Understanding Calorie Counting: Preparing Yourself For Success

For our first series ever, Black Girl’s Guide To Weight Loss will be explaining calorie counting, and ways to win the war. This is post 5 of the series – post 1, Defining The Basics of Calorie Counting, can be found here. Comments are always welcomed, and questions will always be answered to the best of my ability.

Let’s be real. This thing gets tough. It’s hard to give up your favorite dishes when you find out they’ve got a million calories. It’s hard to give up your favorite drink when you realize each one takes up 1/6th of your caloric total for the day. It’s easy to say “To hell with this, I’m going to Burger King.” Trust me.. I know.

To prepare yourself, take some time – in advance – to scope out some healthier alternatives to your daily intake. If you KNOW that driving past that Panera Bread is gonna make you stop in, find a different route to work. Do what you can to avoid temptation, and eventually the foods that you’re avoiding will not only lose their appeal, but they’ll become less “rewarding” to your body (meaning, you won’t get that “Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…” feeling), thus making you less likely to indulge in them.

I know some people carry a notebook or a diary all day and mark every little calorie written down… but let’s face it – that’s not a viable option for everyone. So let’s set up a sample scanario. You’ve set yourself a daily calorie level of 1400 calories. Make it easy on yourself. Break it down! 300 calories for breakfast, 400 calories for lunch, 700 calories for dinner! Ta-dow! Nothing to keep track of over the course of a day. No borrowing of calories from breakfast for lunch. Set yourself a strict goal, and each day try to get closer to maintaining it. You may not get it on point for the first few days, and that’s ok – habits developed over a lifetime won’t be erased overnight. If you’re used to getting/giving yourself what you want, it’s not going to be easy to change that. It’s ok to accept and embrace that.

When I first started calorie counting, I was cheating like nobody’s business! I have a recipe for homemade queso, right? Why was I eating it for breakfast – well over my calorie limit for that meal – and skipping lunch? I mean, my queso is deliciously healthy.. but an oversized pot of it? Naw, man! No good! Do you know how painful it is to overeat at breakfast, and not eat until dinner? Path of destruction, right? Losing the battle before I could even reach the field, right? Just awful! Don’t do it to yourself. Just… don’t.

Looking for other posts in the Understanding Calorie Counting series? Check the links below!

• Understanding Calorie Counting: The Basics
• Understanding Calorie Counting: What is it? Calorie Counting Defined
• Understanding Calorie Counting: Creating Your Calorie Goal and Being Honest About It
• Understanding Calorie Counting: The Payoff – Why Am I Doing This To Myself?
• Understanding Calorie Counting: Preparing Yourself For Success
• Understanding Calorie Counting: A Final Word