throughout each day. Every time you “count” a meal, you are subtracting that number from what you’ve been told your total for the day can be. Each passing meal, snack, or beverage becomes something that you dread and in the end the joy of eating is taken away. At that point, you probably give up on counting calories.
Now, if you are tracking calories, you are simply keeping track of what you eat. As the days go by, you come to realize, based on the data you’ve collected, just how much you are eating. You may find that some days you eat more, others you don’t, but eventually, you get to a point where simply start to make better choices because you know what’s in the food you are taking in. If tracking the calories themselves seems too time consuming (though there are apps for that) take one step back and simply keep a food diary.
The concept of tracking calories or keeping a food diary isn’t about worrying and wringing your hands over every meal or snack, but rather to give you a picture of what your habits are – which then allows you to visualize making changes for the better. As you make those changes, the proof is right there in front of you in both your notebook (or smartphone) in black and white, on the scale and in the mirror.
It’s a lot easier than you think!
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