Why calorie counting is ridiculous

bcattoes

Not having read any of the replies, I'd like to clarify some things based on my personal experience. This would likely vary by region, naturally.

Pre-1970 we knew what calories were. I don't know anyone that counted them, but we knew food had calories and to control weight you couldn't eat too many of them.

Pre-1970 we ate crap. Not as much as today by a long shot, but it was not all whole foods. For one thing, at that time one did not walk into a grocery store and see the huge produce sections you do today. Outside of harvest season canned and frozen vegetables were the norm. We ate a LOT of salt and sugar, along with white bread and yummy homemade desserts made with white sugar and white flour. We kids drank Kool-Aid. We ate white potatoes or pasta at nearly every meal. We ate sugary cereals for breakfast, and when we bought the "healthy" cereals w/o sugar, we spooned sugar on top to make them taste better. Everyone I knew owned a big deep fryer and used them often. We loved fat and carbs and ate a lot of them. Whole grains were foreign and something only hippies ate.

Pre-1970 we moved a LOT more than people do today. We had 3 TV channels, at best. We had no video games or tablets. Swiffers and robotic vacuums did not exist. Everyone mowed their lawn, but only people with several acres owned riding lawn mowers. Women who gained weight and were considered fat at 140 lbs exercised with Jack LaLaine or went "jogging", which was the newest exercise craze.

Having lived through the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's, it is my opinion that activity level was the difference. The more we, as a society, sit and rely on conveniences to do work for us, the fatter and unhealthier we become.

usernamekelly1

My aunt who ate basically a bakery of delights, fry ups and roast dinners as her diet all her life... stayed the same weight.... because she only stopped to sleep, if she wasn't baking, she wash shopping, or scrubbing the floor. She washed her clothes the old fashioned way, although she never did "exercise" as such her NEAT must of been through the roof.

but yeah my favourite bit of the article has to be

Let's look at the facts. Not even the scientific facts

ksuh999

Meh, I'm not so sure people moved around more in the 70s, I think people just simply eat more now. Portion sizes have gotten larger in restaurants, people eat out much more (esp. you Americans. Yeesh).

jmv7117

"Don't count calories, it'll make you fatter! However, if you purchase The Biggest Loser protein shakes, snacks, and workout DVDs, all of your wildest dreams will come true."

I bought the Taylor digital food scale used on The Biggest Loser according to the packaging. It was the only one our Walmart had so I figured a food scale is better than no food scale. It's really helped me lose weight. Does that count?

DrMAvDPhD

SHE'S one of your Biggest Loser coaches in the UK? That makes me a little sad.

SunofaBeach14

Not having read any of the replies, I'd like to clarify some things based on my personal experience. This would likely vary by region, naturally.

Pre-1970 we knew what calories were. I don't know anyone that counted them, but we knew food had calories and to control weight you couldn't eat too many of them.

Pre-1970 we ate crap. Not as much as today by a long shot, but it was not all whole foods. For one thing, at that time one did not walk into a grocery store and see the huge produce sections you do today. Outside of harvest season canned and frozen vegetables were the norm. We ate a LOT of salt and sugar, along with white bread and yummy homemade desserts made with white sugar and white flour. We kids drank Kool-Aid. We ate white potatoes or pasta at nearly every meal. We ate sugary cereals for breakfast, and when we bought the "healthy" cereals w/o sugar, we spooned sugar on top to make them taste better. Everyone I knew owned a big deep fryer and used them often. We loved fat and carbs and ate a lot of them. Whole grains were foreign and something only hippies ate.

Pre-1970 we moved a LOT more than people do today. We had 3 TV channels, at best. We had no video games or tablets. Swiffers and robotic vacuums did not exist. Everyone mowed their lawn, but only people with several acres owned riding lawn mowers. Women who gained weight and were considered fat at 140 lbs exercised with Jack LaLaine or went "jogging", which was the newest exercise craze.

Having lived through the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's, it is my opinion that activity level was the difference. The more we, as a society, sit and rely on conveniences to do work for us, the fatter and unhealthier we become.

I tend to agree with this. If you go back and look at older cookbooks, lard, white flour and sugar were very common ingredients. Do any of the younger generations even know what suet is let alone cook with it regularly? Tab was one of the few "diet" sodas available and it was in a pink can if I remember right. Tofu was almost unheard of outside of hippie circles. Fish was eaten only if you caught a bass in the lake. Fried food was almost a requirement. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are also available fresh year round these days, and they were not then. That said, I think we need to add a simple lack of portion control to the increase in sedentary lifestyles.

Mr_Bad_Example

there is another factor that no one mentioned. Back in the 1970s the plates were smaller. Since then the manufacturers have been making plates bigger so as we look at our plates and they look empty we pile more on thinking that we are eating the correct amount. I also agree that in the 1970s we as a society were a lot more active than we are now. Also parents and others are penalized for making our children go outside and play! Ive actually kicked my kids outside and had them complain that they are bored!!!! Makes me mad as all heck! Those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s had the actual ability to go outside play and not come home till our parents yelled for us. Now I look around and all I see are people who complain that they dont have time to exercise but can sit on their smartphone and tablets for hours on end then go home and sit on the computer WHILE watching tv and eating junk food and take out. smhl

Pretty sure that the crappy Corelle ware with the orange flowers on it that my mother had in the 70s is the same size as the crappy Corelle that I have with the blue flowers from the 90s. It isn't plates.

Activity? Yes. I agree on that. We didn't have a choice. TV sucked.

Eh... TV still sucks.

usernamekelly1

SHE'S one of your Biggest Loser coaches in the UK? That makes me a little sad.

Not any more because the show got pulled a few years ago, due to nobody giving a rats *kitten* about it.

SapiensPisces

<snip>

I tend to agree with this. If you go back and look at older cookbooks, lard, white flour and sugar were very common ingredients. Do any of the younger generations even know what suet is let alone cook with it regularly? Tab was one of the few "diet" sodas available and it was in a pink can if I remember right. Tofu was almost unheard of outside of hippie circles. Fish was eaten only if you caught a bass in the lake. Fried food was almost a requirement. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are also available fresh year round these days, and they were not then. That said, I think we need to add a simple lack of portion control to the increase in sedentary lifestyles.

I agree also. My grandmother cooked with lard and we ate fried fish all summer at her house. She also made sweet tea that was ridiculously sugariffic. She was never bigger than a dressmaker's size 8 and my grandfather was tiny his whole life too. They both were constantly moving and doing something though.

tlacox1

It seems to me she is forgetting that people are WAY less active today than they were "pre-1970s". Technology is wonderful but it has made us lazier. Sure the people hunting the wild boar are not going to worry about the calories, but that is because they probably don't spend 9 hours a day glued to a computer. That's my take...

Nailed it! :happy:

Exactly! People in the pre-1970s also didn't have ready access to pre-made foods. It was home-cooked, not drive thru. They did exist at that time but not to the extent that they are now!

arios952013

I agree - check out Eat to Live, by Dr. Fuhrman - it works! I'm in 11 day of the 60-day aggressive plan! I am losing and getting way more nutrition than if I were just counting calories. Not everyone is able to do this plan, especially if you're addicted to food.


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

besaro

her argument is like the sky is blue, so all things blue are the sky

mhankosk

Stopped reading half way through cause its just asinine.

Correlation =/= Causation.

Heliconia

You know, why is it always the men that say they don't need to count calories? Or else the women with men's bodies? Don't you know that for most of us women, what you say goes in one ear and out the other. It doesn't apply to us! Why do you stand on your soap box and shout that what works for you applies to all of us? What are you even doing on here if you have no weight to lose. Get back on your web site where you belong.

brianalynnx

so this girl was on the biggest loser? A show that makes you exercise for 8 hours a say while surviving on 1400 calories? that sounds really healthy. Has anyone told this girl she is an idiot? Cause I would really like to.

Calories in vs calories out has made me lose 41lbs in 220 days. Yeah - doesnt work at all does it!

even better, she is a coach for the contestants UK Biggest Loser ! LOL

JLuckett05

Well, if you completely change your diet and lifestyle then you might not need to consider calories... How realistic is that for normal people who have to work and raise families? If I was a personal trainer and that's all I did, then that would make it much easier.

It's not that what she said is wrong, it's that it still requires an immense amount of planning and fortitude. The same planning and fortitude required to count calories correctly.

SapiensPisces

You know, why is it always the men that say they don't need to count calories? Or else the women with men's bodies? Don't you know that for most of us women, what you say goes in one ear and out the other. It doesn't apply to us! Why do you stand on your soap box and shout that what works for you applies to all of us? What are you even doing on here if you have no weight to lose. Get back on your web site where you belong.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but fit women and men are welcome here too. Shocking, but true.

SunofaBeach14

<snip>

I tend to agree with this. If you go back and look at older cookbooks, lard, white flour and sugar were very common ingredients. Do any of the younger generations even know what suet is let alone cook with it regularly? Tab was one of the few "diet" sodas available and it was in a pink can if I remember right. Tofu was almost unheard of outside of hippie circles. Fish was eaten only if you caught a bass in the lake. Fried food was almost a requirement. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are also available fresh year round these days, and they were not then. That said, I think we need to add a simple lack of portion control to the increase in sedentary lifestyles.

I agree also. My grandmother cooked with lard and we ate fried fish all summer at her house. She also made sweet tea that was ridiculously sugariffic. She was never bigger than a dressmaker's size 8 and my grandfather was tiny his whole life too. They both were constantly moving and doing something though.

I forgot fried catfish and sweet tea! Two things I haven't eaten regularly in 30 years. That's about the time my family switched over to a "healthier" (read "bland") diet. Come to think of it, I had a 28-29 inch waist until I went to grad school in my late 20s, so for me my weight gain was almost entirely caused by sitting on my *kitten*.

Mr_Knight

You know, why is it always the men that say they don't need to count calories? Or else the women with men's bodies? Don't you know that for most of us women, what you say goes in one ear and out the other. It doesn't apply to us! Why do you stand on your soap box and shout that what works for you applies to all of us? What are you even doing on here if you have no weight to lose. Get back on your web site where you belong.

That's a bit rude. Actually, that's a lot rude.

It's my *fitness* pal, not my-weightloss-pal - everybody is welcome.

Even you.

SunofaBeach14

You know, why is it always the men that say they don't need to count calories? Or else the women with men's bodies? Don't you know that for most of us women, what you say goes in one ear and out the other. It doesn't apply to us! Why do you stand on your soap box and shout that what works for you applies to all of us? What are you even doing on here if you have no weight to lose. Get back on your web site where you belong.

I'm currently gaining weight, TYVM. Mmmmm, Wendy's!!! :flowerforyou: