Count This- Not Calories

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Hey Brothers,

Welcome back to the LenDentonThrive Letter! 

I often describe The ThriveLife as the smarter, not harder way to lose weight, and get leaner, stronger and healthier. In this week’s edition of the Letter, I want to show you an easier, more effective way for busy guys to manage their food consumption without having to rely on counting calories.

Counting Calories - The Good and The Bad

When I first began my ThriveLife journey more than 12 years ago, I was an avid calorie counter. I had no problem measuring out my food, weighing and calculating the calories in every portion of every meal. It worked for me back in those days because:

• Calorie counting works

• I worked from home, with easy access to my own kitchen and tools. 

But, two things changed that caused me to reassess the usefulness of calorie counting for busy guys.

First, my work role changed and I started travelling much more. And as I did, I realized that counting calories was a lot more difficult when you didn’t have easy access to the kitchen. 

Second, I conducted some man-on-the-street research in my home town to see if other fitness-oriented guys were counting calories. I looked for guys wearing fitness trackers (like Fitbits or Garmins), and I asked them two quick questions: 

1. Did they track their daily physical activity?

2. Did they track their daily calorie consumption?

More than 100 guys responded to my quick, on-the-spot interviews. The answers I got were interesting. Every guy I approached said that they tracked their daily activity, mostly in the form of step counts. 

But, only 11% of the guys said that they were tracking their daily food consumption. And, nearly every guy who wasn’t tracking their food gave me the same reason why - “It’s too hard!”

So, 90% of the guys I interviewed were missing out on the #1 tool to help them lose weight! (Hint: It’s fixing your diet!) All because counting calories was too hard. 

This made me decide to revisit my Eat Smarter strategy to make it more accessible for busy guys who weren’t able to count calories throughout the day. 

My Food Zone approach was really effective in helping guys to make healthier food choices. But I needed a better way to help guys keep track of how well they were doing in managing their food choices throughout the day and week. 

The answer was counting portions!

Counting portions was quicker and easier than counting calories. Just take a quick visual scan of your plate, and you have a good estimate of the portions you were eating. Best of all, counting portions didn’t require any tools, so guys could use this technique while on the go. It works equally well at home or on the road.

How Portion Counting Works

The portion counting technique is intended to be quick and simple. It’s based on a visual inspection of your plate, bowl or glass. 

To standardize the portion sizes, I rely on an 8 or 9-inch plate rather than a large dinner plate. I call this The Small Plate Hack, and it provides three benefits. 

First, it’s widely available, so it’s something you should be able to use either at home or eating out. 

Second, it helps to prevent the over-serving you get at restaurants, where serving sizes have been growing steadily for more than two decades. 

Third, the plate looks fuller, which helps your brain determine satiety more quickly. (A full plate tricks your brain into feeling fuller sooner.)

The portion counting method makes the Eating Smarter approach a simple two-step process:

Step 1: Use the Small Plate Hack as a visual estimation tool. 

Assume the plate is divided into four equal quadrants:

Each small plate quadrant can hold one portion of food, without overlap or touching other portions. Just normally fill the plate quadrant-by quadrant. This totals four portions. 

Treat bowls the same way, where each holds four portions. 

A 12-ounce glass or cup holds one portion of liquid. 

Step 2: Once you’ve got an estimate of your number of portions, categorize each portion by its food group. This will give you the total number of Green, Yellow and Red Zone portions in the meal. You can then add these to your daily and weekly tracking totals.

The recommended daily portion distribution by specific zones is:

Green Zone: 70% or better

Yellow Zone: 20% or less

Red Zone: 10% or less

The goal is to quickly minimize or eliminate your Red Zone foods. These percentages follow my recommendation to “Exit The Red Zone!”

Remember - Your weightloss battle will be won in the kitchen, not the gym!

And, tools like portion counting, coupled with Food Zones, make Eating Smarter easier than ever… every day...no matter where you go!

The ThriveLife works hard for me everyday, so I don’t have to. 

It’s my proven formula for a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. 

It can work for you, too!

Let me help you build your own ThriveLife. Here’s two ways how I can help you:

1. Subscribe to the LDT Letter for weekly tips and strategies

2. Join the wait list for my upcoming new book ThriveLife Transformation, where I’ll show you how to build a healthier version of YOU with 6 Smart Daily Habits that you can do in 30 minutes a day. 

   To join the waitlist, just reply to this newsletter and say “Sign me up!” I’ll send you an email when the book is available.

Thanks for reading today.

And remember, God loves us. He wants us to thrive. So, let’s go!

All the best… Len

Healthy dads raise healthy families!

My mission is to help 1 million men raise healthy families for the Kingdom of God. So, I write this newsletter to make a positive impact on the lives of men and their families. If you found this information useful, please consider subscribing to receive new editions each week. And, please share this with friends or family that would benefit from the ThriveLife!

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