Why calorie counting is ridiculous

cnl91_W

I inherently hate this article because she says my body is "broken". I'm a type ONE diabetic, so thank you but no I'm not broken, and it has nothing to do with what I subjected my body to. :explode:

Also this is just about the worst site for people to read this article as many of us are having success with calories in/calories out. That's the whole reason we're on here.

chilicoco

Wow - so I guess no one was overweight prior to 1970??

tennisdude2004

I inherently hate this article because she says my body is "broken". I'm a type ONE diabetic, so thank you but no I'm not broken, and it has nothing to do with what I subjected my body to. :explode:

Also this is just about the worst site for people to read this article as many of us are having success with calories in/calories out. That's the whole reason we're on here.

I think that was probably the purpose of the OP posting it up. He looks like a cheeky chappy.????

lavaughan69

The history of a calorie. Long article but at least it's factual!

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/magazine/articles/29-1-counting-calories.aspx

The idea of calories and assigning the number of calories one should eat to maintain weight dates back to the late 1800's.

This is my favorite part of the write-up...I wish I were born in a different time!!

"Until the beginning of the 20th century Americans associated plumpness with beauty and wealth. Thinness implied illness or poverty. During the Victorian era the hourglass figure with its cinched waist, full bust, and wide hips was the most sought-after feminine form."

mustgetmuscles1

Must be all that processing and fast food restaurants. They are to blame. No one was over weight before those evil corporations.

_Zardoz_

Wow - so I guess no one was overweight prior to 1970??

Obviously no one told Winston Churchill this

SapiensPisces

Wow - so I guess no one was overweight prior to 1970??

Obviously no one told Winston Churchill this

Or Henry VIII

Erica262

This lady is full of the crazy. I went to her actual blog to read(/post) comments and this is the "science" she linked me to for disagreeing with her: http://charlotteord.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/why-calorie-deficit-does-not-guarantee.html

firstsip

Wow - so I guess no one was overweight prior to 1970??

Obviously no one told Winston Churchill this

Or Henry VIII

Don't forget Taft!

jakedner

I'm interested in the dialogue this post has started...

dym123

I was just complaining to a co-worker about how hard it was to call someone a dumbass in a nice, diplomatic way, but in this case I don't have to. This chick is a dumbass!!

likitisplit

The history of a calorie. Long article but at least it's factual!

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/magazine/articles/29-1-counting-calories.aspx

The idea of calories and assigning the number of calories one should eat to maintain weight dates back to the late 1800's.

This is my favorite part of the write-up...I wish I were born in a different time!!

"Until the beginning of the 20th century Americans associated plumpness with beauty and wealth. Thinness implied illness or poverty. During the Victorian era the hourglass figure with its cinched waist, full bust, and wide hips was the most sought-after feminine form."

Until you've seen pictures showing the deformities caused by corsets. There was a reason ladies fainted a lot in those days.

DamePiglet

The history of a calorie. Long article but at least it's factual!

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/magazine/articles/29-1-counting-calories.aspx

The idea of calories and assigning the number of calories one should eat to maintain weight dates back to the late 1800's.

This is my favorite part of the write-up...I wish I were born in a different time!!

"Until the beginning of the 20th century Americans associated plumpness with beauty and wealth. Thinness implied illness or poverty. During the Victorian era the hourglass figure with its cinched waist, full bust, and wide hips was the most sought-after feminine form."

Until you've seen pictures showing the deformities caused by corsets. There was a reason ladies fainted a lot in those days.

There's an association of women who still "modify" themselves this way. It's... well, I think it's pretty horrifying, but whatever.

jofjltncb6

In...

...for later.

lavaughan69

The history of a calorie. Long article but at least it's factual!

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/magazine/articles/29-1-counting-calories.aspx

The idea of calories and assigning the number of calories one should eat to maintain weight dates back to the late 1800's.

This is my favorite part of the write-up...I wish I were born in a different time!!

"Until the beginning of the 20th century Americans associated plumpness with beauty and wealth. Thinness implied illness or poverty. During the Victorian era the hourglass figure with its cinched waist, full bust, and wide hips was the most sought-after feminine form."

Until you've seen pictures showing the deformities caused by corsets. There was a reason ladies fainted a lot in those days.

There's an association of women who still "modify" themselves this way. It's... well, I think it's pretty horrifying, but whatever.

actually, I should have only copied the part about plumpness being associated with beauty and wealth. I don't like the idea of the corset!! OUCH. But if plumpness meant wealth, well damn, 47lbs ago I was millionaire goddess!!!

mortuseon

???? Not scientifically proven???? Where does she think the whole concept of calories came from? What an idiot. Sorry to be so demeaning, but it's true...her whole argument is based on anecdotes/opinion.

Wikipedia:
The large calorie, kilogram calorie, dietary calorie, nutritionist's calorie, nutritional calorie or food calorie (symbol: Cal, equiv: kcal) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. The large calorie is thus equal to 1000 small calories or one kilocalorie .

The concept of calories comes from physics, not biochemistry or medicine.

I did say it comes from 'science'. Pretty sure physics is one of those. (and we do use calories in biochemistry, because the energetic favourability of a reaction...I'll leave it there)

edit: "Physics isn't nutrition"? Are you saying that the laws of thermodynamics don't apply to your body...? :noway:

mustgetmuscles1

???? Not scientifically proven???? Where does she think the whole concept of calories came from? What an idiot. Sorry to be so demeaning, but it's true...her whole argument is based on anecdotes/opinion.

Wikipedia:
The large calorie, kilogram calorie, dietary calorie, nutritionist's calorie, nutritional calorie or food calorie (symbol: Cal, equiv: kcal) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. The large calorie is thus equal to 1000 small calories or one kilocalorie .

The concept of calories comes from physics, not biochemistry or medicine.

I did say it comes from 'science'. Pretty sure physics is one of those. (and we do use calories in biochemistry, because the energetic favourability of a reaction...I'll leave it there)

edit: "Physics isn't nutrition"? Are you saying that the laws of thermodynamics don't apply to your body...? :noway:

Pssh Einstein was an idiot. Energy and mass have no relation. Duh. :laugh:

ericarenee2005

Calorie counting is the only way I've ever lost weight. Nothing else works for me, I've tried a few different things like low carb, low fat, blah blah and found eating a balanced diet within my calorie range is the only thing that works for me. Everyone is different, but that's my story. :B

sjaplo

<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*.

My granddad used to fry onions and chopped up potatoes in a whole stick of butter too. That was our "side dish" to the fried catfish, which was also fried in corn meal and butter. Such good stuff! Annnnd now I'm hungry!

Margarine was much more common where I grew up. Butter was unhealthy and expensive. Margarine was full of healthy fats and was cheap.

Two words to explain why the diet was better pre-1970 BEEF DRIPPING 'Beef - flippin - dripping.

Now that was a taste sensation.????????

Oh, in my area is was pig drippings. Bacon to be exact. Every mother I knew kept a coffee can full of bacon drippings in the fridge. No bean was every cooked (and we ate some type of bean daily) without bacon and/or bacon grease. One of my favorite things as a child was eating the sweet gooey bacon strips off the top of a pan of baked beans.

At least your mother kept the bacon drippings in the fridge - ours were used so often they were kept on the back of the stove - oh and fish came as god intended - in triangles covered in batter. And dessert everynight was ice cream with maple or corn syrup and sprinkles and whipped cream. It's no wonder I've fought my weight all my life.

And to fast food? Ray Croc bought the first McDonald's in the 50s and my mother worked at A&W in the 60s - rootbeer float anyone?

DamePiglet

The history of a calorie. Long article but at least it's factual!

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/magazine/articles/29-1-counting-calories.aspx

The idea of calories and assigning the number of calories one should eat to maintain weight dates back to the late 1800's.

This is my favorite part of the write-up...I wish I were born in a different time!!

"Until the beginning of the 20th century Americans associated plumpness with beauty and wealth. Thinness implied illness or poverty. During the Victorian era the hourglass figure with its cinched waist, full bust, and wide hips was the most sought-after feminine form."

Until you've seen pictures showing the deformities caused by corsets. There was a reason ladies fainted a lot in those days.

There's an association of women who still "modify" themselves this way. It's... well, I think it's pretty horrifying, but whatever.

actually, I should have only copied the part about plumpness being associated with beauty and wealth. I don't like the idea of the corset!! OUCH. But if plumpness meant wealth, well damn, 47lbs ago I was millionaire goddess!!!

:laugh: yeah, I know whatcha mean!