In this series of three posts, we'll look at some of the most common misconceptions surrounding calories and calorie intake, as well as attempting to provide some hints for how to make these units of energy work for you instead of against you.
Myth: Foods that are high in calories are bad for you.
Fact: Calories are fundamentally indispensable to your health.
They represent the amount of energy that your body has available to it in order to operate all of its systems. How many calories you need in a day depends entirely on your body's composition and your metabolic rate. Eating too many calories in a day, or too few calories in a day, can cause your body to have difficulty in meeting its basic functioning requirements. This can result in weight changes, as well as other negative impacts in terms of sleep, energy and the health of your organs.
But calories themselves are relatively neutral. There are many high calorie foods that are extremely good sources of energy (and vitamins, minerals, etc.), just as there are many high calorie foods that are poor sources of energy. Conversely, there are many low calorie foods that are poor sources of energy, and many that are excellent sources of energy. The trick is to seek out the best sources of energy and an optimal calorie intake for your body composition and metabolic rate.
Sub Myth: People should aim for as little calories as possible, ideally not exceeding 1200-1500 calories a day, to lose weight, and 2000 calories to maintain their weight.
Fact: The amount of calories required to lose weight in a healthy way varies by person, and is dependent on your body composition, metabolic rate and activity levels.
Every single human body is different. As such, we all require different things in order to function optimally. For the most part, if you want to lose weight you need to create a situation of calorie deprivation: where the amount of calories that you take in is less than what your body uses in a day. The commonly quoted ratio is that 3500 calories is equal to a pound of fat, so if you deprive your body of 500 calories beneath what it is accustomed to needing every day, you will lose approximately 1 lbs a week.
But here's the thing: We all burn calories at different rates. So creating that optimal calorie deficit level really depends on what your daily burn rate is. People with high body masses will burn more calories during activities (even sedentary ones) than those with lower body masses. This is even more true for those whose body mass has a high muscle to fat ratio, as muscles have higher energy requirements and use more calories.
But human bodies require basic amounts of calories in order to function optimally, and that basic amount isn't a static figure of "1200-1500". It really depends on your daily needs. Athletes and those who have very high caloric needs can (and should!) take in more calories to compensate for the extra energy that they burn off throughout the day.
A drop off calories that is too significant can cause massive issues (including hunger, headaches, irritability, difficulty sleeping, low energy levels, and poor organ performance). It can also actually inhibit weight loss by putting your into a calorie starvation mode, a state in which your body conserves all of its excess energy and makes it extremely difficult to lose any excess fat. So, while you want to lower your calorie intake in order to create a deficit that can lead to weight loss, you want to make sure that you are lowering it by a healthy and realistic amount that takes into account not only your current weight, but also your age, gender and activity levels. There are several online calculators that can help you find your healthy calorie number.
Sub-myth: It doesn't matter how many calories I eat. I work out, so I can eat whatever I want.
This is a very dangerous game, unless you are a very intense athlete. For those who are hoping to lose weight or maintain their current weight, it is important to understand the ratio of how many calories the activities that they do actually burn in a day. Research has indicated that people are more likely to underestimate calories eaten and overestimate calories burned. Unless you have a realistic idea of how many calories you have burned (something we will cover in my next post), it is hard to work out enough to compensate for eating 'whatever you want' without gaining weight. Diet is a significant component of a healthy lifestyle, and accounts for the majority of all weightloss efforts.
Sub-myth: It doesn't matter what I eat as long as I get the right amount of calories in. I'll still lose weight.
Sigh...this is a tough one. It's technically true. You can eat whatever you want, and if you stay within a reasonable calorie deprivation ratio, you will likely lose weight. In many cases, it comes down to portion sizes.
But this is where I would state that we need to move the conversation away from 'weight' in general. Honestly, the health risks of being overweight or obese tend to be more correlations of lack of exercise and an unhealthy food regimen. I will be doing an entire post on "BMI" and the massively flawed tools we are using to evaluate obesity and weight, but suffice it to say that what you weigh is much less important than how you use your body in an overall sense of the word.
The ultimate goal here shouldn't be to be thin. That is often a consequence of a healthy lifestyle, but is also impacted by factors of genetics, race/ethnicity, ability level, and culture. Not everyone has the capacity to be 'thin'- and perhaps that is the greatest "myth" of all.
But we do all the have the capacity to make the healthiest choices we can to live as optimally as possible. We can make changes in ensuring that we are eating foods that make our body feel good and fuel it with healthy vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins, all of which are indispensable to operating at our fullest capacity.
Most of us can move. No, not "all" of us...there are many people who have severely restricted or non-existent independent movement. But most of us can. How much we can move is dependent on many factors: physical limitations, culture, lifestyle and self-esteem all play huge roles in our ability to move our bodies optimally. But most of us are able to make small and steady changes to how much we move in a day. Whether it is adding a 5 minute fix to our day, or doing a half marathon, adding more movement in our every day living is a positive thing overall.
Wellness is about so much more than just calorie intake and output. And the way that we have elevated calories, calorie counting, diets, restrictions, calculators, etc. puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to look at the whole picture of wellness.
Calories are your energy. They are good for you. But they are meant to be used. They are not meant to stay in your body indefinitely- which is were they can convert into fat and can result in weight gain.
The long and short of it is simple: Eat as many calories as you need to in order to feel energized, strong, healthy, and full of stamina! Over eating and under eating will affect those things and will work against you.
Use these calories as efficiently as you can by adding movement into your day. Generally, the more movement you add, the better you will feel. But the more movement you add, the more calories you will need to find the healthy balance between input and output.
Finally, start thinking beyond the 'calorie count'. Ask yourself: Is this food good for me? Does it contain healthy vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins and sugars? Is it going to make me feel better or worse?
This doesn't mean you should avoid foods that make you feel worse at all costs. But you may want to adjust the rest of your day accordingly.
You only get one body. Calories are how you fuel it. My recommendation is to opt for the highest grade gasoline you can find. Your body is worth it!
Happy Living!
Zita
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