Hate Counting Calories? Here’s A Better Approach

Raise your hand if you hate tracking your food and counting calories.

I’ve personally tried it a handful of times and it gets far too time consuming and becomes an obsession of did I log my food yet?

Most of us are far too busy for this and our hectic schedules don’t leave much room for logging every bite you eat.

But there’s also another issue here: is counting calories really necessary?

Or can you improve your health — and dare I say even lose weight — without keeping a close watch on what’s going in?

After all, you’ve probably heard that you just need to eat less and move more for weight loss to happen.

But is that really true?

I was surprised to learn through a recent podcast I worked on that science continues to prove that there are better, more effective approaches that don’t involve meticulous tracking.

Jonathan Bailor, a New York Times Best Selling author of The Calorie Myth and his latest book The Set Point Diet, explains what 1,300 Harvard Medical research studies have concluded and he shared this information in this podcast episode.

I’ll discuss what stood out to me in this resource, including how we got to this point and what can be done about it.

So to start, it’s important to answer:

Why Do Calories Matter All of a Sudden?

If you think back to our ancestral days, it’s easy to imagine that they hunted their own food and gathered the fresh vegetation that surrounded them.

It’s also pretty clear to picture that they didn’t have to count calories.

As long as they were able to eat, they were good.

So when did this become an issue?

Without giving a history lesson, I can tell you, based on Jonathan Bailor’s recent podcast, these came into the picture when packaged foods starting blowing up.

And now it’s so bad that food manufacturers are using calorie manipulation to their advantage.

For example, counting calories gives food manufacturers a chance to make their products appear healthier and less bad for you.

The best example I can think of here is packaged drinks like iced tea and soda.

Most people drink one bottle at a time, yet the serving size is usually 2-2.5.

However, the only thing you see on the label is the half a serving calorie count, which doesn’t look so bad.

Some labels are starting to change this by showing the entire calorie count per bottle but not all of them do.

The problem is that these calories, whether half a serving or a full one, are empty calories, ones you shouldn’t be consuming to begin with.

So even if your half a bottle of soda is only 100 calories doesn’t mean it’s any better for you.

And this same thing applies to the second tactic food manufacturers are using, according to Bailor.

I’m sure you’ve seen that some restaurants offer “healthier” menu items that are usually lower in calories and come with a side of veggies.

The problem is that these items are just as an unhealthy and fattening.

The only thing that they did was reduce an already bad for you meal into one that’s just not as a high in calories, as Bailor mentioned in the episode.

This is completely misleading and false advertising and it’s done at your expense.

Not only that, Jonathan also brings up the point that you’re also paying more for these seemingly healthy options.

You’re actually paying more for less as he puts it.

So does this mean that you don’t have to worry about calories if it’s just a tricky game manufacturers are playing?

Not exactly.

Calories still matter and this isn’t a free pass to overeat.

However, it’s not something you need to obsess over if you’re following the right strategy, which I’ll share shortly.

But before I do, there’s one more major point to touch on first:

Your Body Has a Natural Set Point That It’s Trying to Maintain

Have you ever felt like, no matter what you did or ate, your body was stuck at the same ol’ frustrating weight?

It’s not just in your head and your body isn’t different from anyone else’s.

Science has proven that your body is trying to maintain a set point, or a set weight in this case.

Just like your body maintains your temperature, it’s also keeping your weight at a level that it thinks is best for survival.

This level includes extra fat storage just in case you run out of food in the near future.

It’s also why contestants on the Biggest Loser gain over 100 pounds back despite their radical transformations.

And no matter how much you try to starve yourself and over exercise, your body will still fight you on moving your set point.

This is one of the reasons why weight gain is so much easier than losing weight.

But the next question that often comes up here is: why would your body increase its set point to the point of being overweight or obese?

The best analogy that Jonathan gave was: your set point is like the thermostat in your house.

While you set the temperature to a certain degree and it usually keeps your house at that level, it can break down at any time.

You may see this in the summer when your house is hotter inside than outside; a sign that your AC is down.

In the winter, your heat may not be doing its job which triggers you to realize something isn’t right.

This is the same mechanism as your body’s internal set point.

It’s not that you don’t have the right weight gauge, it’s that yours is somehow “broken” and just needs a repair.

And this mechanism isn’t just limited to your weight.

You have a similar process working to keep your blood pressure and blood sugar at optimal levels.

When these are out of whack, you see things like hypertension and diabetes.

So these protections exist in your body, but, to a certain point, they can break down and will need to be repaired just like your house’s thermostat.

The good news is that it’s possible to change this situation, given the right approach.

However, it’s not the same strategy that most people are used to.

Bodybuilders, for example, drastically cut their calories and increase their protein in order to lean out and get ready for a show.

If you’ve ever met someone who’s prepping for a competition, then you’ve seen firsthand how every bite is measured and obsessed over.

They also exercise anywhere from 1-3 times per day.

As many former bodybuilder competitors admit, this leads to unhealthy eating habits and obsessive disorders.

And it’s not just bodybuilders who are affected by not eating enough calories.

For many dieters, cutting calories to a drastic amount leads to binge eating and a never ending cycle that teeters between starvation and overeating.

So if undereating and over exercising don’t work to reduce your set point, what does?

Here’s How to Move Your Set Point Without Counting Calories

If you don’t want to spend every second of your day tracking calories, than you need to ditch the high calorie packaged foods and opt for nutrient dense whole food ones instead.

These foods fill you up faster and will help to keep you full longer so you’re not hungry within twenty minutes of eating.

They can also help you cut down on snacking.

Nutrient dense foods are loaded with essential micronutrients that can also help with things like hormone regulation, metabolism, and weight loss.

Foods in this category also initiate the right processes in your body.

So instead of spiking your blood sugar and throwing off your body’s insulin regulation, they’ll have just the opposite effect and can help stabilize your blood sugar levels, giving you sustained energy throughout the day.

On the flip side, eating highly processed foods that are packed with sugar and starchy carbs will cause a massive spike in your insulin and, overtime, can lead to things like diabetes.

But it’s not just packaged foods that do this.

Seemingly healthy options like corn and apples can have just as much of an impact on your blood sugar levels.

To avoid all of this, follow Jonathan’s simple formula, in this order of importance:

1. Eat non starchy vegetables – these have less of an impact on your blood sugar levels
2. Opt for nutrient dense proteins
3. Include whole food fats like avocado, coconut oil, and nuts and seeds in your diet everyday (Be careful with nuts though. I’m taking a break from them as we speak to see if they’re giving me a reaction)
4. Enjoy low fructose fruit sparingly — we’re talking 1-2 per day tops
5. Engage in resistance training — not CrossFit extremes, just adding weights or using your body weight for resistance
6. Eat whole foods until you’re too stuffed to even add one more bite of processed foods

If you want to cut down on sweet cravings, you need to up the nutrition of your food intake.

Do this and you’ll have no trouble getting rid of your sweet tooth.

Understanding your body’s natural type can also help you find the right foods to optimize your figure. I talked about exactly how to do that in this guide.

But, no matter your type, these simple principles, which elaborate on Jonathan’s simple formula, should also be followed to the letter:

1. 50% of your plate should be covered by non starchy veggies.

If you can eat the vegetable raw, it’s a non starchy veggie, according to Jonathan.

So corn, potatoes, and other starchy vegetables like that that need to be cooked first should be avoided.

If you can eat it raw, it will lower your set point.

If you must cook it, it could raise it. That’s not to say that you can’t cook your non starchy veggies, rather, that just means you don’t need to to enjoy them.

2. Opt for deep leafy greens like spinach and kale over carrots.

3. Aim for 12 servings of vegetables per day, trying to get 3 at each meal.

4. Nutrient dense proteins should cover a third of your plate. Foods in this category have most of their calories coming from protein. Examples include oysters and clams — which are the best in category here, organ meats, fatty wild caught fishes, grass-fed meats, low sugar protein powders, egg whites.

6. Enjoy low fructose fruits sparingly.

Not surprisingly, many fruits have been genetically engineered to be sweeter and subsequently have a much bigger spike in insulin.

Because of that, most fruits at the supermarket are not going to improve your metabolism, despite the fact that you’re eating something deemed as healthy.

Some fruits can have as much sugar as a can of soda which, even though it’s coming from a whole food source, can still impact your blood glucose levels.

To avoid this, reach for berries and citrus fruits which give you the nutrients without as much sugar.

Lemons are also really good for you and won’t deliver a sugar hit to your system.

7. Pay attention to serving sizes.

This is different from counting calories.

When it comes to portions, you need to fuel your body.

5. Include healthy whole food fats in your diet such as eggs — which win best in class, whole fat Greek yogurt or kefir, nuts, seeds, cod liver oil, chia and flax seeds, olive oil and olives, avocado oil and avocados, coconut oil, macadamia nut oil.

Undereating, especially when it comes to protein, is only going to lead you to a binge where you’re so starving, you could eat a horse and end up eating way more than your deficit.

On the flip side, fueling with the right amount will keep you feeling energized and ready to power through your day instead of needing a nap halfway through it.

To do that, keep these serving size recommendations in mind:

1. Aim for 3 vegetable servings per meal. Steamed veggies like spinach shrink up to nothing and can easily be incorporated at every meal
2. Enjoy 3-6 servings of protein per day. A serving depends on the size of your palm
3. Consume 2-6 servings of whole food fats, this depends on your body type. For me being an endomorph, increasing my fat intake is better and helps ward off cravings
4. Have anywhere from 0-2 servings of fruit, and your palm should be a guide again as far as how much to eat in one sitting

I know this may seem like a ton of information being thrown at you, or that counting calories may be easier after reading this, but trust me, this will get better.

Do this enough and it will become second nature in no time.

Change Your Set Point Naturally and Without Counting Calories

Now that you know you don’t have to count calories to improve your health or lose weight, that doesn’t mean you can leave here and eat without care or regards to what’s going in.

Follow the tips in this guide to ensure that you’re eating in a way that optimizes your health instead of making it worse and you’ll have no trouble changing your set point.

And to do that, reach for nutrient dense whole foods — ones that are packed with essential macro and micronutrients — instead of high calorie packaged foods, eat the right serving size for your body, and engage in resistance exercises as often as you can.

This simple formula is one of the best medicines you can give your body, along with getting more sleep.

If you want to hear the complete podcast episode, use this link to learn more.

You can also email me direct at devan@behappynothangry.com if you have any questions on today’s topic.

To never counting a single calorie again,

Devan