My Journey of Releasing My Mind from the Burden of Counting Calories
Read my story and discover the keys to freedom!
I used to count calories to stay thin for years. I would set my daily calorie intake a few hundred less, compared with the standard number of calories I could consume without gaining weight.
I developed a pretty good sense of the number of calories different food items contained by checking their packaging labels and other sources of info over time. It’s not rare that people around me would hear me ask them, “do you know how many calories this food item contains?” when we were around food.
I was not testing their knowledge of food calories, but expressing I wouldn’t choose the food item due to the fact that it’s high in calories.
When I was entangled in this destructive habit, I ate food with my mind consumed on calculating the number of calories I already ate that day, while people simply lived in the moment and enjoyed their food.
In those days of my life, my food choices were relatively simple and boring because it’s easier to count calories and keep the calorie intake lower.
Calorie counting influencing food choices
Nowadays, people are caring more and more about the important health benefits good cooking oils can bring them. Back then, I also paid attention to what healthy oils to choose. But I remember I bought a bottle of olive oil when I started my graduate school studies, and the majority of that one-and-only, medium-sized bottle of olive oil remained unconsumed when I graduated after two years.
I was into healthy diets, but the mental mechanism that made the ultimate decision of my daily food consumption was set up based on the number of calories.
Disordered eating begetting more problematic behavior
Control, calorie restriction, a consuming mind, and twisted practices of healthy diets all contributed to forming a bad relationship with food, which could set the stage for even worse self-sabotaging behavior, such as binge eating, especially when life challenges emerged. I have been there and done that.
How to get back on the right track?
I would like to say it’s an overnight change that I got rid of disordered eating, but it’s not. I grew out of it over the progress of time.
Now I don’t have a daily calorie intake limit anymore. Does that mean I am fat now? No. Sometimes people would tell me, “ you look so thin!” And I would answer them, “my weight fluctuates.” And it does, within a reasonable range.
I have a much healthier relationship with food now. Sometimes I eat more. It could be because the weather is cold or I simply enjoy the food and want to eat more. And when I feel my jeans get tighter, I will eat less to even out the weight gain to feel comfortable with myself again without counting calories.
My mind was released from unnecessary burdens. And you know what? The weight loss happened easily within a week or two, which was not the case back then.
Food used to be something to be tackled with, and now it’s the source of enjoyment and the spice of life, in addition to providing energy and nutrients. And It’s really fascinating and intriguing to find out how different kinds of food can help a human body solve certain problems and enjoy better health and energy.
For example, black tea can help decrease cavities; salmon, a good source of B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids, is really good for your brain, and cacao decreases cortisol and adrenaline, thus reducing stress.
How to free your mind from counting calories?
If you are experiencing the same bondage and would like to be freed from it, there are ways to put an end to the mind-consuming chapter of your life and start to build a healthy and beneficial relationship with food. I will address this in the following two aspects:
First, in terms of weight issues, the sustainability of staying thin or keeping the lost pounds off from counting calories is debatable. There are other easier and healthier ways yielding better promises, such as sensible eating with satisfying foods, combined with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, like what French people do, and a low-carb diet.
Secondly, I hope you will soon one day open your eyes to the health benefits different kinds of food can bring you, the fun the varieties of food can add to your daily life, and the enjoyment the creative dishes or exotic food can bring to your taste buds.
To make lasting, constructive changes in life requires awareness, efforts and transformation from the inside with information and new perspectives.
I hope my sharing can encourage you to walk on a new, rewarding path with food. And one day, food will no longer be associated with the word of control for you, but enjoyment, instead!
