COUNTING CALORIES SUCKS, AND HERE’S WHY

Shot taken in Malibu, by moi

Counting calories is something I have tried a few times, and in my not-so-humble opinion, it is seriously not good for you. 🙅🏼

Let me start by saying, if there is a diet, eating fad (ahem, looking at all you “gluten intolerant” people…), or cleanse… I have tried it. Strictly monitoring your calorie intake, is one of those things that I have indeed tried and tested.

For me, it was basically the worst.

Calorie counting is one of the first and most obvious things people will do to try and be healthier, or lose weight. Let me be clear, this is not a post about how to lose weight. This is a post about why loving yourself and eating healthful foods is always the best option.

Companies producing packaged foods are legally obligated to put the nutritional content on their labels (which I think is awesome!) and right at the top, is the calories. Food companies also use “low calorie content” as a marketing strategy. They will take foods that have negative nutritional value, make them taste good with a bunch of chemicals, and market them to us as being healthy and “low calorie.” This messaging is flashing in our faces all day, so it makes sense that so many people start counting calories to try and be healthier.

Here is my story of calorie counting, and why you SHOULDN’T do it.

Think of this like an episode of “What Not to Wear.”

Oh and as a warning, I was 100% honest and spared no details here. 😅 Might be a bit alarming for some, just an FYI.

Let’s start with the apps.

There are a ton of apps out there where you can set a daily calorie goal, you have to enter a bunch of information about your height, weight, goal weight, etc etc etc. Then, the idea is, you are supposed to enter every single morsel of food you eat into the app.

Are you KIDDING ME?

If this doesn’t breed unhealthy obsessive behavior, I am not sure what does. When I tried one of these apps, I literally became obsessed with it and it took over my life. I wouldn’t go out for dinner, because I couldn’t guarantee that whatever I was going to have for dinner would be on calorie counting app. THAT IS ACTUALLY INSANE. Do not recommend.

My second experience with calorie counting was…

When I was modeling in Milan, it was a seriously tough time for me. The European modeling market is very different from North America, and has a different set of standards. Clients wanted models to be rail thin, and basically be gaunt clothing hangers. This is obviously not my vibe, I’ve always been more successful at commercial modeling (for clothing stores, brands where actual humans buy the products, etc), so to enter this market I was told I needed to lose a few inches off my precious booty.

*Dear booty, I am SO SORRY I DID THIS TO YOU. It was wrong and I’ll never do it again.* 😭

Anyways,  in Milan I was regularly measured by my agency and expected to maintain a certain set of numbers. What being “measured” means, is you go in front of a room of people in your bikini and the agency takes a measuring tape and measures your hips, waist, and bust for size. This was in 2014 and even though it was only a few years ago, standards were considerably different than they are now. There was no such thing as curves, and the old school “all models must look like coat hangers” mantra was in full-force.

Okay now what I am going to tell you is something YOU SHOULD NEVER DO EVER. IT IS FUCKING CRAZY.

I was young, in a new market, and a hyper-over-achiever who wanted to be super successful. To maintain the measurements required of me in Milan, I restricted my calories to 700 a day, and only ate cans of tuna and salad I made at home. HOW. FUCKING. SAD. Honestly, I am so embarrassed to even write this out because it was SO SAD. *Cringe*

The reason I have chosen to tell you this story, even though I am aware this is an outlier kind of situation, is because when I had restricted my calories in such an extreme way, I didn’t actually lose any weight, AND, I noticed my skin stopped glowing, AND, I had no energy. 😵

If I knew then what I know now, and felt as fabulous as I do today (without any calorie counting and plenty of pizza🍕), I would have just done my own thing and only worked with clients who appreciated me for what I naturally am. 🙏🏻

In summary, my experiences with calorie counting have been both physically and mentally unhealthy. Obsessively counting calories did not get me the result I was looking for, and I definitely wasn’t happy doing it.

If you want to be healthy, what should you do?

Focus on mindful eating 😊

Mindful eating means eating when you actually feel hungry, and stopping when you feel full. This is something that takes active practice for me, because I loveeeeee to eat fast (as my boyfriend so kindly points out.😒)

Eat Real Food🍏

Eat nutritious foods that are whole, natural, and great for your body. If you were counting calories you would probably never eat a whole avocado, but then you would miss out on all the fabulous health and beauty benefits. Often times the high calorie foods are the most packed with nutrients! Go figure.

**ALSO A QUICK NOTE ON LOW CALORIE DRINKS/FOODS ETC: it is usually fucking poison. Don’t go there. All sorts of ungodly ingredients are created in labs to mimic the taste of real food with “no calories”. That shit will literally kill you, don’t do it.

Treat Yo-Self 🍦🍟🍕

If you overall are living a healthy lifestyle, you are a-okay to be eating junk food too. Honesly, life is all about balance. I love myself, so I eat pizza and drink all the martinis I want. 🍸 Like fuck it, why wouldn’t you? When you are happier, you will look better, feel better, and live a better life.

The point I am trying to make is food should never be so heavily regulated and reduced to calorie counting. Why? It’s bad for your mental health and your physical health. Take me as case study #1. Tried, tested, and it doesn’t work ya’ll.

What does work? The non-diet diet. Just live your life and be happy. ❤️ You are beautiful the way you are. 😍

Hopefully parts of this post didn’t traumatize you, but inspired you to eat more mindfully and live your best life. This is just my opinion based on personal experiences, and what works for me. I am not a doctor, and you should always do what works best for you and your personal health!

xoxo,