It is with my last post in mind that I write this post.

Calorie counting and Weight Watchers points work for some people. I tried all that, and it wasn’t for me. When I started, Joel told me to just put the right things in my body: fruits, vegetables and lean protein. Lately, I’ve been struggling just like y’all with the healthy eating. So I thought I’d start trying to write down everything I ate in Daily Burn to make sure I was on track.

It stressed me out.

I tried doing it Sunday. This is just for one meal. (Granted, it was a big, brunch meal, but still.) Am I getting the right kind of fats? Are those the right kind of carbs? (In this case, not really, but I digress.)

Only 400-600 calories left for the rest of the day? So…naturally, I didn’t track anything else, which defeats the purpose, anyway. I think if I tried to really stick to tracking the calories of everything I ate, I’d end up making decisions based solely on calorie counts and not always on the nutritional content of the food. (Sometimes that can be one and the same, but with “light” and “sugar-free” versions of foods, it’s not always the same. My Pump meal probably has 700-something calories in it, but it is a nutritional powerhouse of whole grains, lean protein and veggies. A double quarter pounder with cheese has 750 calories; not all calories are created equal.

I asked Joel today for a range of calories I should have, and we talked about how the calories aren’t always important, and how I (and a lot of people) will go crazy trying to count calories.

He suggested, if I want to count something (which I’m not sure I do?), to count protein. He suggested I have 135 grams of protein per day, and if I eat that much protein, I will be plenty full.

But that’s just me. If counting calories or doing Weight Watchers is working for you, more power to you.