A Calorie Here, A Calorie There...

 I firmly believe you should not have to live and die by every single calorie you consume. The ultimate goal should be to eventually have a pretty good idea of what you are eating; the number of calories you are consuming, and the percentages of each macro nutrient (carbs, protein, fat).

 With that being said, if you are having a hard time reaching your fitness goals, you may need to reassess your calorie tracking (or implement it if you are not doing so). Many may see it as "obsessive" to count calories daily, but for a large number of people, it is a necessity, at least in the short run.

The main reason calorie tracking is important, is that all too often we have a bite of something here or there, and we do not account for it. The problem with this, is at the end of the day, several small snacks or bites that have not been accounted for can have you under or overestimating your calories by the hundreds. As this happens on a daily basis, by the end of a week, thousands of calories may not have been accounted for.

We all know about the huge importance of consistency. Consistency in our exercise regime, in our sleep patterns, and most importantly, in our nutrition. One of the biggest road blocks to reaching our goals are variables in these routines.

For example, if you plan on trying a 1,400 calorie a day diet for weight loss, it needs to be 1,400 calories every day (or as close to it as possible). This is the only way to know if the calorie range you have given yourself is going to be effective, or if you need to modify it. You can't expect to know if 1,400 calories is working for you if one day you eat 1,000 calories, the next day you eat 2,000 calories, the next day you eat 1,100 calories, and so on... You see the point I am trying to make. This may seem like common knowledge, but it speaks mainly to those small frequent snacks you are not accounting for.

If you stick to a set number of calories every day for a few weeks (and are diligent about it), you will be able to better assess if it is the right range for you, or you need to make some adjustments.

My next post will be sort of a "part 2" to this post, where I talk about how to count and track calories. So stay tuned in, you will want to take notes!

I hope you reach your destination, but your journey is what really counts! Until next time... L.D.