Hey guys- don’t forget to check out Natalie’s Charity Bake sale for cancer! There are tons of delicious looking goodies up for auction. I have a batch of my Glo Bars up for grabs open to Canadians!
Also, check out Green Monster Movement! I was up late last night adding new reader submissions! Lots more to come. The Amazing Grass giveaway is running until Thursday.
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Calorie Counting: Is It A Universal Rule?
Yesterday, Jillian Michaels was on The Doctors talking about metabolism. I only caught a few minutes of the show, but something I overheard really made me cringe.
Jillian said, “You HAVE to count calories. I don’t care how healthy you are eating. It’s a universal rule.”
WOW. That is one loaded statement!
I must say her comment made my blood boil a bit. It is a universal rule that you have to count calories to lose or maintain your weight?! I’m sorry, but I simply don’t agree.
I do think that counting calories is beneficial for many people. It helps people understand portion sizes and gives them a guideline for how much energy their body might need. On the other hand, calorie counting can become an obsession and a source of preoccupation that distracts us from the big picture.
I realize that her primary target is the typical overweight individual who probably doesn’t have much knowledge about calories, nutrition, and portion sizes, but what about all of the people who are on the extreme end of the spectrum with disordered eating? Do they now feel like they shouldn’t stop counting calories even though it might be driving them crazy?
In my opinion, calorie counting is NOT a universal rule, even though at one point in my life if you would have asked me I would have told you I could never picture myself giving it up. For my personality, calorie counting didn’t work because it was all-consuming. Soon eating wasn’t about how hungry I was, but how many calories I had ‘left’ for that meal.
Now that I have come out on the other side where I do not count calories, I think it is totally possible to eat healthy without counting and maintain one’s weight. I am living proof and I know many others who have learned to stop counting calories too! I actually think for me, it was harder to NOT count calories and lose/maintain weight because it meant that I had to really listen to my hunger cues and body signals and actually be in touch with my body for once. Calorie counting isn’t going to work for everyone. It obviously depends on the person.
I think somewhere along the line, our society has missed the big picture.
Instead of telling people that they must count calories to lose weight, it is perhaps better to ask WHY people feel the need to count every calorie that goes into their mouth. The obsession with calorie counting is growing, while our society gets heavier, heavier, and heavier…
What we need to do is get back to the basics with our health. We need to stop micro-managing and start looking at the bigger picture of health. Eating whole, unprocessed foods that make us glow. Sweating a few times a week. Being good to ourselves.
Calorie counting can be a useful tool, but it can also mask and divert our attention away from our overall picture of health.
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What are your thoughts about Jillian’s comment?
See you later for a SGBC contest giveaway!
Again, late on the game with this one – but I’m finding that I need to revisit a day or two of calorie counting every month or two. Just to get an idea of where I’m at and what does my day look like…am I slipping into bad habbits? I dropped calorie counting a while back and I started liking food again. I did feel my pants getting a bit more snug the other day so I’m thinking I may need to revist it, but first I’m going to just try even harder to listen to hunger cues and make consicious decisions when I eat…do I really need a heaping tablespoon of almond butter? Maybe just a slightly rounded one :)
Easy to talk about cutting calories when you don’t have weight to lose. For some of us, calorie counting is a must, and so says my dietitian. You should give people the option. Providing per serving calories would encourage me to take a more serious look at your books. Many vegetarian and vegan cookbooks are not helpful to those who want to go plant based, but can’t reconcile what looks like a deluxe calorie intake.