Do I have to count calories?

Like most things about nutrition, the answer is simultaneously simple and complicated. It is a cliche but true that "you don't have to count calories but calories do count."

In order to lose weight you must be in a calorie deficit - you must be taking in fewer calories than you are burning. This is hard to achieve if you have no idea how many calories you are consuming in the first place or how many calories you need to consume on a daily basis in order to reach your target weight.

If you do want to count calories things are much easier than they were a decade ago. Then you need to buy a calorie counter book with pictures of all the most common foodstuffs and their calorie breakdown.You could then record this information in your food diary and work out your calculations from there.

Now apps like MyFitnessPal make recording your calories so much easier. Your most frequent foods are stored and you can store meals and record them with one click. MFP also has lots of meal ideas and food tips (this is all within the free version).

Just be aware that calorie trackers are not particularly accurate but that is not where their value lies. What they are great for is keeping you accountable. When you are tracking your calorie consumption this way you are more likely to stop and consider what you are eating and how it will impact your calorie target in a way that we tend not to do otherwise.

Some people are just not interested in numbers and find recording the calorie content of each meal too tedious. If you are one of these people, what can you do? An effective option to consider is the Hand Size Method (this is something that I have used successfully as a Precision Nutrition coach). This tracking style gives you a number of cupped  handfuls of carbohydrates, palm size amounts of protein and thumb size amounts of fat to have at each meal (yes everyone has different sized hands but, with the notable exception of Donald Trump, your hands are usually in proportion to your frame). Unlike prescriptive meal plans, this is quite easy to use as it takes into account your individual food preferences.

Also, the more you track calories the better you get at it. The aim is to get to the stage where you can "eyeball it" - roughly estimate a meal's calorie content just by looking at it. Once you get to this stage you won't need to track - unless you stop getting the results you want (then a short period of tracking will be enough to reset).

In conclusion, if you are looking to lose weight it makes sense  to use some method of tracking what you are eating. What method you use is down to your own personal preference - remember, the one you can stick to for long enough to work is the right one for you.

I put on 3lbs of fat in a weekend!

We have all heard someone say what is in the title (or being honest, have said it ourselves). But surely, if that is what the scales say, how can it not be true? This is a very good example of how we can take a piece of information ( the scales show a 3 pound weight gain) and come to a conclusion that is not correct (I have gained 3 pounds of fat).

Constantly changing

The answer is found in the fact that your weight is in a constant state of change. It is influenced by lots of things -  hydration levels, hormonal fluctuations,  what you have recently eaten and when you last went to the toilet!

The good news is you can’t put on 3 pounds of fat over a weekend - your body just doesn’t work like that. So where has this mysterious weight gain come from? And equally important - where does it go?

Suspect No 1

The answer is found in what you have recently eaten and the effect this has on your body. If you eat a lot of ultra processed, hyperpalatable food (translation: most things that taste really yummy or anything you can buy in a garage that’s not fuel!) the chances are it will contain high levels of sodium (salt). Your body will retain a lot of water in order to balance out this extra sodium in your system. This extra water will alter the number on the scales. That’s suspect No 1.

Suspect No 2

Suspect No 2? Carbs. Before we go any further, this is not an attempt to demonise carbohydrates but rather to explain the short-term effects they have on your scale weight. Carbohydrates (found in bread, rice, pasta but also vegetables) are all eventually broken down into sugar to give you energy to fuel your activity and are an important part of your diet. In order to store carbohydrates in your body you also need to store water (each gramme of carbohydrate needs 3-4 grammes of water for it to be stored).

Water retention

 So if you eat a whole pizza (isn’t it cruel just to leave those last few lonely slices by themselves?) you will be consuming a large amount of carbohydrates and you will retain a large amount of water in order to store them. This shows up on the scales and our understandable conclusion is “I’ve put on weight!”. 

Three days later, your body has processed this food, the water you had retained in order to store it is no longer needed and has been lost through bodily fluids etc. “ I've lost that weight from the weekend!” You never really had it in the first place - it was just visiting. 

4 Measures of Progress

If the scales can’t be trusted - in many ways it can be but we can’t be trusted to interpret the information  -  is it then useless? Not necessarily, but it's more useful to give you a long term perspective, not a snapshot over a few days. 

We always advise our clients to use 4 ways of measuring their progress if weight change is their goal: the scales (over a long period); tape measurements; progress pictures and clothes. All of those things together will give you a much more accurate reflection of your progress.

To sum up - use the scales by all means but think about what it is actually telling you! 

The Scales - To Use or Not to Use?

When you are looking to manage your weight it is important to have some way of gauging your progress. One of the ways you can do this is by using scales. It is ONE way or measuring progress - it is not the ONLY way.

And for you, it may not be suitable at all.

How do you know if you should use the scales? Molly Galbraith, founder of Girls Gone Strong, has a very simple test - a straight forward “Yes” or “No” question. And what is that question?

“Does the scales turn you into a crazy person?”

If “Yes” then ditch them. If “No” then go ahead and use them - ideally in conjunction with other progress measures. These include:

• Progress photos

• Measurements (using a tape)

• Clothes (ideally an item of clothing that is just that bit too tight)

By using a range of progress measures you get a lot more information. And the more information you have, the clearer the picture you get.

Only if there is NO POSITIVE CHANGE, in ANY of the progress measures you use, can you say you are not making progress. If this is the case, then you make adjustments to your calorie intake.

Change is a gradual process that takes place over weeks, months and years. Because of this, paying too much attention to the normal daily fluctuations in weight that we all experience can cause unnecessary frustration.

Why going “cold turkey” may not be the answer…

We often think the way to improve our diets is to cut out the “bad stuff”. This will certainly make a difference - minimally processed whole foods that are satisfying and nutritious are preferable over ultra-processed, unsatisfying but moreish junk food. 

But how realistic is it to just cut these foods out completely, and does it work?

In a study at Penn State University, researchers asked 186 women—who they classified “overweight” or “obese”—to rank the “foods you can’t resist and find hard to stop eating.” 😋

The foods that most frequently topped the participants’ lists:

1. Ice cream 🍨

2. Chips 🍟(being the USA they probably mean crisps!😄)

3. Chocolate 🍫

4. Cookies 🍪

5. Pizza 🍕

The scientists then had participants follow a 12-month weight loss program, and monitored their strategies for managing these “problem” foods. 

The result: Overall, the total avoidance of problematic foods—what you often see on “extreme” diets or “quick-fix” weight loss plans—wasn’t an effective strategy. 

So what did help?

✅  Limiting the portion sizes of problem foods—instead of giving them up altogether—was strongly related to weight loss. 

✅ In fact, participants who used this strategy the most lost, on average, nearly double the weight as those who used it the least (15.8 pounds versus 8.3 pounds).

To be sure, if some foods make you feel out of control, you may want to put some boundaries around them. That doesn’t mean you can never eat them.🙅‍♂️

It just means you’re aware they might be a problem, and you’re going to be intentional about how and when you eat them. (A nutrition coach can help you with this👍)