Don’t Count Calories…Make Calories Count

Happy Friday!! Did you make a New Year’s Resolution? Are you still sticking with it? I don’t make resolutions but rather work on making healthy habits throughout the year. A lot of my clients don’t want to or don’t like to count calories and I personally don’t like to do it either. I’ve done it before and I do feel that sometimes it’s necessary but not always.

I started up my 52 Healthy Habits emails again this year and this week is all about making small changes starting with creating a healthy eating schedule. If you want to check it out you can sign up for my emails and join our private Facebook group.

Part of making small changes before jumping in and worrying about how many calories you actually are eating, is to make sure you are actually eating. This is where making calories count comes in to play. If you don’t have a healthy consistent eating schedule then you will most likely end up binging on junk food or driving through the fast food lane.

Here are some tips to start making your calories count:

• Reduce caloric beverage intake and replace it with water. It’s hard to give up coke and orange juice, but they are both a source of needless calories. If you like the fizzy goodness of soda than swap it out for a healthier option like Seltzer and add fresh fruit to it. And eat whole fruits instead of the juices.
• Cook more meals. When you control what ingredients go into your food, you can be certain that you are consuming less calories, fat, sugar, and salt. Eating out, even at healthy restaurants, are usually supersized meals meaning you end up eating way more than 1 portion size.
• Read nutrition labels so that you can decide what products suit your needs. This includes both the nutrition facts label AND the ingredient list. Overly processed foods should be avoided. The healthiest foods have minimal ingredients and whole food ingredients.
• Sleep more. This bit surprises folks, but studies have shown that people who get a good night of sleep are less cranky, and resist the temptation to eat unhealthy snacks.
• Learn to love yourself, at all body sizes. You can be “skinny fat” which doesn’t mean you are healthy and you can be bigger but very healthy. Everyone has different body types and no matter what you body image goal is, love your body every step of the way. When you are overweight and depressed and not in love with your body you tend to give up and make unhealthy food choices. Love your body and feed it the nutrition it deserves.

What are your healthy eating and non-calorie counting tips that work for you?

Stay Healthy my Friends!

XO,

Carrie A Groff