Stop Counting, Start Living
With all of the social media posts, magazine articles, and diet fads society is exposed to, it is no wonder people become confused over the best diet or eating habits and obsess over trying to eat and look a certain way. To start, let’s dispose of this idea of the “ideal” diet. Like with exercise or illness, there is no one best way to cure all evil and you need to listen to your body to do what is best for it. Often times we hear “calories in, calories out”, meaning that if you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight. Ever thought about what those calories are? We not only need to concentrate on the amount that goes in and out but the actual contents of the food. If we consume junk foods like chips and cookies, that isn’t going to help us to reach our ideal body weight range.
What I personally think is crazy is when I hear people say that although they are hungry they can’t eat because they have already had 900 calories so far in the day, (and then they proceed to rhyme off all they have eaten and the calories each one contains). What is my rule? I eat when I am hungry! Our bodies know best and give us a hint when they need more fuel. I couldn’t tell you how many calories I have consumed today, but I know that I have tried my best to nourish my body with healthy, wholesome foods and I feel great.
Another thing we need to expel right now is that there is no ideal body shape. If we all ate and exercised the same amount, we would still all look different. Remember that we are all individuals and need to listen to our bodies. The food we consume and the exercise we participate in helps us along our path to achieving the ideal body weight for us, and it starts with how we feel and then translates into how we look on the outside.
Below are my top three tips to calorie counting that I abide by on a daily basis:
My top three tips for calorie counting:
Eliminate calories from liquids as much as you can. Our bodies thrive much more off of food with substance because they can provide nutrients for our bodies to function properly and repair tissues after workouts. I don’t drink coffee and tea personally and try to eliminate juice as much as I can. Water is my go to. This is not to say to never have coffee, tea, and juice, but just have it on your radar.
Stop the counting! Eat when you are hungry. Focus instead on what you are consuming. Now, we don’t want to over eat and indulge and forget calories completely, but our bodies shouldn’t be neglected and made to wait until our next meal.
Stop reading magazines containing the latest diet trend and how to drop 20 lbs in the next two weeks. These diets are trends and the weight will come back just as fast as the next diet will become a trend the week later. They simply aren’t sustainable and realistic. Instead, create a total lifestyle change, incorporating healthy meals and snacks, time for exercise, and time for relaxation and social time. We all need balance in our lives.
We are all very easily influenced by what we see through the various media platforms, myself included. Each day on Instagram and Twitter I see posts about tea detoxes or diets but I choose to ignore them as best as I can. What I do now is look at them and justify with the knowledge I have that they are only quick fixes and I want to have a healthy lifestyle, not just a few pounds dropped fast. Remember to do what is best for your body and what will have a lasting effect. So, stop the counting, and start living!
Be fierce. Be strong. Be vibrant.
Rachel