Counting Calories Doesn’t Work???
by Scott Tousignant · Filed Under: Nutrition
I recently received an email from a very upset woman who really laid it into me and and told me that “Counting calories doesn’t work!” First of all, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and views. I respect that. However I do have a problem with people taking a dogmatic approach to fat loss and discounting all other methods as irrelevant and ineffective.
I could feel the frustration from this valued reader and fitness enthusiast. I can empathize with her over the struggles of weight loss… and I can agree that counting calories is not for everyone (my wife Angie cannot stand counting calories) as I will get into very shortly. But to say that counting calories doesn’t work is absolute nonsense and a totally false statement.
It’s certainly not entirely her fault for thinking this. I see the marketing messages of many diet programs and fat loss ‘experts’ telling you that counting calories doesn’t work, quickly followed by… “oh, and by the way, please buy my book that teaches you how to lose weight without counting calories” 
It’s easy to buy into this belief when the ‘expert’ does a really good job of playing on your emotions about your previous failures to lose weight when you were trying to count calories. But was it really counting calories that caused you to ‘fail’? Did the program fail or did you fail the program.
Counting calories takes hard work and effort and in my humble opinion it certainly helps to be in the frame of mind that you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal and you are willing to put in that effort because you know that the pay off will be tremendous.
I’ve been listening to several success story interviews from Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat Inner Circle lately while doing cardio. Many of them are absolutely incredible stories of regular folks who have released over 100 pounds from their body. Guess how they did it? Yep… counting calories certainly played a key role.
Don Dolecheck’s interview was a real treat to listen to. After going through the process of releasing over 100 pounds through calorie counting he sounded like an absolute fat loss expert. He’s really educated himself in all areas of fat loss and he has taken action on what he’s learned. It’s really exciting to see that he’s now in the process of adding muscle to his body after achieving his fat loss goals.
Hannah Mauck interview absolutely inspired the heck out of me. She’s a busy mom of 3 and was still able to release 6% body fat in just 50 days my counting calories. She used a phrase that I’ll never forget. She said, “I refuse to be a human garbage disposal.”
Tom gave a warning to the Burn The Fat Inner Circle members prior to listening to the interview with Hannah… “After hearing this inspirational winner’s interview, you’ll never be able to make excuses like, “It’s impossible to lose your stomach fat after having 3 kids!”
I LOVE that! Way to go Hannah!
Burn The Fat success story Larry Withrow released 120 pounds by including calorie counting into his fat loss plan. Larry also adopted a powerful mindset and incorporated social support into his successful journey.
Now tell me… if you were surrounded by people like the three Burn The Fat Inner Circle members above, would you not be inspired to become the best that you could be?
I too, have sculpted my body by counting calories. There have been several times throughout my adult life that I have recorded my transformation in a journal and documented all the food, calories consumed, workouts, calories burned, my goals, and my thoughts within it.
Because I have put in the hard work I can pretty much effortlessly eat well and have a pretty darn good idea of how many calories I’m consuming. That’s why I say I’ve been able to live the ‘Naturally Thin Lifestyle‘ for the past two years. I haven’t needed to count calories, but when I get serious about getting super lean I will resort back to the journalling for a short period of time.
As I mentioned earlier, Angie doesn’t enjoy counting calories and I don’t believe that she ever has, yet she’s been able to sculpt a lean and desirable physique. She’s definitely the living definition of the Naturally Thin Lifestyle.
It’s important to note though… although she’s never counted calories she has kept a food journal several times during her adult life and finds that it’s been a key to her success.
It’s kind of funny… some people tell me that I’m rare and they don’t know how the heck I can count calories, yet I have no idea how the heck some people can achieve lean physiques without counting calories.
It’s in my nature to follow precise direction and work hard toward a goal with intense dedication. It gives me a high. But ask me to rely on instinct when there are a box of cookies in the house… I’d be in very big trouble
I totally agree that there are a variety of nutrition strategies and methods that you can use to lose weight without counting calories. I’ve witnessed it work for many people and my friend Marna Thall is a great example of this, which is why I love interviewing her and for the Naturally Thin podcast here have her share her knowledge with you.
Just don’t tell me that counting calories doesn’t work because that would mean I must have been dreaming during the entire time that I sculpted my body and I’d hate to think that it didn’t really happen
When it comes to counting calories and following a program by the numbers to cut out all the guess work and become certain that you will succeed, there’s no one better than Tom Venuto. I’d love to share a great article that Tom wrote on the topic of counting calories. It may be a great eye opener for you.
I’d love to hear what stage you are at from the list that Tom has below. I’m definitely at stage 4, and if I were to guess, I’d say that many of the Fat Loss Quickie blog readers are at stage 3.
How To Go From Calorie Clueless To Calorie Competent
By Tom Venuto
Author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle
Why is it that any time you hear the words “calorie counting” or “food journaling”, people start running for the hills? If creating menus, counting calories and keeping a food journal are research-proven, effective tools for nutrition awareness, education, motivation and accountability (they are), then why is there so much resistance to it?
One reason is because it’s perceived as work and hard work doesn’t sell! Another reason is that skeptics say, “What about intuitive eating?” “What about people who lose fat without counting calories?”
Sure, you could choose not to count calories and eat what you “feel” your body is asking for, but if you do, that’s called guessing. If you guess correctly and eat the right amount, you lose weight. I would call that luck! Would you rather roll the nutritional dice or bet on a sure thing?
Nutrition journaling and menu planning replace guesswork with precision.
Perhaps even more important, they are also crucial parts of the learning process to raise nutritional awareness. There’s only ONE WAY to truly understand food and how it affects YOUR body: You have to go through all four stages of the learning process:
Stage 1: Unconscious incompetence – you are eating the wrong foods in the wrong amounts and you’re not even aware of it. (You don’t know what you’re doing and you don’t know that you don’t know what you’re doing)
Stage 2: Conscious incompetence – you are eating the wrong foods in the wrong amounts, but for some reason, you now become aware of it. This is often because of a “hitting bottom” experience or an “I’m not gonna live like this anymore” epiphany. (You don’t know what you’re doing and now you know that you don’t know what you’re doing!)
Stage 3: Conscious competence – you educate yourself and begin to eat the right foods, but it takes a lot of thought and effort to eat the right things in the right amounts. (You know what you’re doing, but you have to think about it and work very hard to make it happen because you’re using willpower and still learning)
Stage 4: Unconscious competence – you’ve made the conscious effort to eat the right foods in the right amounts and you’ve counted calories and kept a nutrition journal for long enough and with enough repetition that these behaviors become habits and a part of your lifestyle. (You know what you’re doing and you do it easily and automatically without having to think about it).
I think the concept of intuitive eating has merit. If we listened to our body’s true signals, I believe that our appetite, our activity and our body weight would properly regulate themselves. The problem is, in our Western, technologically-advanced culture with an obesogenic environment, a sedentary lifestyle, social pressure and food cues tempting us at every turn, our intuitive bodily wisdom constantly gets short-circuited.
In our modern society, being able to eat by instinct and successfully guesstimate your nutrition or trust your feelings of hunger and satiety are not things that come naturally or easily.
The only sure-fire way to reach that hallowed place of unconscious competence where eating the right foods in the right amounts becomes automatic and you truly understand YOUR body is by going through the nutrition education process.
Two simple ways to count calories and get this nutrition education you need are the meal plan method and the nutrition journal method.
The Meal Plan method
Using software or a spreadsheet, create a menu plan meal by meal, with calories, macronutrients and serving sizes calculated properly for your goals and your energy needs. You can create 2 or more menu plans if you want the variety. Then, follow your menu plan every day. You simply weigh and measure your food portions to make sure your actual intake matches your written plan. With this method, you really only need to “count calories” once when you create your menus. This is a method I use and recommend in my Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program.
The Nutrition Journal (Food Diary) Method
Another way to track your nutrition intake is to keep a nutrition journal or food diary, either on paper or with an electronic device, software or website. This is more like “calorie counting” in the traditional sense. Throughout the day, after each meal, you log in what you just ate, or at the end of the day, you log in all your food for the entire day. The former is the best option, since people seem to get really bad cases of “eating amnesia” if they wait too long before writing it down.
I recommend counting calories and keeping a nutrition journal at least once in your life for at least 4-12 consecutive weeks or until you achieve unconscious competence. At that point, it becomes optional because habit and intuition take over.
You can come back to your meal-planning and journaling any time in the future if you slip back or if you have a very important goal you want to work on. It’s a tool that will always be there for you if you need it.
Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle
Founder & CEO of
Burn The Fat Inner Circle
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models.
More Articles In This Series
- Burn The Fat Inner Circle: Where Fat Loss Success Stories Are Made
- Counting Calories Doesn't Work???
- Burn The Fat Low Calorie Red and Green Scramble Recipe
- Super Lean Fat Loss Strategies
- 7 Steps For Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
- The Truth About Cellulite, Fat Burners, Hormones, and Fad Diets
- Why Some People Quit And Some People NEVER Give Up
- Why Transformation Contests Shouldn't Be Judged On Weight Loss
- How A Busy Mom Of Three Got Her Pre-Baby Body Back!
- How Dozens Of People Lost Over 100 pounds: Fat Loss Success Secrets!
Hi,
Thanks for this article. Like so many people I resist counting calories because it is hard work, at least to start, but I’ve done it enough in the past to know that it really does work for me if I let it. The timing on this is impeccable, since, while I’ve been following the UFL program and making progress, I want to lose more weight faster, so I’ve decided that beginning with my next month I’m going to add calorie counting to my routine. I’d agree with Scott that I fall mostly into Tom’s category 3 with occasional relapses into category 2. I’ve found that it’s critical for me to have at least a rough menu planned for dinners throughout the week or I am much more likely to eat less healthily even if I have lots of good, good for me food in the house. Overall, though, I’m very proud of myself for all my hard work and the improvements I’ve made so far. Here’s to being better today than I was yesterday, and better tomorrow than today! (Love that!!)
You ROCK Leigh Ann! It’s been great to hear about not only your body transformation, but also your mind transformation. You’ve made my day several times and I can’t thank you enough for that.
You are UNSTOPPABLE and I totally EXPECT great things from you.
Keep us posted on how the calorie counting impacts your results… good or bad.
Counting calories does work. I once lost 80 lbs that way. I had a WW point counting app on my palm pilot and away I went. Unfortunately, I gained all the weight back when I was pregnant. The down side was that I really didn’t eat well – I just became adept at tricking the system – I ate lots of junky food.
Counting calories also doesn’t work.
I tried counting calories the same way this time and it didn’t work at all. Although I could give you awesome stats on exactly what my macronutrient ratios were. Everything was exactly on target – but pounds weren’t budging.
So, now I’ve settled into a pattern where I’m concentrating on non-processed food, eating fruits and veggies, protein with meals and 5 meals a day. I plan my menu and write down what I’m eating and I seem to finally be able to release some of that 6 year old baby weight. For me, the emphasis on getting the veggies and fruits in rather than staying below a certain calorie target seems to work for me.
Thanks for the tip about the interviews in the burn fat inner circle – I’ll have to go listen to them:)
I remember having a conversation with you Meredith about this topic. Did you ever get any blood work done? I’m wondering if some of the foods you were eating were having a negative impact on your body even though you were within your calorie deficit?
I know that adding more fruit and vegetables to your diet was a goal of yours and it’s great to hear that you’ve been achieving that and that it’s been producing positive results for you.
It’s definitely a lot tougher to exceed your caloric intake when you are eating a lot of fruits and vegetables.
You’re going to love Hannah’s interview from Tom’s Burn The Fat Inner Circle. I recommend starting with that one.
I think counting calories is kind of like having a financial budget and/or balancing your checking account every so often. You have to know where you are at times in terms of caloric intake. But I think once you know, and can remember or ball park how many calories something has, then you probably don’t have to be as meticulous in keeping track of every little thing.
As of yesterday I started a food journal again which includes adding up the calories. But not because I overeat, but because I am often under 1000 calories a day. This “under budget” on the calorie mark has left my body in a quandry and I haven’t been able to lose an ounce for several months now, even though I do P90X workouts 6 days a week.
So it’s important for me to know that I am in taking at least 1400 calories a day from good nutritional sources. I do that by keeping track of calories for a couple of weeks to a month.
That’s my two cents.
Mellisa
Great analogy Mellisa and so true. Let us know if you blast through your plateau once you begin tracking your calories again.
I have found that counting calories does work for me. I have lost 56 lbs and a key element of the success was counting calories and keeping track of macronutrients in a daily food diary. It made me confront what I was eating when I saw it on the page. I also started to eat a lot more fresh food as processed stuff and junk food eats into the allowance very quickly. I know the calorie count of everything I eat now and it has become less of a chore as time goes on. I also have all my food values on an excel spreadsheet which makes it much easier to track them.
I really appreciate your feedback Ann. You said something incredibly powerful that is absolutely worth repeating…
“It made me confront what I was eating when I saw it on the page”
This is an interesting article… here’s my thoughts on weight loss.
Five years ago I lost weight – about 25-30kg and kept it off. I did it by eating one meal a day – at night at the beginning. As time went on I improved this one meal to the point where it was virtually a bowl of veggies. Having done all the research I have done now, I would be thinking thats the WORST way to lose weight, but somehow I managed to do it and keep it off. Early on I only did walking as exercise, then moved to swimming long distance as time wore on.
Since then I have maintained my weight, using a variety of methods, such as the one above, eating every couple of days, eating three meals a day, or eating six a day. I stuck the swimming routine for years but in the past year I have moved to heavy weights and high intensity exercise sports. All those methods have been effective to a certain degree, but none to break through that final plateau and get my body fat percentage from 25% to 20%.
Having tried everything, I would say that the one I like the best is the 3-4 meal a day method, (I just don’t have time to eat 6, and one meal a day is hard) and having a once a week cheat day. This is purely from a psychological perspective, though I think if I stuck with it I might be able to get that body fat percentage heading south.
As for calorie counting, I have never done it, but I have kept a food journal, and found it probably most interesting from an educational viewpoint. I see so much information swirling around about fat loss, and wonder how on earth I did it doing it the way that is not at all recommended. Maybe my fat loss came down to determination that negated my poor techniques. Any thoughts?
Thanks a million for your reply Jo and congratulations on releasing your excess weight and keeping it off!
You’re right, there sure is a lot of information being swirled around about fat loss… and that’s a good thing when you look at it from an educational point of view and take each component with a grain of salt and not take one single approach as the end all be all.
You mentioned that you’ve tried everything
I hear where you’re coming from, and I’ve certainly read and tried a heck of a lot of nutrition plans, but I certainly have not come close to trying EVERYTHING out there and I definitely didn’t give 100% effort to all the plans that I did try so I can’t even honestly say that I truly tried those methods.
The method that you used was not the worst, but it wasn’t the best either. But it produced the results that you desired and was a result of having a caloric deficit.
Counting calories works tremendously. I wrestled my whole life and through college…counting calories was a major part of it until I began to understand my body a bit more. I knew when I needed what and was able to fine tune things.
It is great for beginner dieters if it doesn’t scare them away.
I don’t do it now, because it was too mentally draining…but it definitely made me more aware of what I was putting in the tank.
I guess I would say I am in the middle on it.
Thanks for your feedback Mike. I’m checking out your blog now.
It’s not necessary to count calories your entire life. But doing it for a short period of time can have a very positive impact as it did for you where you no longer need to count calories.
I have a very good idea of how much I’m consuming each day when not counting calories, but when I really want to kick it up a notch and get super lean it’s absolutely necessary (for me at least). I can’t guess even though I have a really good idea. But that’s just for the short term and it’s not something I do for life. It is work… no doubt about that
But not too much work because I find that I eat a lot of the same foods and portions so I don’t have to pull out my calorie book very often.
Hello Scott and every body else around here,
This was one of a kind article. Personally, after reading many books and motivational e-books and going through a lot of training: that this is by far the most accurate definition of getting lean through calories counting that I ever red. Not only that it provides a step by step procedure but the way it was presented through the critical point o f view of a beginner and then the counter arguments explaining the necessity of doing certain thing in a certain way.
It is true that many among us encounter the same difficulty in understanding the application of certain strategies but finally this is what makes all the difference between those who are applying the experience of long time trainers and than eventually finding their own way and path and those who are never applying anything getting stucked just at the first steps. THE DIFFERENCE IT IS CALLED SUCCESS.
Thank you Scott for the time you are putting in those articles.
Well said Traian. I appreciate your continued support and involvement in our community. It means a lot to me.
My understanding is if you eat 1000 calories of refined carbs a day, you’ll put on weight. Carbs will raise your blood glucose, your pancreas will release insulin to remove the excess some of which will be stored for immediate use as energy, some of which will be stored for later use as fat. It isn’t counting the calories that’s important, it’s what goes to make up those calories. A high ratio of carbs will kick your body into fat-storage mode, but a calorie controlled diet with a high proportion of fat in it, ironically given all we’re taught, won’t.
I’m hypothyroid and I’ve recently got fed up with being a porker so I’ve done my research for myself. Interested parties could try reading Barry Groves, Mark Sisson, Peter the Vet, Zoe Harcombe and others. All have web sites and all have books available through Amazon (except Peter the Vet, I think).
BB
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions Bill. Being diagnosed by your doctor with hypothyroid presents obstacles that are unique from people with regular thyroid function. It doesn’t mean that you can’t release fat, it just takes more work and a good relationship with your doctor, as well as educating yourself which it definitely appears you are doing a significant amount of.
I agree that the quality of where your calories comes from is very important… especially from a health perspective. But what really matters is that you are in a calorie deficit to lose weight. From personal experience and the experiences of many of my peers who I’ve trained with over the years, a high carbohydrate diet actually helped us lose weight. (I haven’t followed a high carb diet in a long time, but it did work).
One time, believe it or not, I ate mostly Macaroni and Cheese as my source of fuel. That was the advice from one of my coaches
and because I was so active and in a calorie deficit I lost weight… and that was pretty darn close to a 100% refined carb diet at the time.
Would I ever do that again… heck no! I value what I put in my body much more than I did back then and I’m much more informed and educated.
Health fats are not to be feared as you mentioned, and high percentage of healthy fat (25-30%) in your diet when you are in a caloric deficit will contribute to healthy fat loss.
Thanks for sharing those resources Bill. I’ll check them out and share my thoughts on them.
for me counting calories does work because it stops me from overeating.
When I know I am on a budget I plan what I eat more carefully and don’t eat so many biscuits(my weakness) – each one is about 60 calories so they add up.
I use a site called Sparkpeople http://www.sparkpeople.com which takes the pain out of counting calories and it is totally free.
I don’t diet as such, I still let myself have the odd piece of chocolate but at least it’s not the whole bar.
I believe exercise is the best way to lose weight and one of my favourite’s is walking – it’s easy, I do it with a friend and we cover 5km every day.
Those 5kms give me an extra 300 calories a day to play with.
Thanks for sharing your experience Karen. I’ve heard some good things about the Spark People community.
I really enjoy walking myself, by myself to reflect on my thoughts and appreciate my beautiful surroundings and with friends and family while we have great conversations and enjoy each others company.
Although I have never “counted calories,” I do know that to lose weight and build muscle, a person has to burn more than he/she takes in. When I’ve fallen off the eat healthy pattern for a short time (vacations), I just remove things I know will have a high calorie count while I increase my physical workouts so I’m sure I’m burning off more than I’m taking in. Works every time for me but then I’ve been into healthy eating for many years. At my house we also eat a lot of “raw” foods that take up a lot of space but contain few calories and lots of fiber.
I also love helping others watch their diets and teaching them how to get on a healthy path. The biggest benefit to losing weight for folks to remember is the great health benefit and increased energy! Yea for Scott who promotes the right processes to meet your goals.