To Count or Not To Count

A lot of times we hear that if we want to lose weight we should count calories. As with all things, even this should be done in moderation.

Counting calories can be a pain. Who wants to pull out a notebook everytime they grab a snack? On the other hand, if you know you have to write everything down, you might not be as quick to grab that handful of trail mix. And studies have shown that people who write down everything they eat, actually do eat less calories.

Another bonus of writing things down is that most people grossly underestimate how many calories they're eating. So writing things down is actually an educational process. All those months of eating trail mix and thinking it was just a quick snack? Did you know that a cup of trail mix is almost 700 calories? That's more than half of my day's caloric requirements. Yikes.

A good compromise is to write down what you're eating for a few weeks. This will give you a good idea of how many calories most of your meals and snacks are. Once you have a better grasp on what you're really eating, you can lay off writing everything down.

All I know is there won't be any more trail mix in my cupboard.