Counting Calories

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Wednesday, January 27. 2016

Here are many of the reasons that counting calories for weight-maintenance and weight loss does not work: The Calorie Is Broken

Unfortunately, they omit one of the more important considerations, which is that our bodies handle the calories in carbs differently from the calories in a juicy steak. All calories are not equal.

Our general rules:

- If you work out hard over 3 days/wk and are happy with your physique, eat enough carbs for energy and eat enough protein for muscle repair. Not a ton, but some. An egg or two and 2 slices of meat daily is plenty of pure protein for the average-sized hard exerciser who works with weights. Not enough for Rocky Balboa. Adults who do not do much hard muscle work do not need much protein except for enjoyment.
- If happy with your weight and condition, eat whatever you feel like. Pizza is good. So is ice cream.
- To lose weight efficiently, quit all carbs except for a little yoghurt or a glass of milk or something like that. Focus on protein and veggies as fillers.
- Don't bother counting calories. Dietary fats and oils have plenty of calories, but can not make you gain body fat.
- Cardio exercise is good for conditioning, but you can't lose weight by doing it unless you do it 6 hrs/day. Only anorectics do that.

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Medical at 16:40 | Comments (15) | Trackbacks (0)

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Strange. Calorie counting worked for me. Lost 15+ pounds 4 years ago and have kept it off with calorie counting. No increased exercise.

I'm sure exercise would help, but it is not necessary.

Interestingly enough, carbs carry the most calories! And the more carbs I eat, the hungrier I seem to be.

For me, I need to eat a lot of protein in the beginning of my day (breakfast and lunch) to stay full.

#1 MissT on 2016-01-27 18:23 (Reply)

Great. You probably cut carbs quite a bit. And desserts.

#1.1 Bird Dog on 2016-01-27 18:45 (Reply)

This blog obsesses with dietary wives tales. It's a lifestyle-signalling thing.

#1.2 Ten on 2016-01-27 19:52 (Reply)

It worked for me too, 34 lbs. in the last 11 weeks. I didn't cut out any category of food, but I did cut portions of everything more or less equally. I was eating the right stuff, just too much of it. Counting the calories helped me keep track of how big the portions could be, so I could re-learn how much to serve myself.

#1.3 Texan99 on 2016-01-27 21:37 (Reply)

Once I was relieved of the 'guilt' of not exercising enough and my eyes were opened to the fact that being overweight is related mostly to what you eat...boy, did I lose the weight fast. Nothing is more discouraging in dieting than being told you need to exercise x number of times per week doing x exercise. You end up feeling guilty when you can't find the time, are too far from the gym, etc. Once you get rid of the idea that you must do lots of exercise in order to lose weight, you feel so much better!

Some people LOVE to be active. Some people don't. If you are not an active person who likes to take long jogs, just watch what you eat. So easy. Couldn't believe it.

I use a calorie counting app on my cell phone. I log everything. You become a lot more conscious of what you put in your mouth, quantities, etc. You can still eat dessert...just in smaller portions. You can also blow it out and eat a burger and fries occasionally. I probably could do better, but I'm pretty happy with how I look. My goal is to lose another 10 pounds. We'll see if I can do it this year.

#1.3.1 MissT on 2016-01-28 16:02 (Reply)

Exactly. Since I started this project in November, I've had to stop exercising twice, for surgery and then for a minor injury. I dropped my calorie limit even lower and kept losing right through the no-exercise periods. It's easier, obviously, when I can exercise hard, and exercise is excellent for other reasons, but it's no substitute to controlling the volume of food I eat.

People who feel strongly about carbs tend to assume that calorie-counting incidentally causes us to lower our carb intake, but it's possible that it's just the opposite: lowering our carb intake tends to lower our calorie intake. Or it's a combination of the two; much of successful dieting is about how to keep us from being so miserable when we control calories that we can't keep the effort up long enough, or we relapse after an extreme experiment. Portion control is a permanent solution; exercise and avoiding certain foods can very well make portion control easier to bear.

#1.3.1.1 Texan99 on 2016-01-29 19:36 (Reply)

Was diagnosed with PCOS two years ago, which brought with it secondary infertility and prediabetic blood sugar levels. My doctor's advice was:

1. For four weeks: eat whatever you want EXCEPT refined sugar. It will be very hard to break that addiction, but it is both necessary and will get easier with time. Four weeks--no sugar.

2. Second four weeks: eat no refined sugar and no white flour. Again, won't be easy, but is necessary and will reset your blood sugar regulation which is broken and causing your hormonal difficulties.

I lost 45 pounds without counting calories or thinking much about it, other than how to fill my plate with protein, fiber, and yes fats. I occasionally eat a sugary treat but a little bit satisfies and it's not hard to keep it under control and maintain a healthy weight. Blood sugar returned to normal. And, the anovulation from the PCOS stopped, and I am six months pregnant : )

#2 Mrs. Reily on 2016-01-27 19:35 (Reply)

CONGRATULATIONS! On the blood sugar too, of course, but particularly on the pregnancy.

#2.1 Texan99 on 2016-01-27 21:39 (Reply)

Burn more calories than you consume, lose weight. It is that simple.

I'm a middle-aged man, lost 50 lbs last year counting calories. I have kept the pounds off by being aware of and estimating how many calories I'm consuming. I've found it is all about a change of habits and self-control and frankly not all that difficult. Wish I had made the commitment to myself sooner.

Exercise of course does burn calories but not enough to rely on for serious weight loss. Exercise is good for your overall physical and mental health and burning a few extra calories.

#3 Ed on 2016-01-27 20:09 (Reply)

I started with Jennie Craig almost a year ago. I lost 30 pounds and substituted veggies for the potatoes and other carbs in the Jennie meals. I back slid from Halloween to New Years and gained 6 pounds. I have now lost them and am back on track to lose 20 more. Not much exercise as I will be 78 in three weeks. I do walk the dog. I had gained slowly from a base of about 185 over ten years.

#4 Mike K (Link) on 2016-01-27 20:30 (Reply)

Bliss doesn't even make sense - since when is yogurt a carbohydrate? Who invented "pure protein" and why is only meme capable of supplying it? Where did two slices of meat come from? Fat and oil can not make you gain fat? Meat protein is a "filler" in a no-carb diet?

Huh?

This is tossed-off nonsense. At least get the alternate, rational perspective. https://youtu.be/B0CG_84_7s8

#5 Ten on 2016-01-27 20:33 (Reply)

https://youtu.be/6N7Sk1ZRohU

#6 Ten on 2016-01-27 20:36 (Reply)

In general I don't disagree with your points. Where I disagree is that they are not hard and fast rules, not absolute. People are different, what works for one person will not work for another and vice versa. Your genetics determine what your body 'wants' to be. For some people that is obesity from toddler to deathbed. For some it is being underweight to the point of looking unhealthy. For many it is normal to slightly overweight until around 40-45 when the body seems to want to expand the waistline by 6"-10". You can alter this genetic predisposition somewhat by counting calories, cutting carbs or desserts or increasing exercise. To alter it in a major way, like losing 100-200 pounds or more for most people takes more effort to achieve and continuing effort for life to maintain. There is no one size fits all diet or technique to lose weight. There are fad diets, good food-bad food diets, no/low carb diets, Atkins diets, etc. Almost without exception everyone who is successful losing weight will swear by whatever method they used. The chorus of people singing the benefits of any particular diet will sway people and sound convincing but in general it is nothing more than a bias. Their diet of choice might work, it might even work for those they convince to try it, but it is just as likely that the other guy's diet will work just as well. I wish there was a great diet that would work for people who are obese but I just don't see it.

P.S. I recently was followed a link to a bunch of photographs taken in Germany in 1945 after the war ended. The link stressed that these were hard times, little food, starvation and very hard work. Most adults in the picture were women because most German men between the ages of 14-50 had either been killed or captured in the war. But I noticed all the women were very overweight. Did I mention little food and starvation? This is a paradox. But in fact it is not that unusual. I have seen the same thing in pictures taken in various African countries over the years where famine has caused great suffering and yet many of the older adults are overweight. The body resists efforts to starve it into losing weight.

#7 GoneWithTheWind on 2016-01-27 20:55 (Reply)

Going to largely disagree. I've lost 100 lbs in the past six months and still eat carbs. It's a matter of lowering total calories, maintaining protein, and exercise. If you go low protein and do not exercise, your body will tend to scavenge muscle tissue for protein before reducing fat. They way I've had it explained is that muscle is the Porsche in the garage that is expensive and requires regular upkeep. Your fat reserves are more like your retirement fund. If you don't use the Porsche regularly, your body will try to cash it in before you crack the retirement fund.

Now rebalancing your diet to cut calories and maintain the protein you need while exercising will of necessity cause a shift away from carbs, it's not because they are "evil" in and of themselves. If that were the case, all those prisoners put to bred and water with hard labor should have gained weight in the process.

#8 Another guy named Dan on 2016-01-28 11:19 (Reply)

The label is for 'dietary calories'. It is a representation of the amount of energy your body can pull out of the food. The calories from carbs or fiber or protein thing is already taken care of for you.

#9 epv on 2016-01-29 10:23 (Reply)

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Wednesday, January 27. 2016

Counting Calories