Counting calories is not something I ever encourage for anyone, ever. It’s simply not a natural way of evaluating what to eat or when or if something is healthy or not.
We were meant to eat whole foods and listen to our bodies, not add up a bunch of numbers. By sticking to the real foods and being more in tune with your body, you will not only stay slim but become more beautiful overall. Plus…it’s exhausting!
It never seems to really work for the long term, and it doesn’t take into account high fiber foods will keep you far more full than foods without fiber, so you can eat up all your allotted calories and still be STARVING! How miserable is that? When you’re hungry you’re cranky and it negatively affects your focus all other areas of your life.
Let me also point out that calorie-counting was only introduced a few decades ago, and before that people as a whole were much more slim, without obsessing about numbers, and also sticking to whole, unprocessed foods. Here’s more on this subject, which I am vehemently passionate about:
Not all calories are created equal. You won’t feel the same after eating 500 calories of French fries or cake as you will after 500 calories of a dish with high fiber quinoa and vegetables.
You won’t look the same, either, if you consistently choose to eat 500 calories of foods that rob you of your Beauty Energy over 500 calories that give your body the vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and plant-based protein it needs.
Some calories make you feel full while others don’t, so you’ll want to eat more and more when you eat certain meals or snacks (have you ever polished off a bag of chips without realizing it?). Who wants to be hungry because they ate a 100-calorie package of chips or cookies made from refined carbs and sugars instead of something more substantial? The calories you consume should be about quality, not quantity, regardless of the number.
You could stuff your face with “diet” foods with little nutritional value or eat greasy junk foods until you hit your limit for the day, but how long would that last? You might lose a little weight, but your body would eventually rebel, either from fatigue and sickness from not having enough nutrition, or from causing you to break down and binge. Some foods, like those that contain MSG (more foods than you might think, including some diet frozen dinners!), actually increase your appetite.
Other foods, like the myriad protein bars on the market, are made with so many processed ingredients that while the numbers might add up nicely, calculation-wise, they’ll be so difficult to digest they won’t keep you youthful and energized in the long-run, which leaves foods for energy!
If you get rid of all the things that are not promoting health—soda (even diet), refined carbs, refined sugars, consuming a lot of meat (acidic), and dairy—and replace those things with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, your body will begin operating more smoothly and dropping some of the weight it’s been holding onto.
Isn’t it nice to know that you can lose weight without putting too much thought into it? Simply training yourself to make better choices can encourage the pounds melt away without feeling like you’re on a diet.
Choosing whole, fresh, seasonal foods and combining them in a way that optimizes your body’s ability to digest them and remove old toxic buildup, as you learn to do in The Beauty Detox Solution, makes weight loss seem so easy compared to constantly tracking calories in foods that may or may not even be supplying your body with beauty-enhancing health benefits.
Eat great food, feel great, look great…be more loving to others but very importantly, yourself. You are amazing and perfect as you are, right now.
Love to all,
Kimberly
