9 reasons why counting calories is dumb
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But I believe anyone who says calorie counting doesn't work, was simply not able to stick with it.
Ditto... You have to do what you can stick with and what works for you.0 -
One reason counting calories is not dumb:
Score:
Counting calories 1
Not counting calories 0
Off topic, but great job.0 -
for me... when i began counting calories, i began choosing better foods.. then i added exercise to the mix.. which has equaled weight/ inches lost..
so in my book : calories counting = good!0 -
I thought this article was awesome - http://tomnikkola.com/9-reasons-why-counting-calories-is-dumb/
Not saying MFP is dumb - just that maybe the macros and what we're actually putting in our bodies is more important than the calorie total?
^^ main reason why I stopped counting calories a long time ago. I eat according to my macros (IIFYM) hence the reason why my food log is all in red. yes calories are important but if you're not getting enough protein/carbs/fats or your numbers are all jacked up, then you're actually not improving your results on weight loss.
Just my opinion.
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But I do watch my macros.... in accordance with my calorie goal. :huh:
QFT
You know what's *really* dumb? Telling a bunch of calorie-counters that they are doing it wrong, even those of us who are successful. hmmm0 -
1. NUTRIENT LABELS CAN BE OFF BY 20%
True....but by eating more whole foods, you can avoid this.
2. YOU DON’T ESTIMATE WELL
This is why I weigh and measure everything. Estimation will get you nowhere.
3. MEASURING CALORIE EXPENDITURE IS SIGNIFICANTLY INACCURATE
True, but there are tools that can help. When I tracked exercise calories, I used a heart-rate-monitor. A Fitbit or BodyMediaFit would also help.
4. RESTING METABOLIC RATE VARIES DAY TO DAY
That's why averages are important.
5. WHEN YOU EAT FEWER CALORIES, YOUR BODY BURNS FEWER CALORIES
Which is why it's often recommended that you take a week or two off now and then. Or at least have cheat days. A lot of people are very successful this way. Also, TDEE-20% is much better to combat this issue than VLCD.
6. A CALORIE OF PROTEIN IS NOT THE SAME AS A CALORIE OF FAT OR CARBOHYDRATE
Which is why you should find the macro ratio that works for you and your needs.
7. CALORIE COUNTING ISN’T SUSTAINABLE
I find it very sustainable and plan on counting for a very long time. It takes me 5 minutes per day. The author suggests that I should want "all that time back". I find that I'm happy to give up 5 minutes a day if it helps keep me fit, lean and happy with my body. Surely I'm worth 5 minutes?
8. NO STUDY HAS SHOWN LOW-CALORIE DIETS ARE EFFECTIVE FOR LONG-TERM WEIGHT LOSS
That's why I don't eat low calorie. I eat less than I need.
9. PEOPLE DON’T GAIN WEIGHT BECAUSE THEY EAT TOO MANY CALORIES, THEY EAT TOO MANY CALORIES BECAUSE THEY’RE GAINING WEIGHT
Gary Taubes. Enough said.0 -
for me... when i began counting calories, i began choosing better foods.. then i added exercise to the mix.. which has equaled weight/ inches lost..
so in my book : calories counting = good!
^^ This too!
I have learned so much just by keeping a food diary, not to mention the excellent info I have found in these forums.0 -
The "quality of food" argument is such BS because ANY kind of food, even vegetables, will make you fat if you eat more of it than your body requires for weight maintenance. Sure, it's going to be hard to eat enough vegetables to make you fat, but that's the point ... it's not because vegetables are magic foods, it's because they're low in calories! By the same token, a person can eat fast food every single day and still lose weight if they eat less of it than is required for weight maintenance. I would say the guy is just being intellectually dishonest, but I have yet to see any evidence that he understands this stuff well enough to BE intellectually dishonest about it.0
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Hmmm....well, I've lost 40 Lbs being dumb then. As far as sustainability goes, I'd agree that counting calories forever is probably not sustainable...at least not for me. Sustainability comes with learning or re-learning how to eat and having a lifestyle that is fitness and nutrition oriented. I successfully maintained for 3-4 months without counting...just listening to my body, getting my nutrition on and getting my fitness on. I'm counting again due to I'm on another cut...bur really, I think sustainability is all about your overall lifestyle. If you have a lifestyle that is fitness oriented and nutritionally sound, your body is going to reflect that.0
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While I do think people get too attached to the notion that calories in < calories out = weight loss and they do not pay as much attention to macros as they should, no weight loss method can escape that fundamental principal either. But even paying attention only to macros is still a form of counting calories. That is why I am having success here while a good friend of mine is having success with Weight Watchers' point system because in the end we are doing the same thing, I am just being more finite about it.
Even paying attention to the types of food you eat is still a form of counting calories. How many of us here have heard or experienced weight loss simply by no longer drinking soda pop? Someone who drinks 5 cans worth (60oz) of Coke-a-cola Classic is taking in 600 calories a day (10cal/oz). Say they switch to something like Vitamin Water . They just cut their calorie intake by just under 40% to 375cal/day drinking the same volume (6.25cal/oz) which is a net loss of 1,575 calories a week. Or they switched, like me, to plain water. That cuts it out completely for a loss of 4,200 calories a week.
My undergraduate adviser gave me the best reason to count calories. She is an experimental psychologist and in her lecture on measurement validity/reliability she mentions the phenomenon of what you are measuring is changed by the simple fact you are measuring it. The number one example of this is keeping a food diary. I cannot tell you how many times keeping an honest journal here in MFP has changed my eating habits simply because I have become aware of what exactly I am eating. I have stopped eating a lot of stuff that I used to or I "buy" the ability to eat it by going on one of my insane walks that last over 2 hours.0 -
I think the quality of food line of thinking is much more pertinent to long term weight regulation as opposed to weight loss and what you are prepared to do to keep your weight on an even keel over many years.
If the answer to the question "are you prepared to keep counting calories for many years or for the rest of your life" is "yes" then quality really doesn't have to be an issue. The basis of all weight loss is a calorie deficit as we all know.
However, if the answer is "no" then focusing of food quality is a way of keeping your weight steady against the trade off from the burden of counting calories over the long term. Some people may choose to do this, others may not. Can you gain weight despite the quality of your diet being nothing other than fresh fruit, leafy vegetables, high quality protein sources etc? Yes. Is it much less likely than if your diet is much higher in "junk" food? Yes.
Calorie counting can simply be an interface by which you gain real skills for unconscious competence: balanced diet, portion control, hunger and appetite control and so on.0 -
why you calling me names?0
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9 reasons that article is stupid.
1. NUTRIENT LABELS CAN BE OFF BY 20%
>Implying I eat enough packaged foods for this to be relevant
2. YOU DON’T ESTIMATE WELL
>Implying I estimate my portion sizes
3. MEASURING CALORIE EXPENDITURE IS SIGNIFICANTLY INACCURATE
>Implying I log exercise
4. RESTING METABOLIC RATE VARIES DAY TO DAY
>implying this doesn't even out over time
5. WHEN YOU EAT FEWER CALORIES, YOUR BODY BURNS FEWER CALORIES
>Implying I don't already know about and compensate for adaptive thermogenesis
6. A CALORIE OF PROTEIN IS NOT THE SAME AS A CALORIE OF FAT OR CARBOHYDRATE
>Implying I don't count macros
7. CALORIE COUNTING ISN’T SUSTAINABLE
Sustainable for whom? It's sustainable for me and has been for a year.
8. NO STUDY HAS SHOWN LOW-CALORIE DIETS ARE EFFECTIVE FOR LONG-TERM WEIGHT LOSS
Is the author arguing calories in < calories out doesn't cause weight loss? :laugh:
9. PEOPLE DON’T GAIN WEIGHT BECAUSE THEY EAT TOO MANY CALORIES, THEY EAT TOO MANY CALORIES BECAUSE THEY’RE GAINING WEIGHT
Lol wut :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Now if only MFP let us green text.
Thread winner.7. CALORIE COUNTING ISN’T SUSTAINABLE
What? I've been on numerous diets and none of them were sustainable. I've tried just eating clean and making sure I put the "right" foods in my body and that wasn't sustainable. I've tried just eating smaller portions. That was sustainable but I didn't lose weight b/c while my portions were smaller, I was still eating at or above maintenance. Counting calories is the most sustainable option I've encountered. Dumb article is dumb.0 -
why you calling me names?
:laugh:0 -
This is just ridiculous tripe. Please don't post confusing unfounded advice for the newbies. They have enough trouble sorting out what's real and what's BS.0
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why you calling me names?
You should report this post. It's in violations of the terms.0 -
he have his reasons.0
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This is just ridiculous tripe. Please don't post confusing unfounded advice for the newbies. They have enough trouble sorting out what's real and what's BS.
QFT. ^This^ one hundred million times0 -
he have his reasons.0
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Laughable article and it even references Taubes. Hint, anything that sites Taubes is going to be FoS.
I'll keep counting calories and gaining weight on my bulks and losing weight on my cuts. Funny how effective that is for so many of us.
Your brain turns me on!0 -
why you calling me names?
You should report this post. It's in violations of the terms.
I know right!!!
And...I am not dumb..just for the record..I just suck0 -
toplel
[citation needed] :laugh:0 -
I think that life is too short to be wasted counting everything that you put in your mouth. I do not count calories. I am not one of those people that never gain weight...so I play with it and keep it under control..Like this weekend I had alot of foods and drinks, so today Im fasting...
But, there are people that need to have a better idea or they lose control...and thats fine...whatever works, nothing dumb here.
Oh, and these people lost the weight because they ate less, not because they counted calories..thats just a tool that works for some, and doesnt for some others..0 -
You know what is really sustainable for me effortlessly? Being fat. So counting, weighing, measuring, watching macros it is.0
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Oh, and these people lost the weight because they ate less, not because they counted calories..thats just a tool that works for some, and doesnt for some others..
Math is hard, we get it.
If they're losing weight, whether they're actively counting or not, they're burning more than they're consuming. Actively counting works. Maintaining a deficit is why you lose weight. If some folks wanna play around and guess, and can maintain or lose, that's on them.
counting has worked pretty well for me.. and a LOT of other people.
..but that's okay, I get it. Math is hard. If only there was a website.. or a phone app that would just do the hard part for us...0 -
This guy and that Fitness Beverlyhills chick would get along really well. They both stubbornly resist science.
maybe they are married....0 -
I read this and sighed..... There are SO MANY people out there who tell us that what we're doing is dumb, unhealthy, stupid, etc.etc.
A calorie, is a calorie (or kilo-calorie to be exact). A kilo-calorie is the amount of heat required to raise one gram of water through one degree centigrade So if you eat 10 calories of protein, or ten calories of fat,. then you need the same amount of energy to burn that 10 calories off. The only difference in the calories is the order, and how, your metabolism burns off calories. That's an exact science, and too involved to dump into a blog.
I know that counting calories works, it IS sustainable, and it IS a healthy way of losing weight. That is all there is to it. thousands of other people on MFP will agree, we have counted calories and we have lost weight. The only addition to counting calories that we make, and that we know is essential for our success is that we run, walk, swim, cross-train or lift heavy.
Eat less, exercise more, count calories = lose weight.
It's not rocket science - and please excuse the quote - MFP works. Count calories.
to hell with all your simplicity and logic!
Everyone knows that counting calories is pointless and you can eat more than you take in and still lose weight as long as you do master cleanses, followed by ketone cleanses, and then go on the cabbage diet for a month ...
calories in vs calories out pffffffffft who does that????0 -
I think that life is too short to be wasted counting everything that you put in your mouth. I do not count calories. I am not one of those people that never gain weight...so I play with it and keep it under control..Like this weekend I had alot of foods and drinks, so today Im fasting...
But, there are people that need to have a better idea or they lose control...and thats fine...whatever works, nothing dumb here.
Oh, and these people lost the weight because they ate less, not because they counted calories..thats just a tool that works for some, and doesnt for some others..
Same here. I tried, it sucked, I stopped and am losing. I don't think it's dumb, though. It works for a lot of people. For me? No thanks! Too tedious.0 -
Oh, and these people lost the weight because they ate less, not because they counted calories..thats just a tool that works for some, and doesnt for some others..
Math is hard, we get it.
If they're losing weight, whether they're actively counting or not, they're burning more than they're consuming. Actively counting works. Maintaining a deficit is why you lose weight. If some folks wanna play around and guess, and can maintain or lose, that's on them.
counting has worked pretty well for me.. and a LOT of other people.
..but that's okay, I get it. Math is hard. If only there was a website.. or a phone app that would just do the hard part for us...
Nobody said math is hard...I said its annoying, and not the only way to lose/maintain weight..
And again, it works for some, not everybody.0
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