Why calorie counting is ridiculous

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.

???? 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.

That poster didn't mention a specific science? Last I checked, physics was still a field of science.

Physics isn't nutrition.

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:

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

Obviously no one told Winston Churchill this

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

Obviously no one told Winston Churchill this

Or Henry VIII

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.

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.

???? 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:

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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.