How do I stop counting calories?: Chartered Accountant, USA

By Lavina / Client Stories

I had a fear of gaining weight if I stopped counting calories
dieting just causes binges, but I couldn’t break the cycle
now I’ve lost the baby weight and I’m in control of my relationship with food

How do I stop counting calories?

In university I started counting calories. Now I have 3 kids, all under the age of 10. And until I started working with Kelly, I was still counting calories… Counting calories obviously wasn’t helping me! And I can confidently say, dieting has only caused me problems.

When I came to this epiphany I realized I had nothing to lose. So I decided to try Kelly’s process and signed up for her one-to-one coaching.

Country: USA

Career: Chartered Accountant (CA)

Age: 40

Diets I’ve tried before: Intermittent Fasting & Paleo

Preoccupying habits:

weighing myself
bingeing (up to twice weekly)
being on and off diets
grazing
counting calories

After my 3rd baby my dieting led to bingeing

Not being able to lose the baby weight since my daughter was born 18 months ago, got me just totally obsessed with trying to get my body back. But I didn’t know how to do it.

I’m lucky in that most of my life I’ve been able to easily lose weight anytime I gain a few pounds.
I was just totally obsessed with trying to get my body back— Lavina, Chartered Accountant
But after baby number 3 I couldn’t lose weight. The more I tried to lose it, the more obsessive I became. And then I’d fail after a couple days and just give up and eat lots of snacks and sweets.

When I was at my normal weight before I had my third baby, I rarely binged, only once in awhile… But I noticed that since trying to lose weight after my third baby, I was bingeing like twice a week!

And all the while I was counting the calories of what I ate while bingeing, which is so crazy!

I know dieting just causes binges, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

I need to stop counting calories because it’s so preoccupying

Before working with Kelly I literally did not know how much food I needed to eat without counting calories.

I'd miss out on fruit or skip dinner because I thought it would make me go over my target calorie count and make me gain weight— Lavina, Chartered Accountant

When I ate around 2000 calories I seemed to lose weight.

(I am not one of these women who can only eat 1200 or anything less than 2000.)

And I was so caught up with staying within a 2000 calorie range that I would often miss out on eating fruit or dinner because I thought it would make me go over my calorie number and gain weight.

But sticking to 2000 calories and eating super healthy only lasted for around 3 days. Then I’d get tired of it and just binge on like 3500 calories of snacks and sweets and lose all my progress and feel bad about myself.

Sticking to 2000 calories only lasted 3 days and then I'd binge, lose all my progress and feel bad about myself— Lavina, Chartered Accountant

Then I’d start the process over.

And never lose weight!

My typical day of trying to stop counting calories and lose weight

For years I was such a snacker and lived for snacks.

Usually I’d start off well with a healthy breakfast and lunch, but once it hit the afternoon, I just wanted all the snacks.

So I’d emotional eat throughout the day, skip meals and mindlessly snack at night.

Half the time I don’t even think I was hungry, it was just out of boredom or habit.

I don’t even want to think of all the time I’ve spent counting calories over the years

Even when I’ve been at my happy weight of 118 pounds, I was still counting calories all the time… I can’t believe how many days I’ve wasted counting calories!

I had a fear of gaining weight if I stopped counting calories— Lavina, Chartered Accountant

I probably had this same behavior pattern when trying to lose weight when I was younger. But at age 40, it was so much harder. And I just really wanted to stop counting calories and stop this cycle of bingeing.

My frustration was that I couldn’t just eat like a normal person every day.

Counting calories is exhausting.

But I had a fear of gaining weight if I stopped counting calories.

After just a few weeks of working with Kelly I’ve experienced huge, positive changes

First, eating in the simple way Kelly teaches allows my body to feel healthy and I have way more energy.

The best part is I can focus on my kids and career because I’m not consumed with dieting and feeling guilty about what I ate. Now I don’t even want snacks!

I’m eating more and my clothes are fitting better!

Since I stopped counting calories and stopped dieting and began eating properly instead, I’m not grazing anymore and don’t want to snack all day. I don’t even have the urge to mindlessly or emotionally eat in the afternoon or after dinner. I’ve stopped having cravings!

Also I’ve lost this baby weight and I feel more confident fitting into my clothes. So I know my new healthy pattern is affecting me positively.

I’m excited to continue this eating pattern because along with feeling positive changes in my body, the most important thing is that I know Kelly’s simple way of eating will make me mentally and physically healthier in the long run.

I could stop counting calories because Kelly taught me to go back to the basics

One of the best things I learned is that I don’t need to count anything to be healthy.
I can eat more and lose weight— Lavina, Chartered Accountant
And I feel free because I’m not even thinking about dieting! Which gives me peace of mind.

But the biggest surprise is that I can eat more and lose weight.

Now I understand that real food won’t make me gain weight!

I can eat a banana, milk, peanuts, rice, cook with olive oil, etc. Just like everyone else!

And my eating choices are rubbing off on the whole family. My kids are actually asking for fruit instead of processed snacks!

When I couldn’t stop counting calories ALL I did was think about food all day

Since I quit dieting and started eating healthy meals, even eating sweets is easier.

For instance, yesterday I baked cookies for my kids and was only going to have one, but they were so good I had two cookies. I feel okay about it because it’s not something I do daily.

But before working with Kelly I would have felt super guilty and then probably had a third cookie because my mindset was that I “ruined” my good day.

Now it’s so liberating to not worry about what I eat.

And with Kelly’s method, I never go hungry.

I can enjoy my kids and life

Because I’m not:

worrying about weight gain
counting how many calories I just ate
or calculating in my mind what I can eat for dinner (after eating too many snacks)

food is no longer the focus of my life—thank God!

food is not the focus of my life anymore!— Lavina, Chartered Accountant

The funny thing is I got in touch with Kelly to lose weight. But what I’m most excited about is my new healthy habits.

I love my new eating routine.

Even going to restaurants or a friend’s house has become easier in such a short time.

How do I stop counting calories?

Kelly’s process is an evolution. From the first week to now I’ve seen amazing growth. Every single week I get better at something. And each day I feel different. In just a short time I got control of my relationship with food, so food and fear of eating too much has retreated into the background.

Having someone to be accountable to has kept me feeling motivated— Lavina, Chartered Accountant

Such simple things like eating at a friend’s birthday were difficult before. But having someone to be accountable to and feeling better all the time has kept me feeling motivated.

I like the weekly check-ins and Kelly’s logging method, as it helps me look at the week as a whole versus just one day.

Kelly has helped me challenge a lot of my ingrained ways of thinking

She’s helped me not worry so much about food, stop obsessive calorie counting and overcome disordered eating.

I’m so glad I found Kelly’s website. I love her articles. Her post about being a Type A person really rang true to me. And the one about grazing did too.

Kelly you are so positive and kind, just a joy and pleasure to work with!