Does calorie counting help or hinder..?

With the rise of fitness trackers and calorie / macro conscious media, more of us are becoming increasingly conscious of the nutritional values of the food we are consuming.
As someone who has a history of eating disorders, I know all too well how time consuming and anxiety provoking it can be trying to calculate all these supposedly important numbers. But, do we really need to be so concerned about the specifics of what we are putting in to our bodies, or is it just another way to control and confuse those trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle?

Lets go back to the basics, what are macros and what exactly is a calorie?

Macros are macronutrients that the body needs most of, these are Protein, Carbs and Fats. A calorie is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of 1g of water by 1 degree Celsius.

How does your body use these nutrients?

CARBOHYDRATE 

•  = 4 Kcal per gram
• Used as energy by the body (except insoluble fibre)
• 20% used by the brain

PROTEIN 

• = 4 Kcal per gram
• Used to build and repair muscle tissue and cell growth
• Too much can spike insulin and will be converted to glucose / fat storage

FAT 

• = 9 Kcal per gram
• Used to maintain endocrine and nervous system functions
•  Cholesterol
• Helps essential fatty acid (EFA) production and fat soluble vitamin uptake (A,E,D and K)
• Used in the aerobic energy system and during low intensity steady state (LISS) activity it may be used as energy

Calories

•  = Unit of heat energy
• Our bodies do not use food like a calorimeter!
• Energy production is time and intensity related and will require different energy systems (ATP-PC system, Anaerobic glycolytic system, Aerobic system)

Do we really need to be counting our food?

There is no accurate way of counting calories as you can not know how many calories your body has used and metabolised. Furthermore, you can not know how many calories your body is truly burning on a daily basis, BMR calculations are just an estimate and do not take in to account many factors, like composition, energy expenditure, metabolism, etc. 

Thus, there is no way to truly know how many calories your body is using from the food you eat(CALORIES IN), and there is not accurate way of measuring daily energy expenditure (CALORIES OUT).  There is not point in counting calories. 

 

 

 

Its all about quality and quantity of food. Be mindful to nourish your body with healthy nutritious foods such as low GL carbs and lots of fibre, a variety of different protein, lots of Mono and Poly unsaturated fats and lots of fruit and veg.

Internalise by listening to your bodies hunger and fullness signals and watch your portion control. 

Keep active an make sure to move and allow your body to use up energy.

Your body has a natural set point weight that it will maintain if you are listening to it by eating good quality foods and letting it move. 

The set point is different for everyone and there is no one healthy ideal. Being healthy is not rocket science and should be basic instinct for everyone. However 'diet culture' stigma has made it confusing causing distorted health behaviours (did our ancestors really track Cals and macros?), poor body image and negative mental wellbeing. 

Likewise, giving in to the modern convenience temptations can distort your body's natural signals for hunger and fullness (it actually increases insulin and blocks leptin signals that tell your body when you are full). Poor nutrition doesn't fuel your body efficiently, causing insulin spikes and cravings for more sugar. Whereas, extreme dieting and calorie restriction makes our bodies produce Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and drives food motivated behaviours (you pay more attention to food). When you finally crack you go back to fuelling with poor nutrition (hello yoyo dieters).

What should we be doing?

In the interest of cutting out all the confusing information that can become overwhelming for those just wanting to shift some weight and get fitter, I don't think that it is at all necessary to be worrying yourself with the numbers. Instead, its important to focus of the quality of the food you are consuming. By making a few simple swaps, like having some fruit and yoghurt instead of that chocolate bar this afternoon will have a much better impact for heath in the long run.

I am a huge believer in sustainability, and realistically calculating every thing that passes the lips is not something that most people will tolerate for long. This can also influence disordered eating patterns and can create unhealthy attitudes and relationships with food. Or, it can make those trying to adopt healthier choices feel overwhelmed and give up trying to be healthy all together.

Its far better to eat for nourishment and enjoyment than to meet you macro goals. Making better health choices here and there is much easy to do and likely to be something you can sustain.

What can you do right now?

• Make effort to buy, cook and eat healthier foods, but don't worry about the numbers, focus on its enjoyment and nourishment. Listen to your bodies signals, or be mindful of the hunger-fullness scale if your not sure. 
• Keep moving in any way that makes you feel good and do it regularly. This will be naturally easier when your body is sufficiently fuelled. 
• Allow yourself the odd treat when you fancy them. If you are eating a nutritionally balanced diet you wont feel like you need or want them as much. Everything in moderation is fine :) 

Remember, any behaviour change is hard and takes conscious effort to begin. It will be hard to change a lifetime worth of conditioning and habit. But, you can teach an old dog new tricks and focusing on your health over aesthetics and confusing cherry picked diet culture information will help you achieve greater health outcomes in the long term.  

Accept the way you are and focus on health goals. If you feel pressured to become the socialised ideal of fitness, you will fail!. It will create a cognitive dissonance where what you believe is good and should be is at odds with who you are and what you can realistically do. But, you can defiantly focus on making a few better choices for your health and wellbeing.  

I will be discussing the main points from this in more depth in future posts, so stay tuned. Or, if you have not already, please subscribe for regular Simply Health PhD updates!