“Losing weight” or “Getting into better shape” are probably one of the most used (and failed) new years-resolutions there are. And by now, we are a few weeks deep into the new year. Plenty of time to either nail or screw them up. Admittedly, losing weight or getting into better shape isn’t on my resolutions list. Because frankly, I don’t think I have weight to be lost and I’m pretty happy with my body as it is. I stopped working out solely for looks a while ago. Now, I focus on performance. But that’s another story for another day. Like a lot (are maybe even most) people, I have counted calories/macros before. Luckily, I’ve come to my senses regarding that. And here are the 7 reasons I quit counting calories:
1. Ain’t nobody got time for that
Let’s face it: counting your calories requires you to weigh your food – all of it – at all times – it is such a pain. If I’m hungry, the last thing I want to do is weigh out how much avocado I’m putting on my bread, or how much the slice of cheese weighs. Then I have to either write it down or plug it into an app, make sure it’s the right product, make sure it’s the correct weight unit, and so on and so forth.
I mean sure, eventually you’re getting the hang of it, it might even become second nature, but to me, it was always just annoying. And frankly, embarrassing. Because I couldn’t just eat an apple, I had to weigh it first. What a healthy relationship with food to have… At some point, I just couldn’t be bothered to put EVERYTHING on the scale. And I think this is the main reason I quit counting calories.
2. It’s all just guesses anyway
The next problem & one of the reasons I quit counting calories: It’s all just guesses anyway. Let’s assume you’re correctly weighing out ALL of your food, every single meal, every single day. And let’s further assume, you’ve weighed out your food to consume 2.000 kcal/day. Just because you are ingesting food that is “worth” 2.000 kcal throughout the day, that doesn’t mean your body absorbs all of those 2.000 kcal. It very much depends on the foods you’re consuming, how well you chew them, and how well your body is able to digest them.
For example, I might eat 100 kcal worth of almonds. But I am eating them in a rush and don’t chew them nearly well enough. Your intestine isn’t able to break down/digest whole almonds. They come out the other end looking like nothings happened to them (well, almost). But that also means, that you’re not getting all of the calories (and nutrients) that are in the almond.
And even if you are chewing well, there are some foods that your body isn’t able to digest entirely. Quinoa is a nice example, but really just foods with a lot of fibre in them. Plus, some foods change their composition over time. Take a banana: a green one has a lot more starch in it than a ripe, spotty one. The latter would have a lot more sugar, because the starch turns into it over time. The thing is: starches are much more complex carbs than sugars. Therefore, they are metabolized differently, and do different things to your blood sugar levels. I think you get my point: Why out yourself through the stress of measuring/weighing everything, if a guess might be just as good?
3. All calories aren’t equal
If you believe a calorie is a calorie, I’m sorry to disappoint you. But I think counting calories can make it seem that way. For a while (or maybe still, no idea), there was this trend called IIFYM – “If It Fits Your Macros”. The rules were pretty simple: you get a certain amount of carbs, proteins and fats (= macronutrients) per day. And as long as you stay within those amounts, you could basically eat whatever you wanted. Now of course, not everybody filled their macros with junk food only. But it made it seem like you could eat burgers everyday, and still be healthy and lean. That’s certainly not the case. Hopefully, it is clear to most people, that it’s much healthier to reach your macro/calorie goal for the day eating whole foods.
But even if you do pay close attention to opt for the “healthy” option, a calorie still isn’t a calorie. Going back to the example of the unripe vs. ripe banana, calories from starch have a different impact on your body than those of sugar. And then there’s the whole thing with artificial sweeteners. I’m not talking about the calorie free stuff here. I’m talking about the high fructose corn syrup stuff, that is added to a lot of foods.
Fructose can’t be metabolized by your body, unlike glucose can. Therefore, it is stored as fat, which can then be broken down into energy as and when it is needed. Glucose on the other hand is metabolized right into energy, without being stored as fat first. However, the two of them, both being carbs/sugars, have the same amount of calories in them. So once again, the reason I quit counting calories, is that it is much more complex than simply counting the amount of things you eat.
4. It simply f*cked me up
Now all those science-y things aside, there were some other reasons I quit counting calories. A big one of them being: It had a huge impact on my mental health. The reason I initially got into counting calories/macros was to lose weight. The problem was, that I was in absolutely no need to lose weight, nor did I have a healthy mindset about it. I wanted to be as skinny as possible.
So I set myself an already pretty low goal of calories to eat each day. I don’t remember with certainty, but I think it was around 1.600 kcal/day. That might seem like a lot to some people, but I was leading a pretty active lifestyle (studying sports science) and was working out every day. So I think it’s fair to say that 1.600 kcal/day was pretty low for me already. But, my mindset being as f*cked up as it was, I wouldn’t “allow” myself to even hit those 1.600 kcal. Once I reached 1.300-1.400, I would stop eating. And I would actually feel bad, horribly bad even, if I ate the allotted 1.600 kcal. Like I said, I wasn’t in the healthiest state of mind. But luckily, those days are gone.
5. I lost touch
Continuing from the problem of not having a healthy mindset about it all: I also lost touch. To my own body. I no longer knew whether I was hungry, full, bored or thirsty. I no longer knew how big a “normal” serving size was. How much a person of my body composition and activity level eats. It was all just numbers and macros. How very not fun to eat something…
Now, instead of looking at numbers or calories, I just eat. Like any ol’ person would. What a crazy thing to do. And getting back in touch with my hunger/satiety cues was a looong journey. Having restricted myself from eating so many “bad” foods for so long made me crave and binge-eat them. Once I started eating something (let’s take ice cream for an example), I couldn’t stop myself from eating ALL of it. Even if my stomach was full to the point of hurting. Now, because I eat ice cream whenever I feel like it, I want it way less. And I am able to acknowledge when I’ve had enough and stop eating. Not because I have to, but because I can.
6. We’re hungry for a reason
#6 of the reasons I quit counting calories is realizing that we, as humans, are hungry for a reason. It is our bodies way of letting us know it needs energy or one/multiple nutrients. So if you are truly hungry, why not give your body what it needs? Why not work WITH, rather than AGAINST your body? This is another thing I had to learn the hard way. And it’s not easy. If you have, like me, convinced yourself you’re going to gain weight if you eat more than a certain amount of food, it won’t be easy to break free from it.
But I have come to realize that if I listen to said hunger/satiety cues, I’m not gaining weight. Maybe even the contrary: around September of last year, I decided that since summer was over, I was going to start a little bulking phase. Because there are a few things in CrossFit I can’t do (yet), because I’m not strong enough. And having studied sports science, I know that to build muscle/strength, you need a “calorie surplus”. So I started eating more, and ironically I think I’ve lost weight since September. But, if I’m not hungry, I’m not going to force myself to eat something. I don’t want to get stronger that bad.
7. It’s very anti-social
And the last one of the reasons I quit counting calories is that it really does not agree with my social life. Because if we ignore the above mentioned problems of weighing/guessing your food, you still have to prepare all your meals to know exactly what’s in it. Even if you’re going to a restaurant that has the amount of calories listed for all their dishes, please don’t assume the person cooking it weighs out everything to a tee (ain’t nobody in this industry has time for that). So, once again, you’re left guessing.
Of course, most of us don’t go out for dinner every day. And if you actually are counting calories, maybe one meal a week won’t make or break you. But, a lot of us might have dinner with their families/significant others. I myself eat dinner with my boyfriend 6 out of 7 nights a week. And there is NO WAY either of us is cooking two separate dinners, or even the same dinner in two different pots and pans. Because once again, if you want to be as “accurate” as possible with your calories, you have to weigh out your food.
If you are having the standard bro diet of rice, chicken and broccoli, you might be alright to do that. Although you would have to weigh it both raw and cooked and then do your maths to figure out the calorie content. But if you’re having something like soup or a stir-fry for dinner, good luck…
Last thoughts…
I think I have made it clear that I personally think counting calories is a waste of time, effort and quality of life. But of course, there are different reasons why people may chose to actually do count their calories. Not all of them have to be related to weight loss. And if you know counting calories works for you, then by all means, do. I’m not here to judge. I just know that it is NOT the right thing to do for me.
But if you are trying to count calories/macros but just seem to make it work, maybe this system isn’t the right one for you, either. It’s not necessarily a lack of discipline or motivation. Sometimes, things just don’t work for everyone. And with that being said, I highly encourage you to NOT count your calories, but listen to your body. Find ways to work WITH your body, rather than against it. Make building healthy routines a priority. The rest will follow. (If you’re interested in how I incorporate health & fitness into my daily routines, check out this post).
Feel free to let me know if you are counting calories/macros and how it’s working for you. How long you been doing it and what made you start it? Or if you have in the past and your reasons why you quit doing so!
Lots of Love,
Lena
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored.