The secret to losing or gaining weight lies in the number of calories. For weight loss, you must take in less, or expend more calories. For weight gain, the opposite is true and to simply maintain weight, a balance has to be achieved. Counting calories is not an easy daily task, and that is why so many people give up on using this as a weight loss aid.
Time Consuming
In today's society, most of the day is filled with things to do. Finding the time to eat, other than in the car, can be enough of a challenge. Calculating and recording the calorie content of all your foods will use precious time as well. You will have to read every food label, determine your serving size compared with the one on the label, then calculate total calories. Or you will have to look up the calorie content of foods that do not have labels, such as fresh fruits. Once you calculate the calories in your meal, the total has to be logged into a journal so you can determine your total daily or weekly calories.
Myths
Another reason for the difficulty in counting calories: the myths surrounding them. Fox News lists five of these myths, including the belief in negative-calorie foods, reduced-fat foods and the ability of exercise to wipe out all calories. These myths can distract even the most determined calorie counter. Remember this fact: If a food contains proteins, carbohydrates or fats, it contains calories.
Habit
Counting calories is not a habit. It is not something you have been taught since childhood. It is something you can learn and will become a habit if you repeatedly do it, but in the beginning, calorie counting is difficult. As you continue, you will be able to identify proper portion sizes, which will help when calculating calories. Also, you will be able to remember the calorie content of the foods you eat most often.
Margin of Error
Another challenge that occurs when counting calories is portion size discrepancy. When reading a food label, you will see a section labeled "calories." If you record that amount in your food journal, you might not be tracking the appropriate number. You also have to look at the serving size and how many servings each package contains. If you eat an entire package of four servings at 100 calories each, and only record 100 calories, you actually have eaten 300 more than that.
Exercise
The IDEA Health and Fitness Association says fitness is key to weight loss. When counting calories, it is important to know how many calories you use during a workout. This causes another difficulty in tracking calories because not everyone exercises at the same intensity level or for the same amount of time. Calorie burning can be estimated, but for the average exercise participant, it cannot be precisely determined.
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