More is Less.

Alright, everyone all together, say this with me:

I do not need to count calories.
I do not need to count calories.
I do not need to count calories.

Now breathe in. And breathe out. 

(Repeat the above until you believe it.)

Feel better now? You should! You should be absolutely liberated from ever counting calories again and should be moving on now to two completely different metrics for your food intake:

1. Your plate. Palm-sized protein in the middle. Veggies fill the rest of it. 1-2 servings of Healthy Fat (see Nutrition Seminar notes for Fat serving sizes). Fruit is an option, but don't push veggies off the plate just to be able to include it.
2. Your stomach. Eat slowly...take a moment to enjoy that dinner you just prepared. When fullness hits you, stop. When hunger hits you, build your meal/snack based on #1 and go - even if you just ate an hour ago. Maybe try water first (sometimes dehydration feels the same as hunger), but always give your body at least a small amount of food when you are feeling hungry - otherwise, you set yourself up for a potential disaster later when you are STARVING and the only thing in reach is a package of peanut butter crackers.

As you begin to make the switch over to choosing much more nutrient-dense and healthy foods, you are going to find that your body requires much more food than you may be used to. There are two reasons for this:

1. You are now a fire-burning machine. You have convinced your body that you are going to give it Ultra Premium gasoline and it will burn through food like you've never known.
2. When we start eating fresh fruits and veggies, it actually takes a LOT more of them to fuel our daily caloric needs. Apples don't come with a Nutrition Facts label. Nor should they! But some of us really have a hard time figuring out what to do with that, don't we? I know I did when I first started.
   
   For example, a client walks in today just feeling tired. During the warm-up, she talks about her legs cramping a little. During the WOD, she continues to just feel terrible, not able to push through her walls like usual, not sure what is wrong. After the WOD, we debrief a little. And I'll be honest - I beat around the bush a little trying not to just go straight for the "diet" kill. I don't want people to think I just walk around sizing them up based on last night's fare. I really don't. It's just that I'm finding there is such a strong connection between what people are putting in their bodies (input) and what is happening in the gym (output).
   
   Anyhow, I finally got around to asking. "How's your eating going? What did you have for dinner last night?" (*Cringe for the blow). And do you know what? She had an AWESOME dinner. Veggies, fish, a little bit of fruit - all great choices. The problem? Not even close to nearly even enough. Not even close. And her story is literally just like at least five others that I've heard in the past few weeks!
   
   Now that we are switching our bodies off of the easily digestable, quickly absorbed, highly processed forms of carbohydrates, and fueling our bodies with slow-digesting, nutrient-dense, raw forms of carbs (AKA fruits and veggies), we must give our bodies the equivalent number of calories, and in most cases MORE because our bodies are having to burn calories simply to digest the foods we are now feeding it. It takes more work to burn through broccoli, peppers, asparagus, apples, grapefruit, etc. And after digesting some of these foods, our bodies are actually at a deficit in calories (broccoli and celery are a great example). Which brings me to my next big point.
   
   Calories. Are. Not. Evil. (Say it again). Actually....Calories = Energy. And if you don't give your body enough calories, it will not have enough energy. Very simple! So when you stop snacking on pretzels and a G2 gatorade (quick and easy 150 cals) and substitute with an apple (60 cals) and some water, you have made a GREAT choice on the substitution but have forgotten that your body really does need another 90-100 calories in order to feel satiated and have enough fuel for the next few hours.

So back to my very first point. Do we need to start counting calories? NO! We go back to our plate, portion sizes, make good food choices, eat until we are full, and eat again when we are hungry. After a dedicated time of making consistent choices (usually 24-30 days), we convince our body that, "Yes! I am going to start giving you enough food EVERY day now, so you can start using it immediately instead of storing it." That will be a great day, won't it. :)

Let the journey begin!