Comments on: Dear Diary, I’m through counting calories

By: Sassy

Sassy — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:30:12 +0000

Wow. I just found your blog from Kelly’s this morning and just wrote a comment there about how counting calories ssemed unhealthy (for me) because of the mental/emotional ramifications it has. Interesting to see this post just afterwards. Thanks.

By: monica

monica — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:49:44 +0000

Adam, wow! Awesome response! I too seem to take the cyclical approach. Every few months I can sort of sense myself losing grip of my portions (one too many trips to the Indian buffet!). Then I’ll start writing things down for a while. The gradual approach is a great idea that I had never considered. I seem to take an all-or-nothing attitude towards these things which isn’t necessarily productive. In truth, even weighing and measuring for just a day is bound to be revealing…

DR - thanks! Yes, it’s a great way to be mindful of my actions. But sometimes I worry I’m being too mindful, i.e., constantly obsessing about food! =)

By: DR

DR — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:53:04 +0000

I think that tracking your food/exercise is an effective tool because it helps you become mindful of your thoughts / feelings / cravings and ultimately your actions.

Congrats on sticking with it!

Most people try to journal and quit after a few days.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:32:54 +0000

For myself, I’ve found that I need to be cyclical in my approach to recording my nutrition. I have a natural genetic talent for weight gain. And since I am in the wellness industry, obviously I have to be very careful not to let that talent express itself.

I will generally go through periods where I write everything down, including exact portion sizes. During these cycles I will pay close attention to overall calories and macronutrient breakdowns, usually setting pretty well defined goals to shoot for with all the numbers. HOWEVER, these cycles usually don’t last very long. I plan them for 3-4 weeks or so, and I’ll only do that 2-4 times during a year. Otherwise they just aren’t sustainable in my opinion.

At other times, generally following one of the “weigh & measure” phases, I’ll do an “eyeball” phase. So I’ll control portions by eye. During these phases I may or may not keep a log.

And at other times I’ll simply set guidelines for the types of foods I’ll allow myself to eat and I won’t limit portions or do any type of recording. During these periods though I keep a pretty close eye on the scale and the mirror to make sure I don’t let myself slip too far.

Being cyclical is a good approach in that it allows you periods of great liberty mixed with more disciplined periods that remind you what various portions “look like.” Weighing and measuring every now and then might also give you a bit of a shock. It’s easy to slip into some pretty hefty portion sizes.

With clients, I find I need to take a very gradual approach. At first, we just go with general guidelines of what types of foods should be “sought out” and which types of foods should be “reduced.” I’ll only ask them to journal their food in the 3-4 days before I see them each session, so that we can talk about their choices and I can coach them to a better understanding of what they are doing. Only once they have been with me for a while and I see they are ready will I ask them to go through a total immersion in the “weigh & measure” approach.

Thanks for the post. I think this is a very important topic.

Cheers,
Adam