Good morning !
How are you doing at getting your workouts in? I know life gets in the way sometimes and we don’t get to exercise as much as we would like to. Maybe you’re on vacation as you are reading this, or perhaps you got an injury that’s making it extra difficult to be as active right now. Whatever the case may be, there’s one thing to remember. YOU
CAN STILL LOSE WEIGHT. Remember, exercise helps you to be able to consume more calories while you lose weight which certainly makes it a little easier, but at the end of the day it still comes down to calories in versus calories out. That means even though you may not be burning as many calories as you would like to be, you can still be losing fat during this stage of life. What if you don’t like tracking your calories though? Well, you have a couple of options. One option is to go on a
restrictive diet. I’ve never really understood how this is better than simply taking a few minutes to track what you eat and being able to eat whatever you want, but for some it’s just not worth the extra inconvenience. Going on a restrictive diet could look something like cutting out anything with added sugar, going on a whole food diet, Mediterranean diet, vegetarian diet, basically anything that doesn’t allow you to eat a bunch of sugar and processed foods which will likely land you in a
calorie deficit, resulting in weight loss. I have no problem with going that route if it’s something you plan on doing for the rest of your life. Where the problem comes in is that most people use these diets as a way to lose weight and then go back to eating the things they actually enjoy eating (having no clue how much they can afford to eat) which results in putting the weight back on and getting caught up in a yo-yo style of dieting, losing a bunch of weight, and then putting it back on. I
also don’t fully understand why it’s “easier” to be on a restrictive diet than it is to simply enter what you are eating into an app and still be able to eat things you enjoy. I would think if you can have the discipline to not eat sugar for a couple months or do the Paleo diet for a couple months that you could also be disciplined enough to simply track your calories, but some people just really despise tracking their food! If it’s really that simple and you just hate doing it, then I have
another option you can try. You’ll have to lower your expectations a bit though. If you’re expecting to lose a specific amount of weight in a specific amount of time, you may need to adjust your goal to fit with what you are willing to do and how much discipline you are willing to have. This tactic is more of an “eyeballing it” strategy that still works pretty well for many people, but it isn’t as precise so your results may vary. You can still make slight adjustments based on the results you
see each week, but I’ll explain the tactic before going any further. Below is an example of the basic idea. It’s measuring your food through portions, using your hand as the measuring tool.
![A plate of food with a hand and a plate of meat
Description automatically generated](https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/MTc1NTcyOA==/original/c80a688b3b47495eae483b16e5965dbc.png)
![A close-up of a recipe
Description automatically generated](https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/MTc1NTcyOA==/original/1972272bbd8a456587ed24d8cfbbe16a.png)
The obvious question should be “what portion should I be getting of each of these things? Well luckily, since you are in this challenge, I’ve already figured out the amount of protein, carbs, and fats that you should be eating each day. All you need to do now is a little bit of simple math. Let’s just say that your macro split is 120g of Protein, 140g of Carbs and 70g of Fats. All you would need to do is divide each of those
numbers by the numbers in the hand portion chart above. So, 120g of protein divided by 20-30 would be 4-6 portions (or palms) of protein per day. 140g of carbs would be 4.6-7 portions (or cupped hands) of carbs per day, and 70g of fat divided by 7-12 would be 5.8-10 portions (or thumbs) of fats per day. One of the reasons this can be a little less precise is because obviously every food isn’t a lean source of each macronutrient. If you’re eating a sub for instance, it can be a little difficult
to measure in this way. My recommendation is that you still eyeball it to the best of your ability and play it on the safe side. Whether you’re tracking every calorie or using the hand portion guide, either way you will quickly realize what I’ve already mentioned multiple times. If you eat healthy whole foods, you can actually eat a lot more food than you might have expected. If you eat highly processed foods or foods that are really calorie dense (especially simple carbs and fats), you won’t be
able to eat very much. Again, it’s not that you can’t have things you enjoy, but it’s all about portion control. Maybe this tactic could be a different way that could help you if tracking your calories isn’t something you’ve been sticking with well. If you go this route, you still have to count everything. Meaning, if you use butter on something you have to use up a portion or two of your fats for the day. If you have a handful of sour patch kids, you should probably use 2 portions of carbs
because they are going to be higher in calories than a complex carb like a whole grain. NO CHEATING! Where a lot of people cheat and don’t count their calories is usually on the things that they absolutely need to count. If there’s anything you could get away with not counting it would be vegetables, but the little snacks, oils, butter, sauces, dressings and drinks that many people neglect to count have some of the most calories. Hopefully this alternative will help you if you’ve been struggling
to stick with calorie counting, or perhaps you could use it in combination with tracking. When it’s inconvenient to track your calories, perhaps having an alternative method will be a powerful tool in your belt! One last thing I need to make sure you understand is that calorie counting 100% works! Perhaps the reason you aren't sticking with it is because you've never seen it work since you've never successfully done it before. I promise you it does work if you truly stick with it and are
patient. Maybe the reason some people find it easier to go on a restrictive diet is because they believe it's going to work. Eating the things you like and still losing weight may seem too good to be true, but it isn't. I promise you that the reason those restrictive diets work is because it puts you in a calorie deficit. You need to still ensure that you're getting 70-80 percent of your nutrition from healthy whole foods, but there's no reason you can't still enjoy the things you like. There's
probably a lot of healthy food you like too, but many diets don't take your preferences into account. They have you eating bland food that you don't enjoy. Why not eat your favorite healthy foods, foods you would normally eat? Learning portion control with foods you prefer is the best solution and it's one that works. Not only does it work, it works better. Keep up the good work, and don’t give up! The process works, you just have to be consistent and patient.
Talk soon!