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Calories are units of energy which essentially determine how much fuel any given food will provide your body. With this, many people use counting calories as a method of achieving weight loss as it is necessary to create a calorie deficit over time if you hope to see your body change as a result of your diet.
In order to lose one pound, you must burn 3,500 calories more than you’ve consumed in order for your diet to be considered effective. That being said, while calorie counting is a great way to quantify your food and create a path to weight loss that can be easily followed, there are also dangers that come with this approach which may actually stand in your way of success, or even cause an unhealthy relationship with food when followed for an extended period of time.
Not sure if you should be counting calories? We checked in with Dr. Nancy Lin, PhD, XPRO for YogaSix GO and Dr. Macklin E. Guzmán, DHSc, and Chief Science Officer for Medi-Weightloss to get the full rundown on calorie counting, and why you should think twice before integrating this into your lifestyle when attempting to find success with weight loss.
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It’s worth noting that counting calories is not intrinsically a bad approach to losing weight, however, it can work to your detriment if calories are the only measure of your health that you’re tracking. Weight loss is also dependent on consuming nutrient dense, balanced meals, and when you focus only on the caloric density of what you’re eating it can be easy to continue to eat a less than ideal diet composed of calories that offer less benefit to your body.
If you’re eating 1,500 calories of junk food each day vs. 1,500 of veggies, grains, and protein, your body may feel weak and deprived, so boiling your diet down to the numbers can oversimplify what it actually takes to lose weight. “Foods with the same quantity of calories do not necessarily have the same quality of calories as depicted in the example above. Furthermore, nutrient-dense foods (e.g., fresh vegetables and fruits) tend to be much healthier for the body than processed foods with extra additives and chemicals,” explains Guzmán.
Eating must be done multiple times each day to survive. Counting calories, although sometimes effective for weight loss, can predispose you to potentially harmful tendencies and an unbalanced relationship with food. If you become obsessed with the calorie count of every food you’re eating, it may take the joy out of simple moments like going out to dinner or eating dessert without worrying about if it’s going to make you gain weight.
Moderation is key when it comes to eating and oftentimes you can eat most of your favorite foods in your diet for weight loss without tracking each morsel which enters your mouth. For this, intuitive eating can come into play. “Intuitive eating is an approach to eating where you are the expert at listening to your own body and hunger signals and cues. Intuitive eating is a style that promotes a healthy approach toward food and body image, by eating when you are hungry and stopping when you feel full,” explains Guzmán. “This approach, like calorie counting, may work effectively for some people but not others.”
Macronutrients are another factor that can play into weight loss which is lost when merely counting calories. Broken down into healthy fats, protein, and carbs, your body needs each of these included in your diet at varying amounts in order to optimize your eating plan. “[Taking a] more comprehensive look at what your individualized body needs from a macro and micro view coupled with a look at the trends of how your body is growing, transforming, requiring throughout any health and wellness journey is recommended,” suggests Lin.
Instead of basing your eating plan around numbers, try building each meal to include some source of lean protein such as chicken, fish, beans, or tofu. Add on a healthy carb like whole wheat bread or oats, include a healthy fat like avocado or olive oil, and finish things off with a vegetable for a balanced dish that will allow you to lose weight, calories aside.
Counting calories can still be done safely and effectively in order to achieve results, but it should not be followed for an extended period of time and you should also not lose track of the nutritional value of your meal when quantifying food in this way. If you do decide to start following this method, it’s important to first check in with a medical professional so they can determine the best calorie range for your body type and goals instead of making that determination on your own.
Cutting down too low on calories can actually have an inverse effect on your health, leading to a slower metabolism, weight loss plateaus, and cravings that may come from depriving yourself of foods your body actually needs in the name of maintaining your calorie deficit. Don’t forget, a deficit can also be achieved through increasing your movement throughout the day, so focusing purely on calories cuts out an important factor in your overall health.
