You Don’t Need to Count Calories. Seriously.

This might sound like blaspheme coming from a nutrition coach, but I really don’t recommend it for the vast majority of people.

A short while ago I ran a 90-day challenge with a group of about 30 clients.

The plan was to set individualized habit-based actions with each client and then layer in additional habits as each person became comfortable with the previous step.

Out of those 30 people, one client - who we’ll call Jack -  was 100% convinced that he wanted to set his targets based on hitting calories and macros rather than consistently executing lifestyle habits like everybody else in the group.

My gut told me it was the wrong move, and I did advise against it, but Jack was particularly insistent. 

He was an “advanced” trainee and he was 100% sure he would be able to stick with it.

(To be fair, he had a lot of years of training under his belt already, so I get where his mindset came from on this.)

So, I did all the necessary maths to calculate the exact calories and macros to get Jack the results he was looking for and set him up with a very structured plan.

Want to guess what happened?...

Yup… out of the 30 clients I was working with at that time, Jack got the worst results. 

He still made improvements, but not nearly as much as most of my other clients.

You see, while everyone else worked diligently on implementing one small action, nailing it, and then adding another, (resulting in 4-6 new habits per client by the end of the challenge) Jack spent the whole time trying to adjust his entire nutrition plan at once.

He had some days where he would nail it, but for the most part, it was too big a jump from where he was when he started to the “picture perfect” scenario that the plan required in order to work properly.

This is a classic example of why the best plan on paper is not always the best plan in practice.

On paper, Jack SHOULD have had the best results out of everybody.

In practice, that would have required that Jack live in a vacuum where his whole life revolved around supporting his training and nutrition.

Does this mean there’s no value in understanding calories, macros, or how to read food labels? 

No, that’s not what it means. But it DOES mean that - in most cases - your energy is likely better spent determining what ACTION you can take on a daily basis to move you closer to your goals. 

And then doing it.

Understanding that change is a PROCESS best taken one step at a time is the key to long-term success.

If you hire a coach - in any field - please know that the best thing they can do for you is help you identify what your next step is and help you create a plan to CONSISTENTLY execute that one step. 

Then they can help you determine the best step to take after that.

If you’re looking for help with this, hit the “Get Started” button on the menu to schedule a no-obligation Discovery Call. We’ll chat through your goals and talk about what a solid plan to get you there would look like.