Tracking your food using My Fitness Pal (MFP) or counting calories using the flexible dieting approach, is in my opinion the best way to reach your goal weight. Although this is not the ONLY way to lose weight, I have succeeded using this approach as have my clients, which is why I would only ever promote something THAT WORKS 100%. That said, when does tracking and taking account of your calories become more harmful and detrimental? Is there a fine line to it becoming obsessive and even harmful to your physical and mental health? Today I bear all.
THE BEST WAY TO REACH YOUR GOAL WEIGHT
Our clients are successful because we encourage and educate them on nutrition, calorie intake and training. In addition, we promote healthy relationships with food and provide accountability as well as guidance if they fall off the wagon. We educate where they fail to understand why carbs aren’t evil, or why it is not necessary to be starving whilst on a diet and why you DO NOT need to be on low calories to drop weight. Yes, the majority of our clients are fat loss and they succeed and get body transformations because they are accountable to us AND they have the responsibility of accounting for their calorie intake with guidance on a good eating structure. At the same time, they are not being deprived of everything they love and enjoy. You’re probably thinking; is it actually possible to have a meal out or a drink or two and still drop weight? If it was that impossible, why is it our clients succeed and why is it we have done it ourselves (Anton and I?).
Tracking your calories is the quickest way to succeed. There’s no chance of guessing and estimating. Although tracking in MFP is still not 100% accurate it is probably the most accurate you will be (as long as you’re weighing your food). People fail to understand why they aren’t losing weight and they claim to be ‘eating healthily’. They may believe they are consuming 1500cals when in fact they could be eating 2000cals. They may think the milk in their 2 cups of tea, the tablespoons of oil in their salad or their tablespoon taster that goes into their mouth whilst cooking dinner are not calories, and are simply ignored due to how small the amounts are. In fact, not accounting for those could be the reason why your fat loss phase is becoming slower and maybe even unsuccessful.
Knowing your calorie deficit macros (the calories required for you to drop weight) and tracking those actual calories and including everything you consume as well as accurate weighing alongside training and a high output is nearly always the reason why people cannot do it by themselves, they simply aren’t doing these things, they need a Coach like us to work out the mathematical equations for them. People do not know what calories they need to drop weight, or they start themselves on calories far too low to be sustainable and yet again, they are destined to fail because they are guessing with everything. STOP GUESSING AND SPEAK TO SOMEONE THAT KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE DOING.
WHO I THINK SHOULD BE TRACKING
People who aren’t in a healthy weight range or those working towards a specific goal should be tracking, if they want it done accurately and quickly. To put it bluntly, this level of accuracy saves you a lot of time. I have tracked for mini-cuts where I’ve lost 10-15lbs, I have tracked to compete and got down to my leanest state (losing over 28lbs) and I have tracked to gain muscle and eat in a surplus (eating more than burning) in order to gain muscle (putting on 15lbs over a long period of time) and ensure I was eating enough pre-show. Tracking has its place and time and is purely dependent on the individual and their goal. This is not to say tracking is for everyone, but for me, it was the best thing I did to know EXACTLY how much I was consuming and where I was lacking in certain macronutrients. Tracking was the quickest way to see if I was going over a certain amount, whether I was lacking in vegetables and fibre, or if I was hitting my protein number. Keeping a food diary kept me accountable to myself and to my coach.
When I first started tracking, it felt like a long and painful process. I was very slow that my dinner would be cold by the time I weighed and inputted everything, but it was vital for me to understand EXACTLY how much I was consuming. It was annoying having to scan everything but now it has become second nature when I do track. It was interesting when I first began that I was actually eating more than I realised, and my protein intake was ridiculously low. It was also interesting to see that different brands of food have slightly higher calories than others. It was unbelievable to discover that just 2 tiny teaspoons of oil have 84cals! You learn so much with tracking: your intake, your consumption, the types of food you have more of and what your eating structure is like. Plus, it means it’s a quicker route to reaching your goal weight. One of the most interesting things that a client learnt when her weight didn’t drop one week was how many carbs could be in a salad. After feeling a bit disappointed that her weight didn’t drop this particular week, I asked my client what she consumed that was different. She said she had started making a lovely salad, filled with tomatoes, onions, a tiny bit of oil and other healthy things you’d usually put in a salad. At that point I said that I wanted her to weigh and track EVERYTHING that was in this salad. We both laughed about it in a session when she discovered that after doing just that, she was overeating on 20g of carbs every single day. Over the week, she was technically overeating 140g of carbs! And to put it in perspective, 140g of carbs= 560 calories. So, there was no wonder by overeating on 560cals a week that her weight didn’t drop. So yes, you CAN still overeat on healthy foods and YES, this is an example why tracking can be very useful when trying to reach a specific fat loss goal.
WHO I THINK SHOULDN’T BE TRACKING
There are many fundamentals to tracking which leads to success. But, can it also be harmful? Well, the answer is yes it can, depending on the individual. If you’re someone that has suffered with a severe eating disorder or is currently in recovery, do I think it’s healthy for you to track? Certainly not. If you have had a history of being obsessive with food and numbers, then yes it can be damaging and can cause a person to undereat seeing those numbers on your phone screen. Tracking can become obsessive and like I said, it has its purpose and NO ONE should be tracking forever. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. If you’re not needing to drop weight or you are happy where you are, then is it really vital for you to track everything? No. Most people know what a heathy structure of eating looks like, so to be honest, even just being mindful of portion sizes is good enough. Going by how you look, feel and how your clothes fit are other good indicators. But, it could be interesting to try it out for just a week to see where you are lacking, if you’re someone that can.
SHOULD YOU TRACK FOREVER?
No. As mentioned already, it is not normal to track for the rest of your life. Use it strategically to reach your goal if you are wanting to drop weight OR even if you are building muscle and need to put on weight to check you’re eating enough. You will gain so much knowledge of calories and food amounts when you do track that slowly moving away from it, you will know how to eyeball amounts and have a guess at how many calories are on your plate. When I look back at tracking meticulously for 6 months to get on stage, it was very hard to come away from that daily ritual. It made me realise how obsessive it could become. I found it very difficult to move away from just eating normally, eating different meals or eating just when I was hungry without military precision and without overthinking the numbers. My coach had to set me goals early on like NOT weighing and tracking veg, NOT weighing and tracking my ketchup. Eventually, moving away from it over a couple of months or so was necessary and beneficial for my mental health.
Now, I only ever really track if I’m in a dieting phase, not really if I’m maintaining or putting on muscle-observing what my bodyweight does and taking photos of my physique is enough for me to decide what my goal is. Tracking is great but remember, if something is making you unhealthily obsessive, unhappy, or guilty than you shouldn’t be doing it.
Need a Coach to work out your calories and to guide you on tracking to reach your ideal weight? DM us today FOR FEMALES @natashakostalas FOR MALES @antonkostalas and head to www.kostalaspt.com to see some of our amazing transformations!
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