"Eating Clean and Healthy" vs. Eating for Weight Loss and Fat Loss

As a trainer, coach, and gym owner who primarily deals with an adult clientele interested in losing weight and body fat (as opposed to performance enhancement), I regularly meet with prospective clients who  struggle-often times for years-with weight/fat loss and/or maintenance of weight/fat loss...and their struggles are what ultimately led them to seek out my help.

When meeting with these folks for the first time to do an evaluation and assessment, I often hear the same story. Many of these people tell me they are "eating clean" or are "trying to eat healthy", but still have not had much success in regards to weight loss and fat loss. These people often tell me how they eat "organic this" and "natural that", and how they have their freezers stocked with free range chicken, grass fed beef, and their refrigerators stocked with organic produce from the local farmers market.

When I ask them if they make any attempt to quantify all of this "clean and healthy" food they are eating, if they have any idea how many calories they need to be taking in to induce weight loss, or if they have any idea how many calories they take in on a daily basis, all of them look at me like I have grass fed cows coming out of my eyes. Somewhere along the line, people started to confuse "eating clean and healthy"-improving the nutritional quality of their diet-with eating for weight and fat loss. Somewhere along the line, most people started to believe that calories don't count.

Improving the nutritional quality of your diet-more whole grains, lean sources of protein, and fruits/vegetables-is clearly a positive and a step in the right direction. In fact, initially, improving the nutritional quality of your diet can create a calorie deficit and result in weight loss for a couple of weeks. However, over time, if you don't start to quantify the food you are eating, this weight loss will come to a halt, leaving you disappointed.

Trust me, it is very possible (I see it daily) to eat very "clean" and still over shoot your fat loss calorie requirements. Eating more organic food doesn't magically result in significant weight loss. In fact, I find, often times, those who are eating very nutritious foodstuffs end up eating even more calories than they were before because they are under the incorrect assumption that it is impossible to eat too much "healthy food". They think eating healthy food gives them a license to eat as much as they want.

Look, if you have struggled or continue to struggle with weight and fat loss, or keep losing and regaining the same 10-20 pounds over and over again, I've got news for you: IF YOU DON'T WARM UP TO THE IDEA OF COUNTING CALORIES, YOU ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE.

Weight loss and fat loss primarily comes down to a matter of input vs. output. Your input (the calories you consume...even the "healthy calories") must be less than your output in order to lose weight. There is absolutely no way around this. You cannot refute the laws of thermodynamics...although their is a segment of the population out there who will tell you, incorrectly, that the laws of thermodynamics are flawed. If you don't know (1) how many calories you need to be taking in to induce weight loss and (2) what your actual daily input is, how can you expect to achieve your goals?

With all of the above being said, it seems as though everyone I give this advice to has an excuse. "Counting calories is not practical." "I'm too busy to be that precise." "There has to be an easier way." "Can't I just eat low carb and not worry about the calories?" When I hear these types of statements and questions from people, what they are really telling me is that they don't want to work very hard to meet their weight loss goals. They are "wishers and wanters" and not "doers".

Look, I really do wish their was an easier way...but boat loads of scientific evidence tell us otherwise. While principle based nutrition modification and improving the quality of your diet are certainly steps in the right direction, unfortunately, I don't think these strategies are going to result in large scale or sustainable changes in weight loss and fat loss. Improving the nutritional quality of your diet has much more to do with providing your body with high quality fuel and much less to do with weight loss and fat loss. Bottom line: if you are struggling with weight loss, despite "eating clean", start to count calories. Yeah, I know it's tedious, but, after a couple of weeks, you'll find it's not that big of a deal. If you can stay at or below your weight/fat loss calorie requirements 80-90% of the time, and you are engaging in a consistent exercise program, you'll find your results will be significantly better.


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