1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Calories…
As a Registered Dietitian, I have been taught to count calories down to the tenth of a decimal place. Calorie counts are sometimes needed in my line of work, and so I have been trained accordingly. What I fail to understand, however, is why others feel compelled to count calories in such detail.
Calories have become powerful numbers, dictating whether a food is “good” or “bad”. In truth, calories are simply units of energy. They tell us approximately how much energy our bodies receive from a food as it is chemically broken down. Besides this, they tell us very little, and thus counting them is both trivial and impractical in daily life.
Calories have become powerful numbers, dictating whether a food is “good” or “bad”. In truth, calories are simply units of energy.
To put calorie counting in perspective, would you:
- Be concerned about the number of kilowatts your bathroom light bulb uses each morning?
- Do you count the dollars and cents you have in your bank account daily?
- Do you measure the numbers of milliliters of gasoline your car uses per trip?
No, not likely.
Then why are we so fixated on counting every calorie we consume?
Even to the brightest of minds, weight and metabolism remain complicated areas of study. The human body is a fascinating machine with mechanisms that help regulate the amount of energy we need, and how quickly we can burn it. No one person will use 2000 calories in the exact same way.
Of course there are real concerns to overeating. But by no means do I feel that calorie counting is the solution to our problem.
In fact, all calorie counting has seemed to do is ruin the joys of eating. No longer can we consume a meal without worrying how many calories will go to our gut and how many to our glutes. We pride ourselves in eating more for less.
What we should be doing instead is looking at the bigger picture. Shift the focus away from that one little light bulb, and look at the whole house. Do you feed your body good, nourishing food or fill it with items that have little nutrition? Do you skip meals, ignore stomach grumbles, and pacify hunger headaches with pain pills?
Try focusing your attention your body signals instead of calories. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are not. Enjoy your meal by removing distractions. Choose foods from all four food groups daily, and give yourself permission to enjoy a treat or two during the week.
But above all, do not fear calories as there is much more to life than what is on your plate.
