The one thing you need to do to stop counting calories

Out of sheer curiosity, I googled the title of my article before publishing it. All that came up was “how to stop counting calories and still lose weight”. The intention of weight loss is the whole problem our society is so obsessed with calories and macronutrients. It is weight loss or an innocent “healthy eating journey” that usually gets us into this mess.

The recipe for a food and body obsession

The recipe for this obsession is this. Take a society that is obsessed with small bodies, throw in a bunch of media influencers that promote weight loss and elimination diets and add in someones’ type A perfectionist character and there you have it. It is the perfect recipe for someones lifelong obsession with their bodies and with food. It is the perfect recipe for a lifelong trap. So many beautiful memories are over-shadowed by food and our bodies.

This is the question people ask me on a daily basis: “How did you stop counting calories and obsessing about food?” I want to answer this question based on my experience and the experience of my clients.

In order to stop counting calories, you have to (at least temporarily) let go of the idea of changing your body.

How can you let go of wanting to change your body?

Let me start by assuring you of the following. You do not have to love your body, in order to stop counting calories. You also don’t have to love your body, in order to be free of your body shaming mindset and food obsession. All you have to do is start by reflecting back on your past. Ask yourself: How many memories, trips and situations were ruined, because I hated my body and obsessed about the food I was eating at the time? How do I want to remember my life when I look back on it 10, 20, 50 years from now?

Our body is a vessel. It carries us through life and its job is not to look “perfect”. Our body’s job is to make sure that we are healthy, to make sure our heart is beating, our food is digested and that we can live a comfortable, happy life. Our job is to make sure that our body is able to do that. By counting calories, we throw everything inside our body off and put it straight into danger mode. When our body perceives danger, it throws all of its functions into chaos mode. Now our hormones are out of whack, our digestion is off, we feel uncomfortable and not happy.

How to stop counting calories and instead focus on the big picture

When I started my recovery journey, I knew that I wanted to stop counting calories, measure my food and track my macros. I knew this, because I took a whole hour to actually get my journal out and visualize what I want my life to look like instead. This is how I started my visualization process. I asked myself: How would my life look like, if food was out of the picture? How would my life look like if I would get up every morning without second guessing my food choices or spending hours every week figuring out my weekly meal-plan to hit my caloric goals and macros? What would I do with all this time that would free up? What would I do with all the mental space I would have all of a sudden?

I mapped it out. I drew it out and wrote down exactly what I wanted to do with my life and it was scary at first. The truth is that our pre-occupation with food and our bodies doesn’t really leave room to focus on the important things in life. For example, does my job fulfill me? Does my partner fulfill me? Are my friends actually interested in who I really am aside from my obsession with health? What is my true passion? What is my desire for my life?

I do this exercise with my clients and let me tell you, it is uncomfortable but the break throughs I see are mind blowing.

The first step you can take today

Stop counting or measuring one meal out of your day today. You can still measure and track the rest, but one meal is a free for all. Do this for one week and see how you feel. Remember that there are no rules anymore. If your meal of choice is pizza, remember that you can have pizza every day for the rest of your life. You don’t have to finish an entire family sized pizza today. You get to have pizza again tomorrow or the day after or in two months or ten years. The mentality of “I need to eat everything now because tomorrow I will start tracking again” needs to go, in order for this to work.

After a week of one un-tracked meal out of your day, move on to having two un-tracked meals for a week. The trick is to take it slow and wean yourself off this habit. After a few months, you will most likely be able to throw out your food scale, like I did and like my clients do. It is wonderful and so liberating. I really want you to experience this.

Do you have a support system?

Having support and accountability is crucial in order for a habit change to take place. If you truly want an internal transformation, I highly recommend finding someone you trust. Talk to them, share your struggles. I cant stress this enough, without having a support system, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. It is an investment that you make into your health, but also into the rest of your life.

[Disclaimer: The content of this article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, health care or eating disorder treatment.]