Is it Really Worth Your Time To Count Calories?
After counting calories for years, well decades really, I guess…<sigh!> the one thing I DID know was that I didn’t wanna do it anymore!
Come to find out all that time I spent trying to do that was really a waste…no wonder it never seemed to work very well...
When it comes to weight loss,I think counting calories is something that we feel like we can control....it gives us something to track and manipulate...it gives something to focus on, something to do.
But in reality we’re probably just giving ourselves busy-work and extra stress.
Outside of a lab setting you really can’t measure your “calories in and calories out” very accurately. Here are a few reason why:
Inaccurate food labels. Did you know that the calorie count listed on food packages can be off by as much as 20%? That right there can make a huge difference in the amount of calories you think you are taking in each day.
We really can’t know that accurate calorie count even for real whole foods or how those calories will be used in your body. Difference in weight, size, sugar, carb, protein, or fat content will differ.
Not all calories are used strictly for energy - carbs, yes, are used almost exclusively for that, but both protein and fat are used as structural components in your body too. How would we ever know how much was used where?
The thermic effect of food. Not all calories are created equally and not all are broken down the same way in your body. Your body actually uses a certain amount of energy just breaking down the food you eat. Carbs use about 5-15%; Protein about 20-30%; and fat uses about 0-4% of the energy consumed to break it down. So the net amount you actually burn/store will differ from the number on the label.
You also use about 75% of your daily calorie expenditure just keeping your body functioning (breathing, heart beating etc) that exact amount is really difficult to account for at home.
The energy you use for exercise is also hard to predict outside a lab - I know we all have our wearables and trackers so we think we can track this but many of those numbers are just estimates.
What about the energy used for non-exercise activity or even for digestion?
Your calorie needs will also vary each day, which means the energy used or stored will vary as well.
So in short if you are driving yourself nuts trying to micromanage your calories you might be causing yourself unnecessary stress.