And without further ado, the answer
is yes...and no...

Allow me to explain...

Calorie-counting is one of those things that you either
love or hate.

You either feel like you HAVE to do it in order to
get results or you feel like there's NO WAY you'll
ever be caught dead doing it. It's rare you find
somebody who sits on the middle ground in this one.

As most people know, in order to lose fat, you've got
to have a caloric deficit, taking in fewer calories than
you burn on a daily basis. No surprises there.

Now here's the thing...in order to consistently
achieve that caloric deficit and lose fat, you must
be AWARE of your calorie intake.

I believe the REAL question we should be asking
here should not be "Is calorie-COUNTING necessary?"
but "Is calorie-AWARENESS necessary?"

So if, in order to be aware of how many calories
you're taking in, you need to specifically COUNT
them (by weighing food and referencing food charts),
then THAT will be what you have to do to get results.

And that is totally fine!

But if you've already GOT a good awareness of how
many calories you're eating in a day and you know
what you need to eat (or not eat) in order to achieve
that caloric deficit, then calorie counting is NOT
necessary for you.

The key here, again, is awareness.

You see, the big problem with not counting calories
arises when a person THINKS they're aware of their
caloric intake but they really are NOT.

It's a fact that most people dramatically under-report
their caloric intake when they are asked to estimate
how much they eat in a day. When they keep a food
diary and have to write down every little thing that
goes in their mouth, in some cases their TRUE caloric
intake nearly DOUBLES.

So even if you don't want to count calories, it may
be time for a quick compromise. It's a temporary
calorie count/reality check!

If you're not losing fat right now and you feel like
you're not really eating much, here's something
you can try in order to test your "caloric awareness":

First, write down how many calories you THINK
you're eating every day.

Now for the next full week, actually write down
everything you eat. And I do mean EVERYTHING.
Every little taste and every little snack. EVERYTHING.
Just write down foods and portion sizes - don't try
and look up how many calories each thing has and
don't suddenly change your diet because you want
to make yourself look good - just keep doing what
you've been doing.

At the end of the week, go to a food chart and
research everything you ate. Add it up and divide
by 7. This will give you your average daily caloric intake.

If you're within a few hundred calories of your
original estimation, congratulations! You've got good
"calorie awareness!"

But if you're off by a significant margin, this will give
you some VERY useful feedback on what you need
to do to get fat loss rolling again.

So there's a vote FOR calorie counting...let's look
at the other side of the coin.

And I'll be blunt here...calorie counting, no matter
how careful you are, is simply NOT all that accurate.

Think of it this way...no two pieces of food are
alike. When you buy a steak at the grocery store,
they don't charge you per steak, they charge by the
pound. And even when they charge by the pound,
two steaks of the same cut can have DRAMATICALLY
different composition - one could be lean and one
could be fatty!

But if you look at a calorie chart, you'll see "3 oz sirloin
steak - 100 calories"...or something to that effect.

So even if you weigh and chart every single piece of
food you put in your mouth, you're STILL going to
be off by a fair margin. That's just a fact.

And while how MUCH you eat has an impact on fat
loss, WHEN you eat it and what foods you eat together
makes a HUGE impact on your results. "Calories are
calories" is true only up to a point.

For example, if you eat a big meal after a workout,
most of that will get used for recovery purposes. But
if you eat that same big meal nowhere near a workout,
a greater portion of that will just be stored as fat.

Another example is eating sugary carbs with fatty
foods - the insulin response you get from sugary foods
will push that fat right into your fat cells with very little
trouble! (though it is true that insulin response will be
somewhat blunted by the fat intake, there is enough to
make it troublesome)

So now that you have absolutely no idea WHAT the
heck to do now, here's my step-by-step solution...

1. If you like to count calories and it gets you results...keep it up!

2. If you like to count calories but you're NOT getting
results, either eat less or make sure you're writing
down EVERYTHING you're eating AND are being as
accurate as possible with your charting.

3. If you DON'T like to count calories and you ARE
getting results...keep it up! Calorie counting is NOT
necessary if you're aware of how many you're taking
in AND you're getting results.

4. If you DON'T like to count calories and you're NOT
getting results, it's time to take one week to count
your calories and improve your caloric awareness.
It's only a week and it'll give you a MUCH better idea
of what you're actually taking in. This will pay off
BIG in the long run because once you get a feel for
your TRUE intake, you can very easily keep yourself
honest and ADJUST on the fly.


To my mind, the bottom line is results. If you're NOT
losing fat, then you're not getting the results you
want...simple as that. Your approach should be
focused on doing what you need to do to get those
results.

Developing your caloric awareness is the key to long-
term success with fat loss. And if you have to count
calories to do it, then that's what you've gotta do!

---

Now, the past few days, I've been talking about a
fat-loss program called Xtreme Fat Loss.

This is actually a program that can help you get
around the whole "counting calories" debate. It'll lay
out EXACTLY what you need to eat and how you
need to train over a repeating 5-day cycle for
maximum fat loss so there's NO guesswork involved.

You'll know exactly what to do every step of the way.

By following this program strictly, you can achieve
tremendous results in fat loss very quickly.

I'll tell you up front, it's not going to be easy...but
it IS extremely effective and definitely worth taking
a look at.

Learn more about Xtreme Fat Loss here...

And if you have any questions about counting calories,
let me know!

Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"



P.S. Remember, when you pick up a copy of Xtreme Fat Loss,
I'll throw in a copy of my new book "30-Second Ab-
Solution"...a powerfully simple approach to flattening
the abs using exercises you can do ANY time...ANY
place...just 30 seconds at a time.

Just purchase by clicking through one of the links in this
or any other of my emails, then forward your receipt to
support@fitstep.com. We'll send you the book asap!

P.P.S. If you know anybody else who might benefit from this
information, feel free to forward this email to them!