"The big fat calorie counting con"

lemurcat12

Iwishyouwell wrote: »

I couldn't care less about the calorie controversy, but I do think there needs to be a much greater conversation about macros and a de-villainization of the fat macro.

Is fat still that villainized? It doesn't seem to be on MFP. I guess I don't have that good a sense of the general public, but in my circles everyone seems to have moved on to carbs long ago.

Anyway, if it is, I certainly agree with you.

GaleHawkins

SingRunTing wrote: »

So macros are important?? Who knew!! Mind = blown!!

They're basically saying that macros are more important than calories. I can live with that, but if you overeat on macros, you're still overeating. Not sure how you would track macros without tracking calories as well.

There is some validity in all approaches. Like Tim states our system is not like a furnace per say. Macros can help one keep the food choices in the ball park. Because different approaches seem to work at different times we have to monitor the results of any plan over the long term. The right ratio of calories is still required for any long term success.

rainbowbow

LeenaGee wrote: »

An extract from the article "The big fat calorie counting con"

"It's time we update and mass broadcast a more advanced nutritional understanding of food. Calorie counting has had its day; if we don't move on from its archaic ways, the worrying trends around obesity in the Western world will only continue to worsen, and our health as a whole will decline."

Yeah, cause, the obesity epidemic In the western world is because the public DOES have a great understanding of calories. Obviously, we're all fat because calorie counting doesn't work.

[/sarcasm]

RllyGudTweetr

Macros count? Who knew?

Sabine_Stroehm

SLLRunner wrote: »

Calorie counting certainly has worked for me as far as weight loss goes, but macro ratio seems to work best for energy level and satieaity (for me).

What macro ratios did you end up with?

baconslave

Screw the sensationalist blib-blab in the article. Read the studies mentioned instead and form your own conclusions.

http://journals.cambridge.org/images/fileUpload/documents/PHN2014-007802_1.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2238749/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129158/
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/139/1/178.full.pdf
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/132/3/329.full

For only one is just the abstract available (the Vanderbilt study, I believe. So I did not link it.) Happy reading. I'll get back to you after the New Year when I've finally gotten to finish them all.

kelly_e_montana

I've only been able to maintain my weight since I've stopped counting calories. I counted since grade school and it led to a cycle of restriction and binging. Now I eat intuitively and move more and have stayed the same weight for the last year. I think it's a good tool if you have no idea about nutrition and calorie counts, but at some point it can become obsessive for some people (like I was).

I use MFP as a social site to connect with others who do the same sports. I always say "That's why it's called 'My Fitness Pal' instead of 'My Calorie Counting Pal.'" But that being said, people are all at different places in their journey and maybe calorie counting is a good training tool.

AmigaMaria001

Hum?? I wonder how I lost 60lbs by eating fresh bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, beans and meat along with lots and lots of fresh vegetables?
I didn't eat at all differently than I ever have except that I counted calories so I was eating a whole lot less.

melimomTARDIS

I lost 60 lbs eating tons o' carbs. I literally eat pasta/rice/oats/potatoes/bread at every meal. Im keeping it off by doing the same thing. Its not magic, its calorie counting.

jgnatca

The big benefit I got from MFP is the action of regularly diarizing. It keeps me consistent and honest.

ndj1979

eric_sg61 wrote: »

hamoncan wrote: »

"For Dr Lucan and his fellow researcher James DiNicolantonio, rather than simply counting calories to help dieting, we should be looking at the type of food we are eating."

Real ground breaking stuff there! /sarcasm

If you overeat ANY food you'll gain bodyfat. I am still waiting for the 10,000-calories-a-day -approved-food list to not gain weight diet. I guess I'll keep waiting

LOL for realz ….

Iwishyouwell

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Iwishyouwell wrote: »

I couldn't care less about the calorie controversy, but I do think there needs to be a much greater conversation about macros and a de-villainization of the fat macro.

Is fat still that villainized? It doesn't seem to be on MFP. I guess I don't have that good a sense of the general public, but in my circles everyone seems to have moved on to carbs long ago.

Anyway, if it is, I certainly agree with you.

Carbs have definitely taken a hit, but I still see in the "real world" lots of people knocking foods as "unhealthy" simply because they're associated with fat.

ndj1979

carbs and sugar seem to be the modern day satan ….

Mr_Knight

The study doesn't say what the article claims it says. It actually validates CICO.

ViolaLeeBlueberry

Nothing new there, but that's the case with most articles. (Half the articles out there re-state for the general public what people who pay more attention to the issue already know -- whether it's about ISIS or Congress or macros/calorie counting. That's not "bad" or "lazy journalism," it's part of the function of journalism. Not everyone can follow everything.)

The article is OK, but it has a slant. Which is fully revealed in the tagline at the end, LOL:

"Ross Edgley is a writer and broadcaster who specialises in the areas of health, nutrition and popular culture. He is also Co-Founder at THE PROTEIN WORKS™.

The Protein Works is a company that sells protein powders and shakes. So yeah, he's keen on selling the world on "eat more protein." And yeah, he knows it's not a new discovery, or he wouldn't have started his company -- which presumably didn't get started yesterday, after the research he cites came out.

fearlessleader104

A calorie is not always a calorie! Muahahahaha

gothomson

This is the problem: newspapers are NOT scientific journals and over the years I have become sceptical of these "Shock! Horror!" stories. I am no nutritionists but I don’t think anyone that is would say that “a calorie is a calorie” and would point out that 100 calories of protein is going to be better for you that 100 calories of sugar.

Also calorie counting makes you take notice of the food your eating – before I'd pick up the cream cake and eat it, now I look at it and go “500 calories! That’s a whole hour at the gym to work that off, no way!”, and I get a banana instead.

Plus it’s The Telegraph – if they told me today was Tuesday I’d check it on three calendars first!

WalkingAlong

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Iwishyouwell wrote: »

I couldn't care less about the calorie controversy, but I do think there needs to be a much greater conversation about macros and a de-villainization of the fat macro.

Is fat still that villainized? It doesn't seem to be on MFP. I guess I don't have that good a sense of the general public, but in my circles everyone seems to have moved on to carbs long ago.

Anyway, if it is, I certainly agree with you.

I didn't read the entire article but it seems to be pro low carb?

By more-nuanced thinking, then, what counts for obe-
sity and related diseases is not the number of calories in
specific foods but rather the concentration and type of
carbohydrates these foods contain (

Wronkletoad

do you even lift bro?

Iwishyouwell

herrspoons wrote: »

But for losing weight? No. Counting calories whilst eating reasonably is the only effective means of controlling the process.

Really?

Then I'm confused as to how I've lost over 100 pounds...not counting calories?

WalkingAlong

I wonder how people controlled their weight before calories were invented. I wonder how the animal kingdom does it.

5stringjeff

BarryK15 wrote: »

I guess not everyone is on board with MFP. I don't know, it worked pretty well for me.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/mens-health/11249611/The-big-fat-calorie-counting-con.html?fb

TL;DR version: macros matter.

SLLRunner

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

SLLRunner wrote: »

Calorie counting certainly has worked for me as far as weight loss goes, but macro ratio seems to work best for energy level and satieaity (for me).

What macro ratios did you end up with?

Sabine,

I have them set at 30% fat/30% protein/40 % carbs. However, I haven't found a way to get my protein level up to par for weight lifting but my energy levels are great. I always end up with more carbs than I've set my goals for.

eric_sg61

WalkingAlong wrote: »

I wonder how people controlled their weight before calories were invented. I wonder how the animal kingdom does it.

Wild animals don't lay around and eat all day long. Some predator animals may only eat every few days if they are lucky and they have to exert effort to acquire food..

SLLRunner

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

I've only been able to maintain my weight since I've stopped counting calories. I counted since grade school and it led to a cycle of restriction and binging. Now I eat intuitively and move more and have stayed the same weight for the last year.

Wonderful!

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Wheelhouse15

Well, when a journalist starts off an article about a new study that "goes completely against dieting doctrine" and "is set to shake the foundations" you know there is really nothing new in it except maybe to the dim wit journalist who has never actually been exposed to research in the field before. *Yawn* nothing to see here.

ETA oh, it's worse, the author is selling something. No bias there at all.

snowflake930

Iwishyouwell wrote: »

herrspoons wrote: »

But for losing weight? No. Counting calories whilst eating reasonably is the only effective means of controlling the process.

Really?

Then I'm confused as to how I've lost over 100 pounds...not counting calories?

^^Ditto this. I lost 160#. Works for me, but perhaps I am (and everyone who has seen me before and after) just delusional.

SLLRunner

Iwishyouwell wrote: »

herrspoons wrote: »

But for losing weight? No. Counting calories whilst eating reasonably is the only effective means of controlling the process.

Really?

Then I'm confused as to how I've lost over 100 pounds...not counting calories?

Whether or not you counted calories, you ate at a calorie deficit to do so well weight loss. Not counting calories actually works well for some, but for others of us it does not. To each our own.

My hat is off to those people who don't count calories and who are successful at weight loss. I think not counting calories and losing weight is a tool as well, because you've obviously learned to listen to your body very well. My cousin has lost about 35 pounds and does not count calories, though she does do weight watchers.

Man, I wish I was at that place where I didn't count calories, but every time I have tried to eat intuitively, for lack of a better phrase, I have ended up overeating and gaining weight. For me, counting calories and logging is my accountability factor.

msf74

“public health should work primarily to support the consumption of whole foods

Well, yeah.

Bioavailability of calories and satiety matter. The Atwater system is very crude.

How is this news?