A Nutritionist On Why This Is The Year To Stop Counting Calories

It can feel like an impossibility to resist the diet and weight loss pressure that has become synonymous with the start of a new year. And yet, reclaiming your health and finding peace with food often happens in the absence of counting calories, or manipulating body shape and size. Diet culture takes a reductionist view by quantifying food as a series of numbers, which effectively robs us of the natural pleasure inherent in the eating experience.

The first step to creating change is to develop awareness around your current patterns of behavior. Spend time reflecting on the following questions: What is the flow of your typical day? How would you ideally like your days to unfold in the new year? Highlight the areas that need your attention, particularly around your connection with food. 

The following are examples of healthful habits to create this year:

Schedule meals and snacks: Establish a consistent routine around meal and snack times to fit your daily schedule. Focus on eating about every three to four hours throughout the day to maintain stable blood sugar levels and balance mood. Your eating schedule is closely linked with sleep patterns, so be sure to implement a consistent sleep cycle.

Our mindset while eating affects not only the quantity of food we consume but also how well our bodies are able to digest and absorb the nutrients present in the meal. Simply put: How we eat is just as important as what we eat. Mindful eating is a process of training yourself to become more conscious of each bite by noticing the cues of your body during mealtimes. Researchers are reporting powerful evidence that mindful eating improves health indicators and decreases stress-related bingeing.

A recent study1 looked at whether mindfulness-based eating practices and stress management techniques could improve the health of 194 adults with metabolic syndrome. Compared to the control group, there was no significant difference in weight loss, but the mindfulness group had higher levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, lower levels of triglycerides (blood fat that can clog arteries and increase risk of heart disease), and improved blood sugar control. 

Carefully selecting the words used to describe meals and snacks will help you create a more gentle, nourishing relationship with food and your body. Although it has become the cultural norm, morality has no place in describing food, which is not inherently "good" or "bad." Yet the shame that accompanies eating a so-called bad food is one that takes a physical and psychological toll on the body.

Rebecca Solnit offers my favorite definition of perfection in her essay "Coyote" published in The New Yorker, stating, "So many of us believe in perfection, which ruins everything else, because the perfect is not only the enemy of the good; it’s also the enemy of the realistic, the possible, and the fun." 

Her words could not be more true when describing our everyday diets! Don't we all wish to experience the realistic, the possible, and the fun at mealtimes?