Counting Calories: Why it does not work.
- Ruveen Bharij
- Mar 4, 2020
- 6 min read
Are you stuck on or are still being told that the only way to lose weight is if you controlled the amount of calories you consume? Well, today I am going to tell you why calorie counting and keeping track of the amount you eat is old fashioned and just won't work.
I learnt this the hard way a couple years back when someone convinced me that the way I would lose weight is if I were to download a famous app known as MY FITNESS PAL in order to keep track of what I ate, because of course it had to be me that was making a mistake with how I was eating right? Everyone around me always says I must be eating too much and that I should eat less to lose weight. Well, today I am going to bust that myth right out the door.
So first of all, what exactly is a calorie?
Well the scientific definition as you read it is just a mouthful isn't it? Most people read this and are just like, OK so what?
A calorie simply put is a unit of energy. It is basically a way to measure how much energy we get from a food once we consume it.
Food is energy for the body, we know this, but by calorie counting you are effectively restricting the amount of energy that you need to provide your body with in order to function.
Calorie counting and the science behind calories in food was discovered in the 19th Century and is just a rough estimate of how much energy a particular type of food substance will produce once consumed. So as shown above, a calorie is the amount of energy required to heat one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius.
Fats provide approximately nine calories per gram, whereas carbohydrates and proteins deliver just four. Fiber offers only two calories because enzymes in the human digestive tract have great difficulty chopping it up into smaller molecules.
Now here are some for reasons why I do not advocate for calorie counting:
The information above will have you believe that fats are the enemy. Because you are consuming more calories than any other food type. This makes people gravitate towards foods that say "fat free" or "low fat". If you know me at all you will know that I will ALWAYS tell you, Fat free will 90% of the time mean that there is a very very HIGH amount of sugar in that particular food product. Sugar is the enemy. Not calories. There are amazing fats out there in delicious foods that are so good for you but most calorie counting will have you believe that you can not eat them due to high fat content.
Calorie counting is based on research that was done in a lab with beakers and test tubes, water and different types of food. It did not take into account the fact that the human body is an intricate set of organs and that no two people in the entire world will break down foods into the same amount of calories at all! It is based on a theoretical model that makes it seem like our bodies are computers and will follow that equation every single time. Our bodies will never do that. The intricate balance of digestive enzymes, genetics and hormones make this impossible to know.
Calorie counting never takes into account the QUALITY of the food that you are eating. It makes you only think about the Quantity. For example, when I used used to calorie count I would look at a piece of cake and think, oh its only 200 calories, I will make up for it later at the gym. However, that piece of cake can not be equated to let's say a piece of chicken in terms of the good quality type of molecules you are absorbing i.e. Sugar vs Protein. Calorie counting creates this mindset that you can still eat the foods that are bad for you as long as you stay in a caloric deficit to lose weight. It does not care about whether you have hormonal imbalances.
There will always be that anxiety and depression in the back of your mind as you eat foods wondering how many calories you consume, which leads to a restrictive diet kind of thinking. You can NEVER enjoy eating ever again when you calorie count. At least that's how I felt. I love food, I mean who doesn't? So why do this to yourself?
Restricting calories SLOWS DOWN your metabolic rate. So what does this mean? Well, simply put, sure you may be able to lose those last 5 kilograms with calorie counting but as soon as you stop (and it is inevitable that at some point you will stop counting calories) you now have a body with a destroyed metabolic rate. You WILL gain back all that weight you lost, and WILL go back to counting calories again thinking that it worked the last time. All this does is put the body under stress and all the hormones and digestive system out of balance. This type of Yo-yo dieting will just make matters worse in the long run. The body will move into starvation mode and will continue to store fat from ANYTHING you eat.
Calorie counting does not take into account the digestibility of different food types. For example, it is now a well known fact that proteins require five times more energy for the body to break them down into the readily available amino acids needed. This means that you could easily eat MORE protein and lose more weight than eating a restricted calorie protein hoping that it will have an impact on weight loss because you are following the age old adage that calories in MUST be less than calories out.
It has now been scientifically proven that when you cook a food substance, it dramatically changes the amount of calories that the food will provide. Even the way you cook that food. I bet the My Fitness Pal app has no idea how to calculate how the baked, sauteed or fried methods of cooking alter the caloric intake of a certain food based on you as an individual.
Calorie counting is old fashioned. We have come a long way in scientific research to know that from many people, this way of losing weight just is not working out. If it did then most of the clients I have spoken to who do restrict calories would not have contacted me to ask what they were doing wrong.
Counting calories will NEVER EVER take into account the Insulin response a particular food item will initiate in the body. For example, you could think you are eating less calories by choosing to eat a rice cake, but not knowing that it will cause a serious insulin spike in the system, which if you have read my last post about Insulin Resistance, you will realize that this just leads to more hormonal imbalances and weight gain.
Yeah I know, those are A LOT of reasons, but I could go on and have had heated discussions about it with certain people where it works for them and why it does not work for me. I am saddened by the fact that most gym instructors and nutritionists still think this way and so keep pushing me to eat less and do more Cardio.
No. This does NOT work for me. If anything I have found that if I eat MORE of the right foods and incorporate a workout routine that adds on Strength training and HIIT, the weight falls off. (Now if only I could make the time to do this)
Ladies, if you have PCOS, Hypothyroid, Menopause or any other type of hormonal issue please keep this in mind: Those people who are able to lose weight based on calorie counting are the lucky ones whose bodies can respond to counting calories and doing enough aerobic and cardiovascular exercise to lose weight.
However, and I speak from personal experience, this will not work for you. We are special because we can not fit into that category, and that's perfectly fine. Listen to those people but then carve a path for yourself by eating enough of the healthier foods and finding a workout routine that works for you.
Eat intuitively and think about how each type of food makes you feel and keeps you more satisfied in the long run so you do not have to restrict yourself and then find yourself binge eating later on causing a spiral of emotions as you lament the fact that you ate those last two brownies sitting in the kitchen that seemingly called out your name.
Don't count calories, don't compare yourself with your friends who do it and it seems to work for them.
Always remember, your weight loss journey can only begin once you start to love yourself and focus on the bigger picture: You need to address the underlying HORMONAL issues that are driving your weight gain. Fad diets and Calorie counting will never be able to correct these issues, they only make things worse.
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