Something along those lines is what I hear every time I mention to someone that that is my husband’s and my method for losing weight this year. Other often heard phrases are, “It’s too time consuming!” and “That’s not the way to make sure you’re eating a healthy diet!” Both of these statements can be true. It is time consuming to determine how many calories we will be putting into our mouths at any given time, but it also forces us to stop and seriously consider every single item that goes into our bodies. Do we need those calories? Case in point, my old family recipe for coleslaw. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of oil. I eliminated this by accident a few years ago after forgetting to add it, and now my mother has removed it from hers because there is no difference in taste without the oil. So why should I put those extra calories and fat into my body? Save those calories for something better, whether it’s extra dessert or a second helping of potatoes.

The other statement about not being the way to make sure we’re eating a healthy diet? I think I already explained it. When I removed the oil from the coleslaw dressing, it was replaced with an extra serving of potatoes. A vegetable, a member of the 4 basic food groups has replaced a fat and I’m happy with it. Now, this is not always the case, but this is one of several good examples. No matter what your dieting method, any time you make a conscious decision to swap one unhealthy thing for a healthier item, or just in hopes of another item, you have made a healthier decision about your diet.

After people get past their initial inhibitions about calorie counting, the next question is HOW we do it. We both prefer the hand-written method, with some help from The Daily Plate, and make use of scrap paper or the refrigerator white board to keep track of our daily caloric intake. We also have an Excel spreadsheet we use to keep track of our weight loss and caloric intake, but it’s nothing fancy, just a record keeping tool. For those of you constantly on the go who like the hand written method, Five Star makes 2 and 3 subject notebooks that have pockets in their dividers. In these pockets, you can cut out the Nutrition Facts from favorite packaged foods or new items recently discovered and keep them so you can also keep track of fats, proteins, or whatever else your heart desires. They are also available in larger sizes (like 8.5×11) so they fit very easily into purses or your bag of choice. You could also use a planner style notebook and keep the cutouts in a pencil bag. That should make you feel super young. Remember having your Lisa Frank pencils and markers in one in, like, 5th grade?? 🙂

That’s my rant on calorie counting, and I’ll be sharing more food knowledge as I learn it. I’m excited to have the time and resources to really learn about nutrition.

What’s your favorite food substitution?