Why I still count calories...

Preamble ramble:

This 'post' is actually the introduction to the post that I accidentally published a couple of days ago about labels and calorie-counting. It wasn't quite ready then, but now the real post is up.  I wanted to say a few words before you read it...

First I'd like to say that in this day and age when 'intuitive eating' is the healthy holy grail, my post may not speak to everyone.  It might even be slightly unpopular.

I have tried intuitive eating without tracking my calories many times and somehow it always ends in weight gain.  Truth be known, I used to consult regularly with one of the two original nutritionists who wrote the book entitled Intuitive Eating.  I've also been to many Geneen Roth lectures and read her books.  So far, it hasn't clicked for me.  I said "So far."

So while I do not restrict my calories, I take a certain pleasure in keeping track of them.  If I have a day that is a bit higher than I'd like, it feels oddly freeing to document it in my little rainbow notebook (there, I admitted it) and move on.  At the moment, I do not feel ruled by the numbers, nor do they feel like a problem to manage.  At this time, tracking data seems to be the only thing that keeps my weight in a comfortable zone.  Maybe it is the 'accountability factor.'  I'm not entirely sure.


Incidentally, my number-tracking is not entirely about vanity (despite my tongue-in-cheek remarks indicating otherwise.)  It is about fitting into my existing wardrobe and feeling comfortable in my own skin.  I gave up the hopes for being uber lean about three years ago.  Now I am just striving for 'normal.'  I've already relaxed some of my 'rules' so I feel that I am headed in the right direction.


What does this preamble ramble have to do with you?

If you can eat intuitively without relying on stats and numbers, then I strongly urge you to continue to do so.  Please do not start weighing food, calculating macronutrients or counting calories just for the fun of it.  It's just like drinking wine.  Just because a tea-totaler wants to reduce her risk of heart disease, does NOT mean she should take up drinking red wine! 


So without rambling on even further, I'll direct you back to the original post on calorie-counting and nutritional labels.


I hope that someone gets some benefit from it and that you don't throw virtual tomatoes at me ;-)