Calorie Counting

I have written posts to do with calories before, but everyday I still see people purely fussed with the amount of calories they are consuming, and not concentrating on where those calories are coming from. If you want to lose weight, or bulk up, then continue reading...
Most people know the average daily calorie intake for men and women - 2000 for women and 2500 for men. This is JUST an average. Does that mean you can eat whatever you want but don't go over those limits? well, of course you can, its your choice, but will you either lose weight or bulk up the way you want? no. You have to look at where your calories are coming from. Let's take an average female who wants to lose weight as an example. If all what your consuming is coming from takeaways/sweets/pastries/processed foods and so on, then your not going to lose weight, because all your putting in your body is junk, which will get stored as fat. Whereas, if you eat healthy, lean foods, then you will lose weight (as you change your diet from bad to healthy). If someone is 'obese', then simply changing their calorie intake can make a big difference in terms of their weight, but it is a lot harder to make a difference with just diet if you only have a little bit of weight to lose.
People lose weight by consuming less and exercising more - burning more calories than you're eating. But there is a problem with the concept of just 'eat a bit less to lose weight'. If someone doesn't eat very healthy....sticks to the junk food, then they will think 'if I eat one less burger today, I can lose weight', that isn't the case. It has been in the media a bit lately about the country eating less but weighing more, and I'm not surprised, because by cutting a few calories, they expect to lose weight, whilst still eating what they want.
I once got told by a top personal trainer, that the only time you need to calorie count is when/if your preparing for a bodybuilding competition. I do agree with him. Being a nutritionist, I personally don't do the 'calorie counting' method, because it's too strict and people get fed up and annoyed with counting/measuring out everything. My belief is if you eat healthy, lean foods, you don't need to worry about counting calories. Especially if you exercise as well! End of the day, you know everything you eat and drink is healthy for you, so why do you need to count? you don't. Everyone has their opinion/method, and I respect that. I believe it's just a lot less hassle when you don't have to count/measure everything out.
The same method applies for gaining muscle. There are two common ways - dirty bulk, and clean bulk. A dirty bulk is eating whatever they want, whether its healthy or not, just to get the calorie in. A clean bulk is eating healthy, lean foods, but just a dam lot of them! A clean bulk is better and healthier. Whats the point in consuming a 600 calorie meal if half of those calories come from fat?? You want to feed your body with the best possible nutrition.
For more help on either bulking up or losing weight, you can purchase one of my plans on my website -
www.leegregoryfitness.com