On Counting Calories

You want to know something that never, ever crossed my mind until last week? My dad has never counted calories. My husband has never counted calories. I have been counting calories (or at least watching my calories) for longer than I can remember. And every girl friend that I can think of has done it at least once in their life. Blaine brought up a good point when I was talking about this today: men and women generally seem to view weight loss and fitness differently. He says when a guy wants to lose weight, they start usually working out. A lot. Thinking back to men I know who have lost weight, that’s the truth. Ladies? We tend to focus on NOT eating things rather than eating the RIGHT things and using fitness to slim down. We have a long list of foods we’re not “allowed” to have, but that we want so desperately. We’d rather eat a frozen weight watchers meal with minimal calories (and nutrition) than go out and do something active for an hour. Isn’t that crazy to think about? Maybe the majority of men DO count calories, but I have a feeling that isn’t the case.

Today we took an almost 10 mile bike ride. It was my first time taking a bike ride in probably a decade. And here’s the best part: it was my first time EVER riding a bike that far, except for the stationary bike at the gym. What? My anxiety levels were sky high with cars driving by and the unfamiliar feeling of riding a bike for more than a quick ride around the block. Blaine should get a metal for dealing with my “oh my god, there’s a stop sign up there. What do we do at a stop sign?” and my “Blaine! Please ride in front of me, it makes me really nervous when you’re next to me or behind me.”

It was 4.5 miles to Del Taco for lunch, a bit of riding around town and then 4.5 miles home. I can tell you that my Runkeeper app told me I burned over 700 calories (I think that’s a bit high, but ok). I can also tell you that my MyPlate app says my Veggie Works Burrito was 490 calories, but that I let Blaine take a few bites so we’ll just call it an even 400.

I WISH I couldn’t tell you that off the top of my head.

There are two things I want in life, right now.

To live a life where I don’t automatically keep a tally in my head of the good and bad foods I ate and exactly how many calories I burned if I worked out.

To live a life where I don’t NEED to worry about calories because I’m active and fit for my physical health, my mental health and my enjoyment, not because I want to counteract what I ate that day.

Today is March 23rd, 2013. Today is the day I begin the long process of reprogramming myself to stop counting and stop with the insane obsession with the number on the scale. Today is the day I start living a full, active life where I can be  fit and healthy, really healthy, without having to worry about not eating this or working out for long enough to burn off whatever excess I ate that day.

Would you like to join me?

It’s a little sad, but I feel like I need a disclaimer saying: I know that now all women or all men view health or weight loss exactly as I’ve posted about. I’m just posting my general opinion based on my observations, please don’t get offended.