Don’t count calories
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There, you will find an explanatory video that shows you how I conceptualise nutrition as a whole.
The top six reasons for not counting calories
1) It’s boring! Adding and substracting the number of calories all day and every day is certainly not a pleasure.
2) It’s arbitrary. 1500 calories of healthy food would not be the same as 1500 calories of unhealthy food. And what about proteins, carbohydrates and fats? Are they balanced?
3) It won’t help you to manage your hunger. By cutting 30 calories at snack time, you will perhaps be so hungry a few hours later that you will eat 300 calories extra for your evening meal.
4) It’s very likely that you will put weight back on again over the medium/long term. If your energy intake ( calorie intake ) is less than your basic metabolism needs then you will certainly lose weight over the short term as you will start using up your muscle reserves. However when you start eating normally again, your body will store the excess calories as fat because it has got used to functioning with less energy.
5) You risk having a bad relationship with food. You will probably see your desserts as ‘potholes’ that take away a lot of calorie points! You will probably get a feeling of guilt rather than a feeling of pleasure. Then once you will allow yourself to eat dessert chances are you’ll lose control.
6) It won’t last. You won’t count your calories like that for very long. Putting too much pressure on yourself as well, you will soon go back to your old ways…… and your former weight.
Sofia Abdelkafi R.D Nutritionist.
