JJ Virgin changed her mind about calorie counting. She recommends a three-week macro audit: week one to observe without judgment, week two to boost protein, week three to add non-starchy vegetables. Most people underestimate what they eat, so a food scale matters.
Hey JJ, are you pro or anti counting calories?
I have changed my mind on this. I used to be completely anti counting calories. However, what I've realized is most people overestimate how much protein they eat and underestimate how much of everything else they eat. So I think it is very important, what you measure and monitor you can improve, to do a macro audit for a couple of weeks. And the first week, all you're going to do is get curious, not judgmental. As to what you're eating, use a food scale. Do not try to eyeball it. That got you into this situation in the first place. Then the next week, up your protein. Make sure you're getting optimal protein in. And then the next week, we, we start to look at your vegetables and making sure that you're getting all your non-starchy vegetables in. If you just do that, by the way, if you just track, generally you'll have better behavior just by doing that. So I think that we need to use calories. Calories count, but where they come from counts more. But calories, doing caloric restriction when you're really focused on cutting fat, losing fat can be effective, but is one tool in the toolbox.
