Just Eat Right and of course Exercise to seal the deal! That’s all it takes to keep your high school figure (if your a teenager); to get back to the slimmer you (if your a new mother); or to get to a leaner muscular you (if your a man).
I have been working in the fitness industry for about 4 years now and it’s amazing how much of a challenge it is for many to count calories especially when they desperately need too. There was a point where it was a challenge for me to keep track as well!
But why do we hate counting calories?…
The true question is Why do we count calories in the first place?
Many centuries ago before words were spoken and before words were written. Our ancestors did not count calories. Our ancestors lived off the land. Lived off of what was available to them. And their bodies were so much leaner and better because of it. Plus they were so much more active. Their ability to function on a day to day basis was based on outdoor activity throughout the majority of their days and indoor activity was little too none until the sun goes down.
As civilization evolved and prized recipes were shared from one culture to another. Generations of our families now have an option to prepare Italian flavors one day, Chinese another day, American the next day and back to their own ethnic food the next day and repeat.
We have so many options to choose from, especially when we live in America where many trees that once was roamed by our ancestors have now been replaced with Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dunkin Donuts, Convenience stores that sell a wide array of 1 dollar candy, 1 dollar chips, 1 dollar chocolates, 1 dollar soda and the list goes on!
So why do we count calories now when our ancestors did not count them back then? And why do many of us hate counting calories?
Because our families eat so much more today and move so much less. Our families function so much more indoors instead of outdoors. Our homes are built for us, instead of us building it ourselves. Our ability to travel great distances by foot or by horse carriages has been conveniently been replaced by cars, trains, and planes. Most job opportunities are available in office/desk settings or truck/bus/taxi driving instead of up on foot and out in about.
The mailman gets more exercise than the average employee! And if you are are not a professional athlete, exercise can be little to none nowadays until we wait until it hurts.
Until it hurts to look at ourselves in the mirror, until our backs and knees hurt from the extra weight we slowly but surely gained throughout our sedentary years, or until our heart, kidney and/or liver finally gets exhausted from doing their best to adjust to the extra workload we put them through from all the extra food we feed our bodies without much needed exercise.
Counting calories is now a necessity. Because our cultures have been introduced to a wide array of meals, snacks and drinks to choose from we have developed a greater sense of craving. And with a greater sense of craving comes a desire to eat to please our tongue and our mind more so than to please our body.
And our bodies become a victim of abuse. Abuse of overeating.
We count calories because we have lost control of what is most important. We’ve lost control of our longevity. When one becomes overweight or obese and is diagnosed with conditions from diabetes or high blood pressure. It is evidence that we have lose control of our longevity and so we must count calories to get back in control.
We hate counting calories because we feel like our freedom is taken away from us. Our freedom to enjoy what we want, how much we want, when we want. Because we don’t have time to sit and count. Because we didn’t grow up doing it and it’s not a natural habit. Because it reminds us of health problems.
But counting calories keep us in control, keeps us aware, keeps us in check in making sure that we are giving our bodies the proper energy and nutrients it needs in order to function properly. That is the importance of counting calories…because our lives depends on it if you wish to live another 10, 20, 30, 40 years! We have only one life and we should put all efforts to conserve it.
The image above can relieve us of our hate of counting calories.
Thinking back to the time of our ancestors. No doubt they indulged in the “fruits” of their land and they did not gain much weight because they ate right. It really isn’t about eating less chips, burgers, pizza and drinking less soda and juice. It’s about eating right.
The right way to eat is to eat more of the “fruits” of our land rather the production of boxed, canned and bagged items that are man made creations.
I always tell myself that anything man-made has serious consequences.
So I do my best to stay conscious of the foods I eat by asking myself such questions as:
Did most of what I am eating grow from the ground or from trees?
Is it organic or was it made in a factory?
Is this plate a picture of quality or quantity?
Will this help me live longer or will this make me sicker?
Weight loss is not hard! We just make it so.
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~ Here’s wishing you the best of health ~
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Don’t forget to visit me on Facebook! 
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Good post, but I have to disagree about the calorie counting. Counting calories reduces healthy living to a never-ending suffer-fest of self-deprivation and annoying maths. It does not need to be that way.
In reality, the majority of cravings today comes from under-nourishment and the willing exposure to unhealthy environments. Most people today are actually over-fed and under-nourished simply because they consume foods with a very low nutrient density (they therefore eat lots of calories, but very few nutrients). Their bodies crave nourishment, but are only fed empty calorie junk-foods.
Your point about our environment being filled with all sorts of temptations is certainly valid, but it does not have to be that way. You can build for yourself a healthy micro-environment within this unhealthy macro-environment to make healthy diet and exercise completely automatic (as it should be). This is actually what I have just started blogging about.
Hello Schalk, thank you for your input! I have forgotten to add that our cravings are also due to the fact that are foods are high in taste but low in nutrients and so our cravings are our bodies’ way of requesting or demanding nutrients we are not providing it.
In response to, “You can build for yourself a healthy micro-environment within this unhealthy macro-environment to make healthy diet and exercise completely automatic (as it should be).”
I fully agree, after proper education I am fully aware of how overwhelming our environment is; filled with one fast restaurant option after the other and I have created an environment of my own. I skip the burger king by going to my local supermarket and purchase a meal from my local deli or I skip the dunkin donuts by carrying my own breakfast, lunch or snacks.
When it comes to the start of one’s weight loss journey I do believe counting calories is a essential. One of the main reason people do not wish to do it is because they are not willing to put the time and effort.
Counting calories builds awareness and understand; and eventually that awareness will become a natural thought which will replace the need to count and carry a journal anymore. Once it’s a natural habit, wise choices will be made visually without having to look behind the a box for information.
Thanks for your input! Will visit your blog
Sounds like you have a good strategy for protecting yourself from the self-destructive environment we live in today
But I’m still a bit hung up on the counting calories thing. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I have never been overweight so I don’t have any personal experience to draw from, but do such laborious strategies really work in the long term? Could you give me a percentage long success rate for such an approach for example?
The unfortunate facts are that overweight, obesity and the degenerative diseases that follow with it are increasing across the globe. And this is in spite of the other unfortunate fact that the billion richest people spend more money on diet products and programs than the poorest billion people spend on food. It is therefore quite obvious that whatever we are trying at the moment is simply not working.
From my point of view, asking a person to eat healthily and exercise regularly within the environment we live in today is much like asking a politician to always tell the truth – it just ain’t gonna happen. Asking them to count calories and deprive themselves is not addressing the root cause of our self destructive environment and therefore (theoretically) will have a very low success rate.
Sorry about being so pesky. I’m pretty new to this and I’m definitely not a diet expert, but I am a research scientist and we scientists always try to identify the fundamental root cause of any problem before we attempt to find any solutions.
Thanks for you help,
Schalk
Reblogged this on Lose Weight, Love You.