Calories - Counting them and Weighing Food

STOP! There have been many cases where people have lost weight without counting a single calorie. There are some simple strategies that we will go through to help you control calories on a daily basis. The first thing you need to ask yourself is... How do you know if counting calories is for you? The only thing that you can do is try it and see how you get on. If you can't get to grips with counting calories, then try some of these handy tips. Remember though if your not prepared to count calories it will only get you so far on your weight loss journey.

Counting Calories and Weighing Food

Knowing how much you eat is a huge help when it comes to losing weight as you can plan your meals around your daily target. This doesn't work so well for everybody though so try out the following to see if you can lose weight without getting your calculator out:

• Eat your Greens:

Vegetables contain huge amounts of fibre, which keep you full. Research has shown that adding extra amount of vegetables to a calorie deficit diet has improved weight loss/fat loss (8). Try having half your plate full of colourful veggies and this is a great start.

• Eat more Lean Protein:

Simple but effective. Protein has a powerful satiating effect, again keeping you full. Eating a combination of protein and vegetables has been shown to restrict calories (9)

• Portion Control

For example your portion of protein could be equal to the palm of your hand. A portion of carbs will be equal to the size of your clenched fist, and a portion of fat will be equal to the tip of your thumb, and for nuts you can choose a handful. Use your hands to measure your food, you don't need to be super accurate with scales.

• Eat Slowly

It takes time for your body to register fullness, after a while it will send a signal to your brain saying it is satisfied. If you eat more slowly, you stand more chance of consuming less calories. Take your time over meals so if you can, aim between 15-20 minutes.

• Drink More Water

Drinking water can make you feel fuller. Also sometimes you may think you are hungry but in fact you may be a little dehydrated. Aim to drink around 2 litres of water a day to keep yourself properly hydrated. Obviously, if you are more active then you will need to take in more liquids so just keep that in mind.   Exert from ‘No FADs, No Gimmcks, Guide to Losing Wight’ by Scott Edmed and SJ Fitness. http://sj-fitness.co.uk/free-starter-pack/   For more of my work follow my Blog, Facebook, Twitter.  

References -

1. L D Whigham1, A R Valentine2, L K Johnson3, Z Zhang2, R L Atkinson4 and S A Tanumihardjo2 . Increased vegetable and fruit consumption during weight loss effort correlates with increased weight and fat loss. Citation: Nutrition and Diabetes (2012) 2, e48.

2. David S Weigle, Patricia A Breen, Colleen C Matthys, Holly S Callahan, Kaatje E Meeuws, Verna R Burden, and Jonathan Q Purnell. A high-protein diet induces sustained reductions in appetite, ad libitum caloric intake, and body weight despite compensatory changes in diurnal plasma leptin and ghrelin concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr July 2005 vol. 82 no. 1 41-48.