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!
Jeezum, Talk about a statement loaded with privilege! In most places in the world (even in the US) people eat to stay alive, and many of them struggle even with that. Calorie counting doesn’t even come into the picture when you’re not sure you have enough food to eat.
I *completely* agree with you. I once counted calories, and it consumed me, and unfortunately led to anorxia. This was many years ago, and I’m healthy now, and now counting calories. Like you, while I understand the importance and benefits of calorie counting, it is *not* universal and is *not* for everyone. Thanks for posting about this.
I COMPETELY AGREE that calorie counting is NOT universal! I think society just needs to focus on wholesome and healthy foods more, rather than calories. There are so many unhealthy little “100 calorie packs” out there, but people think they’re good for them because they are only 100 calories. The calorie craze is now the new “Fat-free” craze. I know I myself became obsessive over the calories in food, and through that obsession, completely lost all understanding of what “healthy” truly means. I am SO glad I can finally stop thinking about calories. I will admit, sometimes, rough estimates to creep back in my head, but my margin of error is probably now +/- 50/100 calories and even if I eat 2500-2700 calories one day, I don’t think twice about it because we all have those splurge nights, or those days we are simply HUNGRIER because we were more active that day. And by the way, I am positive I’ve eaten many days of ~2400 calories and I am only 5’1. So all those BMR calories or w/e calories we “supposedly” need are BS, in my opinion. Oh man, sorry I wrote so much by the way! (And if you’re wondering how I can always comment at work in the morning, it’s because as an intern, I’m always the first one in my group to arrive since I go to this morning meeting beforehand, hahah)
I, too, heard Jillian’s statement on the Doctors yesterday, and I couldn’t believe I heard that. I thought that I mis-heard her, but soon realized that I didn’t. I think her statement was quite strong., and I think a lot of people can get way too obsessed with counting calories, leading to detrimental results. I do not agree with her statement, and, while I do like her, I think she needs to be more careful of statements like that. She has a lot of power and responsibility in her hands and she shouldn’t take it lightly.
I feel you don’t have to count calories also! I feel eating intuitively is better!
www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
Angela, based on what I have read about your past experience with calorie counting and being able to move past that, I don’t think there is anyway you could have achieved the time and pace you did for the race over the weekend. You have learned how to fuel your body so that it is healthy and active and while calorie counting is important for some people (who don’t know anything about nutrition and need to lose weight for health), it isn’t the be all and end all. Maybe I am wrong about that but you were literally glowing after that race!
If you have time, check out this article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1200993/Why-calorie-counting-makes-fat.html
which I thought might be relevant to your post.
Hey- I completely agree with you. When I first read that quote I got upset and started to think about the time when I counted calories religiously. For years I would write down every thing I ate and was obsessed about it! I counted calories like a mad woman and I stopped focusing on being healthy. I would eat food (even if they were overly processed– 100 calories packs were my best friend) and try to eat less than 1200 calories per day. I was never happy and I would constantly binge because of this. It wasn’t until recently that I changed my diet and just started eating fresh fruits and vegetables and stopped counting my calories that I became healthy and happy! I will admit, I took this a little far at one point and gained a lot of weight. I started eating too much of certain healthy foods (like avocado and nuts!) So i do believe in moderation but I DON”T believe in counting calories!
That comment is ridiculous! Calorie Counting just made me a slave to food. I thought about it constantly, was paranoid, and never happy eating. I haven’t counted calories in a long time and enjoy my food. Plus, I feel its more important to listen to your body and see when its full or hungry.
You don’t have to count calories persae… but if you’re trying to lose weight, its kind of a given that you want to create a deficit.
Calories in – calories burned = weight loss.
A lot of time people rant that they are not losing weight, but at the end of the day, its quite simple, they are eating too much.
I was a victim of this… I lost almost 100lbs, but the scale was stalling. I didn’t get why I wasn’t losing. I was eating healthy foods, working out like a dog, but the scale wasn’t budging. I sat down and starting writing down my meal plans again.. and sure enough I was just eating too much. Even healthy foods have calories!
Jillian comes across as harsh sometimes I agree, but I think her no nonsense philosphies are BANG ON.
Just this summer I stopped counting calories when I became more high-raw, and so far it has worked for me. I’m not so much concerned about my weight, but more so the body fat percentage since that shows that I am building healthy muscle!
Calorie counting is completely unnecessary. The typical modern person wants an “off the shelf” fix to all of their body woes, and unfortunately (and fortunately) not everyone’s bodies are the same. A 1,200 calorie diet might be perfect for one person, but the next person will have passed out by lunchtime.
We DO need to learn how to read packages; know portion sizes, and eat what we want, when we want it–according to that correct portion size. If one is eating a balanced diet, full of whole foods, and following the cues that their body is telling them, calories don’t mean diddly squat.
You’re absolutely right–rather than learning how to count calories, people in need should learn how to listen to their own body. It all sounds very “tree-huggerish” to the average person, but in my opinion, it is a very ‘back to basics’ concept that everyone should learn.
I’m disappointed in Jillian for making such a broad and frivolous statement.
I love the Biggest Loser and respect Jillian Michaels as a trainer, but seriously, how can she write a book about biochemistry and metabolism? How much does she really know about this sort of thing?
Comments like that are very frustrating to hear, especially coming from someone who does have so much social responsibility. (I do typically like Jillian though!)
A couple of years ago a dietitian said something that really helped me move beyond my ED & obsessive calorie counting – which was a miserable thing for me. She said that I don’t do the same things every day so I don’t need the “same” food every day. It is really like an ebb & flow, or like the squiggly line effect that KATH talks about.
There were very few days when my “alloted” calories were spot on so most days I was either starving or (believe it or not) eating more then I was hungry for or needing at that time.
It is not simple and by NO MEANS universal!!! While I am AWARE of calories I am in no way a calorie counter & am a much happier person for it : )
Great topic!
Jeez what a ridiculous comment! I totally agree with you, Angela. While it may work for some people, I’ve never even tried it because I think it takes the fun out of food! I think everyone’s goal should be to just be able to listen to their bodies, not obsess over numbers.
As I don’t know the full context of the comment, I’d really like to give Jillian the benefit of the doubt…but such a hard and fast rule about calorie counting just seems like bad advice. There are far too many people who get obsessed with the numbers for that to be good advice for everyone.
I think calorie counting works for some people, but I think you are right, people can get obsessed with it. I think you statement is so true about focusing on healthy eating, sweating, and eating good whole foods! Now if you are eating a whole bag of granola a day…haha. I think once you learn about portion sizes and control, that it is automatically in your brain and you know how much to eat without over doing it!
Dana (www.eatsleepgetfit.com)
I love Jillian, and when I read this just now, it really surprised me! That’s a pretty strong statement to make, and while I am sure she didn’t mean much by it..but geez, of course it’s not universal!
Whoa. Yea, I agree that her statement is over the top. I don’t think there are really ANY statements about health you can make so broadly. Well, except maybe “smoking is always terrible for you” or something like that. I’m with you- plenty of people have lost and maintained their weight without every having counted calories. I appreciate some of Jillian’s outlook, but on some topics she is just far too dogmatic for me. She’s a trainer, for crying out loud, not an MD.
I love Jillian. That being said, I also hate calorie counting and refuse to do it. I eat in a way that satisfies me and makes me happy. If it is too much work, ie. calorie counting I get discouraged and upset.
How should I put this without sounding like I’m disagreeing with everyone else. Jillian is very much for calorie counting when people are trying to lose weight. But you have to take things into perspective that she really does help a lot of people who have no clue about what they are eating and how much they are eating. And while it’s not for everyone, for some people it really is helpful for them to count calories. Granted some people can go over board with it and get way to obsessed. But honestly if I don’t count calories I am unable to lose weight. Maybe some people can lose weight without counting calories, and if so that’s awesome. It’s just doesn’t work for me.
I also want to say that if you read Jillian’s book it’s not really based on calorie counting. It’s based on eating very healthy foods and knowing how to eat a balanced diet. So while she made that comment I don’t really know what she was thinking/.trying to get across to people. Because her metabolism book doesn’t come across that way to me.