You Don't Have to Count Everything to Get Results
Something I hear frequently from followers, clients and even friends that often pick my nutrition brain..."I really don't want to count everything I eat. I'm not really interested in adding up my calories/macros all day long. Do I really have to do that to lose weight?"
Short answer: NO.
Let me remind everyone - there used to be a time, long, long ago, when we did not have apps on our phones or websites where we could log every morsel we put into our mouth. It made it much more difficult to obsess over the minutia of our daily nutrition. Yet, somehow, our society was healthier back then than it is right now. Go figure! "Back in the day" we used paper and pen to log our foods (I'll let you in on a secret: when I did competitions, all my foods were logged with pencil and paper).
I actually think that the constant logging, calorie counting, macro counting and analyzation of one's nutrition can actually be detrimental. Let me explain: before you started your meal plan with your Instagram "Macro coach", you weren't obsessed with how many grams of carbs, fats and proteins you took in each day. If you ate 140g of carbs one day and 200g the next, you didn't even know and more than likely, it didn't hurt you any. But after working with your IG coach that has 100k followers (therefore, must be credible) you can't eat a meal or drink a beverage without pulling up your My Fitness Pal app and searching the database to find out exactly the macro breakdown of what you're about to eat. And if it doesn't fit into what you're supposed to eat that day, you feel like you blew it. You've failed. There's no way you're going to tell your IG coach about this. Perhaps instead you do extra cardio in the gym or you skip a meal to make up for it.
This is not a healthy mindset. This is not something you can sustain long term. If you are not a competitive physique athlete...STOP COUNTING EVERYTHING!!! Write down what you eat if it helps you be more mindful but you don't need to analyze it. A handful of M&Ms (raises hand!!) is some sugar and fat. You don't need to count it but if you need to write down "handful of M&Ms" so you acknowledge that you ate it, fine.
So let me tell you what you DO need to do to get results:
Portion control: if you don't already know, educate yourself on proper portion sizes. Learn what 4oz of chicken breast "looks" like. You don't need to weigh and measure it. If you're in the ballpark, it's fine.
DO measure things like salad dressing, mayonnaise, nut butters, butter, oils, sauces and dips. These are the kinds of things that are easy to over-do. The portion sizes are not very big so check the label and do you measuring.
Log it if you need to. It is helpful to keep track of what we're eating especially if you have a tendency for mindless eating, which we all do at some point in time. When I'm PMSing I can easily put away a whole batch of chocolate chip cookies if I'm not careful...ok, I may be exaggerating.
Get a nutrition plan that is easy to remember and easy to follow. Need help with that? https://www.juliechristene.com/coaching
Once you learn what food combinations work best for you, stick with those. Most people find what works and repeat all week long. Build in a few "fun" meals that are different from your daily meals to add variety and keep you on track the rest of the time.
Many people struggle with the OCD mentality that can come from overanalyzing their nutrition. I guarantee, you do not need to do this to get results. Remember...we all lived without these tools for a very long time. Let yourself off the hook and keep it simple!