Do calories count?

I wish I could tell you that they don’t — and that you should just forget all about the pesky things.  Unfortunately, it isn’t so.   Any type of diet or eating plan can be sabotaged by eating too much.

The good news is that there are a multitude of other things that affect weight loss and gain.  I don’t think I’ll run out of amazing things to tell you for a very long time!  There are lots of things you can do to help your body work for you instead of against you.

For a start, if you haven’t already read it, take a look at my “autopilot” post which tells one of the main reasons people gain weight.Click here to learn about your autopilot. By constantly giving our bodies the message to “store fat” we have turned these wonderful machines of ours into champion fat producers.

But back to calories.  Think of it as an “energy balance.”  The food you eat is used as fuel. Any extra is stored tidily away in the cells, ready to be used to keep us running if times are lean.  That’s a wonderful plan, and our ancestors who lived in a time when food supplies were uncertain saw the benefits of that design.  And I do mean design.  I believed we are designed individually by a wonderful Creator who knew just what He was doing!

But for us, the food supply is all too readily available.  The calorie-laden goodies fairly scream at us to come eat them!  Add that to our marvelous technology which makes us sit more than ever, and we have a serious calorie imbalance problem.

How bad is our problem?  If you were keeping your calories in/calories out even and added just 12 calories a day — about three/fourths of a Ritz cracker — you would gain a pound in a year.   Who eats 3/4 of a cracker?  Eating about eight will give you an extra 13 pounds when the new year rolls around.  And that’s just a few crackers.  Most of us can easily put away more than that — which is why about 3/4 of Americans are overweight and nearly a third of those folks are obese.

Now some good news!  If you eat mostly low glycemic foods, you will be eating foods that are lower in calories. Click here to learn about the Green Light/Red Light eating plan. For many people it will be enough to just to go by the index and they won’t have to bother with calories. If you are like me, though, you will find a way to eat too much of a good thing.  For those of us who tend to be obsessive, I’ll have more about calories soon.  We’ll talk about how many you need to be at your goal weight and how to manage to stay there.

In the meantime, I hope the lists are being helpful to you.  Remember to eat mostly from the green-for-go lists, with some from the yellow.  Avoid the reds as much as possible.  Just doing that will make a difference and give you a good start to a healthier, happier, stronger life for you!

Any questions?  I’m a feedback junkie and check for comments several times a day — so please let me know if there is something specific I need to make more clear.  I’m here for you — so don’t hesitate to ask for help.

Coming up tomorrow:  I plan to make Saturdays our recipe day.  Check in for one of my favorite low glycemic  dishes.  And don’t forget to drop back by at 2 p.m. for slump time encouragement.

Eating to live and living for Christ,
Susan