There are times during our diets when we all need to ask ourselves one very important question: Is it worth the calories?

One problem we all have when it comes to dieting is having to count calories. While it can be laborious and drudgery it is a necessary evil if you're trying to lose weight. You simply must know what you are putting in your body on a daily basis. If you can master this you will be able to lose weight whenever you wish quickly and effectively.

But how to count those calories? Some people opt for the paper and pencil method. Whenever I've tried this in the past I always end up stopping because it takes so much time and though for me. Finding all the necessary information about calories for all the food you eat and carrying your little notebook is just too much for some. You can also do the same thing with a spreadsheet, but again you need to find all of the nutritional information for your self. The best way I've found to keep track of my calories and nutrition is through the FitDay database, available for free at www.fitday.com.

FitDay will allow you to track not only your calories, but also your exercises and weight loss goals. There are thousands of items in its database which makes it a breeze to track your daily food intake.

One big issue that will become immediately apparent to you when you start tracking calories is how easily empty calories slip into your diet. You'll be so much more aware of what you are taking in. Take something like soda; any non-diet soda contains around 160 calories in a 12 oz serving. Well, 160 calories isn't a lot. And so you get complacent, but when you start tracking calories you see that a few sodas a day will add up to 500 calories a day to your intake. If you're a woman that means you have just 1000 calories left for real food and even men would have just 1500 remaining calories. Once you see this in writing you begin to understand how you became overweight in the first place.

When I start on a diet the first thing to go is soda. I find I can drop a pound a week just by dropping those 2-3 Cokes or Mountain Dews a day. And since we should all be drinking 64 ounces of water a day minimum it is much better for me. This is a conscious choice I am making about my diet and once I get into the mindset of thinking "Are these calories worth it?" I can apply the same concept to all of my food choices.

If you're consciously maintaining your weight or trying to lose some weight and reach a goal weight it is very important that you learn how to make the proper choices regarding what you eat. If you know that you are only allowing yourself 1500 calories in a day it becomes more important where those calories come from. Asking yourself "Are these calories worth it?" lets you focus on your goal more and will often help you to make the right choices.

Of course most times you will make the lower calorie healthy choice when you ask yourself if the calories are worth it, but that doesn't mean you have to be a slave to your diet. There are going to be times when you will want to allow yourself the pleasure of an indulgence and the calories WILL be worth it. If you are having an especially stressful or challenging day it won't kill you to have a Snickers bar, just don't make it an everyday occurrence.

If you're out on a special date or an anniversary dinner with your spouse or significant other of course you want to treat yourselves. In this case it's ok to order the cheesecake or Death by Chocolate. In this case the calories are worth it.

The point is that what you feed your body is entirely up to you. It is all about the conscious choices you make when eating. There are many of us who haven't considered the effect that food has on our bodies, emotions and self and are still using food as an emotional crutch. In fact, many times we are not even doing the choosing we are simply reacting in a pre-programmed fashion.

Once you start to track your calories and you see what an impact making the right choices can have you will break out of that programming. You will finally be able to feed your body what it deserves rather than just stuffing it with empty calories. You will be making conscious choices to keep some foods out of your diet except for special occasions. And you will be on the way to a healthier slimmer life.

Start today by tracking what you eat and then you decide if it's worth the calories.

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