There’s some info going around about “counting calories” not being important. I’d like to share my thoughts on the arguments presented, and then on the overall idea.
I agree that the “2000 calories a day” diet that the government prescribes is, in my opinion, a little careless. The idea of just tossing out a single number without accounting for different people, preferences, and goals is the fitness equivalent of posting a job description that just says “anyone can apply!” It’s just not helpful. The only good thing that it accomplishes is that it prevents just about everyone except 4 foot, 100 pound humans from overeating if they stick to it.
Another thing that I agree with here is that calorie counts are not always accurate. The original method of counting calories was to put it in water, burn it completely using a special device, and determine the temperature change in the water. This is the only real way I’ve heard of to determine the exact calorie count of a food. This is probably never done now. Rather, the counts are determined by adding up the calories found in the product’s protein (4), carbs (4), fats (9), and alcohol (7). The kicker is that the FDA allows companies a margin of 20% in either direction on their food labels. That means that the snack you eat that says “100 calories” could be 100, or it could be 120, 80, or anywhere in between.
These are some serious problems with the calorie counting method, for sure. But remember, only a Sith deals in absolutes. Regardless of how accurate the counts are on the labels, the truth remains that our weight depends on energy balance (calories in vs out), and to neglect calories because of flaws in the system is no better than the government throwing out a standardized number or the food companies being care-free with their listings. It’s just irresponsible. It’s like saying “Well, my company has been inaccurate in their accounting for the past ten years, so I think we’ll just stop paying attention to money and see how it goes.”’
So, if calories are important but the counts are likely inaccurate, what should you do? Well, you could do a lot of different things, just don’t ignore calories. Here is what I propose:
Track your calories anyway and see how your body reacts. I’ll use myself as an example. My body burns around 2600 calories a day. I know this because I’ve used calculators, tracked calories, and made observations about how my body looks and feels. That means that if I eat over that consistently, then I gain weight, and if I eat under it, I lose weight. Now, I can track my calories and be at 2200 in my app. If I do that and allow for the 20% margin in either direction, I could actually be eating anywhere between 1760 and 2640 calories. But what really matters? Whether I am losing or gaining weight, whatever my goal is. If your goal is weight loss, you track your calories, and you are losing weight, then keep doing that until it stops working . If you aren’t, then adjust foods or portion sizes until the needle starts moving. If you don’t know much about what’s in your food and you don’t track, then you don’t have any consistent baseline unless you are someone who can eat the same thing every single day in the same portion sizes. There has to be some method of measurement if you want the best progress you can get. I’m not saying you can’t make progress if you don’t count calories. I’m just saying you can’t make your best progress. Here are a few tips:
-Even though the counts may be off, the lower the label, the better. So, if the pack of cookies shows 200 calories, it’s still higher calorie than the pack that says 180, so choose the lower one.
-Whole foods with one ingredient (fruits, veggies, meats, etc) are pretty consistent with their calorie counts. They are the most accurate foods you can track. One more reason to stick to them as much as you can. Please, don’t overcomplicate this or let all the new cutting edge fitness info make you doubt the timeless truths of fitness and health. This argument, like many, points out the valid problems with the method, but then foolishly throws the vital underlying principle out with it.
If you need an online coach or just have some questions, message me! I love this stuff.
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