Principle One: Don’t count calories (because not all calories are created equal)
What are calories? Why is the ‘Energy In, Energy Out” Rule just plain wrong?
​
A calorie is a unit of measurement; specifically, the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. In food terms, it’s the amount of energy a food provides and we measure it in kilojoules (though lots of us still say calories!).
One calorie is about four kilojoules (a joule is a measurement of energy or heat). Food supplies our bodies with calories, providing the energy we need to live. Our lives rely on the energy that comes in the form of calories/ kilojoules, whether it is sitting on the couch for hours at a time or running a marathon.
​
Fun Fact: The energy (or heat) we get from a calorie in our food comes directly from the sun!
​
Most of our calorie intake is used to keep our brain operating – we even burn calories at night while we’re sleeping!
Other Fun Fact: Humans need a certain amount of calories every day just to sustain life, to keep their brains and bodies operating to do an ordinary day - between 1800 and 2500 on average (x 4 for kilojoules).
​
So given that a pie and sauce is about 500 calories, can I just eat two pies and sauce and a can of coke and be all good to go for the day?
Umm, no! Your calorie intake has to be nutritious. Your food intake can’t just supply energy, it also has to supply a whole range of other things that help the body operate at optimum level: nutrients and fibre, and vitamins. Your pie and sauce and can of coke, I’m afraid, is made up of what we call “empty calories” – energy that doesn’t help the body.
​
And if we don’t eat the right sort of calories our body won’t be healthy. The energy we take in in the form of food can work for us, or against us. Empty calories generally equal weight gain which leads to overweight and obesity, the precursors to the modern diseases that kill modern people. Take in too many calories, then we risk gaining weight.
​
Your 1800 calories a day has to come from sources that provide nutrient and medicine for your body. While a Picnic or the KitKat that you pick up at IGA while doing the shopping may taste great for a few minutes, it’s also provided you with close to 250 empty calories. Or you can eat five apples….or 20 carrots, or two cups of grapes or a handful of cashews, or a smoothie…and get a great gobfull of nutrients and good stuff that makes you feel full.
​
Not So Fun Fact: The Picnic bar or KitKat will also spike your blood sugar and make you want to eat more empty calories!
​
The Energy Equation Myth: There’s no such thing as “energy in, energy out”. Cutting calories probably won’t help you with sustainable weight loss because it’s really, really hard to do!
​
For years it’s been believed that losing weight is related to “wearing off” the calories we take in and that if we take in calories and do lots of exercise the calories will be used up and we’ll lose weight; or if we cut our calorie intake, we’ll lose weight. So we can eat that one pie and sauce and can of Coke and lose weight. Yep, you will. You will burn off more calories than you take in – even if you sit on the couch or sleep all day. But how long can you sustain that? One day you’ll want to some chips as well, and maybe something for breakfast…and before you know it, you’re tipped the calorie in, energy out scale. Discipline doesn’t work. Willpower is not an option. Nor is a pie a day diet.
The old way of looking at calorie counting – that is, eat less than you use up in a day – has been debunked by science. We now know that our bodies are so much smarter than us. Our bodies sense that we’ve changed our calorie (energy) intake and our internal management system adjusts for it. Too bad so sad, you might have decreased your calorie intake, but your body has decreased the amount of energy it thinks you need now.
​
To stay healthy and within your right weight range we have to be think about what we eat, not how much we eat. The only way to live with calories in this day and age is to be an eater who doesn’t count calories – who eats food that is satisfying and filling and provides nutrients and goodness that the body needs.