Calories
3.2 - Do I Need to Count Calories?
If you are eating a WFPB diet focused primarily on foods that are nutrient dense but calorie dilute, you do not need to count calories. Dr. Campbell’s research in rural China found that, despite consuming more calories and not counting them, the rural Chinese weighed less on average than those eating a Western diet because they ate a primarily WFPB diet, low in fat and protein but high in complex carbohydrates. He also notes that when we eat the right foods, the body will burn it as fuel and not store it as fat.
Giving up counting calories may be hard if that is how you have tracked your eating for a long time, so be patient with yourself and learn to listen to your body. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.
If you are eating a WFPB diet focused primarily on foods that are nutrient dense but calorie dilute, you do not need to count calories. Dr. Campbell’s research in rural China found that, despite consuming more calories and not counting them, the rural Chinese weighed less on average than those eating a Western diet because they ate a primarily WFPB diet, low in fat and protein but high in complex carbohydrates. He also notes that when we eat the right foods, the body will burn it as fuel and not store it as fat.
Giving up counting calories may be hard if that is how you have tracked your eating for a long time, so be patient with yourself and learn to listen to your body. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.