Cutting Calories Myths

dpandolfo0928

Why am I seeing all over the place that cutting calories doesn't work?

Lillymoo01

Because some people don't understand basic science. That the only way you can lose weight is to burn more than you eat.....

kimny72

Lillymoo01 wrote: »

Because some people don't understand basic science. That the only way you can lose weight is to burn more than you eat.....

And to add to this, if you know something you can do mostly for free works, they can't sell you on every new trend. They need you to think it's complicated, so you'll keep literally buying into each new fad.

collectingblues

Because people tend to find it easier to blame other factors than to take personal responsibility. So if they say that calorie counting doesn't work, they've given themselves a free pass for not working at it, or being imperfect.

Keto_Vampire

Because we live in a world where people no longer use their brains & like to believe conspiracy theorist online trolls. Similar finding with the "flat Earth" crowd...><...

MikePTY

"Cutting calories", taking in less calories than your body burns, is literally the only way to lose weight through diet. There is no other way. Every diet out there is just some method of taking in less calories than you burn. Even the most out there diets, albeit sometimes begrudgingly, admit that you can only lose weight if you are in a calorie deficit.

As far as "counting calories", which is the process of creating a calorie deficit by measuring the amount of calories in your food intake vs. the estimated number of calories you burn, the process certainly has detractors. I have a couple of theories. My primary one is that it is hard to make money on calorie counting. There's no fancy diet supplements to sell, no multi-level marketing meal replacements, etc. MFP pretty much has the market on calorie counting. So if someone wants to make money selling a diet, they need something different and more complicated. And to do that, they have to tear down calorie counting.

It's detractors also take potential pitfalls of calorie counting, and exaggerate them to extremes to discredit it. For example, a person could underestimate the amount of calories they are eating, or overestimate their exercise. Maybe they don't log everyday or count every meal. Maybe they have trouble sticking with it long term. These are all legitimate potential struggles that someone could have. But just because they exist does not mean that calorie counting is not overall an effective strategy.

Lastly, I think probably the main reason why people discredit calorie counting is because they are looking for a quick fix. And while calorie counting is effective, it is not quick. It is a slow and steady weight loss method. It can take many months, even years, for someone to get to their goal weight, and a lot of people just don't have the patience for it. They count for 2 weeks, lose 3 pounds, and then give up because they want the rapid weight loss promised to them by diet ads. They don't want to work for it. They want to do something for a couple of months and be done with it. That's usually not a very good way to lose weight. But it is attractive to people who really don't want to try that hard.

The millions and millions of pounds lost collectively by members of this site is a testament to the effectiveness of calorie counting. It is not the only way to lose weight, and some people may have success using other methods that cut calories without counting them. But overall, I think calorie counting is the most effective long term strategy there is.

amusedmonkey

Because calories are boring and sound outdated. It's not that people are stupid, it's that pseudo-intellectualism oversaturates the media and makes it sound like there is some new science that "debunked" the old "outdated" calories. Too much information, too few ways to fact-check it without going in deep.

purple4sure05

Where do you guys keep hearing that a caloric deficit doesn't work? I've never heard anyone say that in my entire life.

amusedmonkey

purple4sure05 wrote: »

Where do you guys keep hearing that a caloric deficit doesn't work? I've never heard anyone say that in my entire life.

It's currently trendy to think that weight loss is about hormones, specifically insulin (which is why low carb diets are popular).

echmain3

dpandolfo0928 wrote: »

Why am I seeing all over the place that cutting calories doesn't work?

Because those people are trying to sell you something.

deannalfisher

purple4sure05 wrote: »

Where do you guys keep hearing that a caloric deficit doesn't work? I've never heard anyone say that in my entire life.

Just the other night a Keto-vangelist tried to tell me that on a triathlon forum

To quote her it’s been scientific fucally proven that counting calories doesn’t work but she couldn’t show me any research

She also claimed she lost 40lbs doing Leto while still eating the same amount

I’m pretty much ignoring her

Silentpadna

deannalfisher wrote: »

I’m pretty much ignoring her

Not completely though obviously

Caralarma

Because they dont want to admit that they just need to put the fork down. Its insulins fault, its carbs fault, but not theirs

deannalfisher

Silentpadna wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

I’m pretty much ignoring her

Not completely though obviously

Or rather not engaging when she starts spouting her nutrition BS / triathlon forums are even more woo-tastic than the MFP ones at times

lynn_glenmont

deannalfisher wrote: »

purple4sure05 wrote: »

Where do you guys keep hearing that a caloric deficit doesn't work? I've never heard anyone say that in my entire life.

Just the other night a Keto-vangelist tried to tell me that on a triathlon forum

To quote her it’s been scientific fucally proven that counting calories doesn’t work but she couldn’t show me any research

She also claimed she lost 40lbs doing Leto while still eating the same amount

However, there's only one Jared Leto, and I think the line for doing him is pretty long, so folks might want to try a calorie deficit in the meanwhile.

New_Heavens_Earth

Because it's not sexy and there is no pseudoscience or magic formula involved.

Go keto, cut out all carbs... you lose weight from eating less calories

Go vegan/ vegetarian, cut out meat and/ or dairy... you lose weight from eating less calories

Doesn't matter whether you count them or not, you lose weight from eating less of them.

fcanad

Or because someone is overestimating burn at gym or is listening to a fitness tracker and overeating the result.