WHY CALORIE COUNTING DOESN’T WORK

TRANSCRIPT

I’m here today to talk to you about why the calories in/calories out way of eating does not work and why it’s time to let it go!

 We have long been told that we gain weight because we eat too much and we don’t move enough, that’s that old calories in/calories out model. If we don’t put too much thought into that theory, it seems to make a lot of sense. Whatever we eat we have to burn off, or we’re going to gain weight, right?

 If you take a look around though, you’ll see that it’s a failed theory in action and has not worked. Most women, and many men, have been doing the calorie counting for years, and are no better for it! So what’s the problem?

 That’s what I’m going to dig into today, why this seemingly sensical way of eating has let of us down.

 Hi there and welcome to my channel. I am Ginger, a Holistic Nutrition Coach, and I post videos on how to improve metabolic health and balance blood sugar using a whole food, nutrient dense, high fat way of eating. If you like my video, hit subscribe, like, and feel free to share.

 So there are a few things that we have all come to believe are true in the calories in/calories out way of eating.

 First, we believe that the calories we eat are independent of the calories that we burn. This is a big mistake though as they are completely dependent on each other. When we eat fewer calories, it triggers the body to reduce the number of calories we burn. If we reduce our calorie intake by 25%, we will reduce our output by 25%. This means that we will minimize our weight loss.

 Another thing we’ve come to accept as fact is that our basal metabolic rate, or the number of calories we need to keep our body functioning, remain stable, except when we exercise. I’m going to dig deeper into this one in a few minutes, but this is absolutely not true. Our energy output can vary by as much as 50% depending on how many calories we consume as well as other factors.

 Another belief we have is that eating is entirely in our control. The fact is though, we are driven to eat, or to stop eating, by our hormones. Think about walking past a restaurant at lunchtime and getting a whiff of something delicious. You’re instantly hungry, right? What if you walked past that same restaurant after eating a big meal? That exact same smell is just as likely to repulse you, maybe even make you feel a little sick. That’s your hormones at work.

 For some reason, we’ve also been under the belief that fat storage is unregulated, that we eat too many calories and our body simply stores those extra calories as fat, causing us to gain weight. This misses the important tight hormonal regulation system our body has in place. There are more and more hormonal pathways that regulate fat storage being discovered all the time. The most well-known fat growth hormone is probably leptin which helps regulate appetite, but there are many others that come into play.

What this means is, if hormones regulate fat growth, weight gain is hormonal, and not simply a calorie issue.

 Here’s the belief that I think has the strongest hold and is the most insidious, and that is that a calorie is simply a calorie. This is what got us to the strong belief in the calories in/calories out way of eating and exercising. But I think we can all admit and agree, that a 100 calorie pack of Oreos is not metabolically the same as 100 calories of an avocado.

 Those Oreos that are packed full of sugar are going to very quickly break down in the body, raising our blood sugar level and causing a rush of insulin. Whereas that avocado is going to quickly be absorbed by the small intestines and moved to the liver and will have very little impact on our blood sugar or insulin.

 Metabolically these two foods are very different and cause a very different hormonal response in our bodies.

 So, if the calories in/calories out way is wrong, which has been proven by the rate of obesity in this country, and the inability to lose weight no matter how tightly we stick with it, let’s dig a little deeper as to how our body actually uses calories and how we can use it to our advantage.

 All food contains calories, which are essentially units of energy.

 When we eat protein, it’s broken down into amino acids which are building blocks that repair the body’s tissues and any excess will be stored. Fat is absorbed directly into the body for use as energy. And carbohydrates are broken down into their building blocks, which is sugar.

 All 3 provide caloric energy for our body, but they are very different in how they’re processed metabolically, and the difference results in a different hormonal response.

 Our body is complex and changing and adjusting from day to day based on circumstances and our environment. In the calories in/calories out way of thinking, we assume that the way our body uses the “calories out” is always the same. If that were true, the calories in/calories out model would work.

 But let’s look at a few of the ways our body uses the energy, or calories, that we give it.

 It can use it to detoxify the liver and the kidneys, heat our body, create new proteins, to build new bone or new muscle. It will use them to power our brain, fuel us during exercise. It will increase our heart rate, help us breathe, produce fat, and keep our heart beating.

 So when we make the assumption that our body gaining and losing fat is basically unregulated and is simply a balance or how many calories we eat and how many we burn during exercise, we are not only missing a big piece of the puzzle, but we are setting ourselves up for disappointment, frustration, and long-term weight gain.

 Here’s a simple analogy I’ve heard that has always resonated with me. Let’s say your salary is $100,000 per year, and your expenses are also $100,000 per year. If you changed jobs, and the new job reduced your income to $50,000 per year, would you continue to spend $100,000 per year? Of course not, or you’d go bankrupt.

 You’d adjust your living expenses down to your new income. Money coming in and money going out, are completely dependent on each other as one causes an adjustment to the other.

 If we think about calories in this model, reducing the number of calories we eat only works for weight loss if the calories that are going out stays the same. But that is not what happens. When we suddenly cut the number of calories we’re eating, our body adjusts to meet the new energy budget, this means our metabolism slows down to meet the new calorie intake.

 When we lower our metabolism by cutting our energy source, calories, our body starts strategically adjusting other functions in order to match the new energy level.

 One of the first things I noticed when I cut my calories is I was cold all the time. This is because the body slows down on heat production. Another thing that can happen is our heart rate will slow down, less energy means a slower pump.

 Our brain also doesn’t function as well with fewer calories. We may start to notice we can’t concentrate, our brain is foggy, we may even feel lethargic. Our brain is metabolically very active so fewer calories means less brainpower.

 We can also start to lose our hair, and nails become weak and brittle. Fewer calories mean they aren’t being properly replaced.

 Our body is brilliant in the way it behaves. Its number one priority is to keep us alive, and the way it does this when we lower our energy intake by eating fewer calories is to immediately reduce the calorie bank to the new intake, this brings it back to balance. But this comes at a cost such as the symptoms I just mentioned. All of this may leave you feeling terrible, but you are alive!

 Here’s another issue with this reduced-calorie method of weight loss, hunger! Remember, eating is not entirely in our control. It is a hormonal function! So, beyond our metabolism slowing down when we cut calories, our hormones also adjust and start signaling hunger! Our body wants us to regain any lost weight and the way it does this is to increase our hunger signals.

When we lose weight, our body increases the production of a hormone called ghrelin, and ghrelin’s job is to create hunger.

 Another hormonal change that happens is to our satiety hormones, the ones that make us feel full. When we reduce our calories the level of these hormones goes down, which means we feel less full.

 When we lose weight by cutting our calories, we lower the function of our metabolism and we increase our hunger. It is not the other way around! When we eat too much it is because our hormones are compelling us to do so!

 If we look around at the health of a large majority of the population, and if we think about our own personal experience with the calories in/calories out model of eating, we can see that this method is a proven failure. Yet the government, our doctors, and many weight-loss books, blogs, and podcasts, are still recommending we follow this model.

 This is cruel, it’s discouraging, and it’s not helping anyone! It has driven an epidemic of obesity and poor metabolic health. It’s time to let go of this belief and try something different. It’s time to work with the science of how our body actually works, specifically how our hormones work.

 The bottom line is we need to eat in a way that causes our hormones to work for us, and not against us. We want to eat a diet that will energize and power our metabolism, and not slow it down and hinder it from its important work.

 So I’m going to wrap this up by sharing some tips that will not only help reverse the damage done by restricting calories but will also assist in weight loss if that is a goal for you.

 First, insulin is most known for lowering blood glucose, but it is also the fat storage hormone. So, eating in a way that minimizes the release of insulin will stop weight gain. It is also the best way to encourage weight loss.

 The best way to reduce insulin is to limit blood sugar spikes and that means reducing your carbohydrates. The worst offenders are sugar and highly processed foods, so just get those out of your diet!

 Next, you want to increase your consumption of healthy fat and protein. These have the least impact on your blood sugar and insulin. You don’t need to cut out carbs altogether but focus on getting the majority from leafy green veggies.

 Second, you want to start rebalancing your hormones and get those hunger signals working for you, to do this you want to give your body its preferred fuel source, that’s going to mean eating plenty of fat and protein. These two macronutrients are highly satiating, meaning they will keep you fuller longer, and over time, ghrelin, the hunger hormone will reset and not ping you all day long, and leptin, the hormone that lets you know you’re full, will start working as it’s meant to work again making overeating a lot less appealing.

 This 3rd one ties the last two together and is probably the hardest for most of us that have been die-hard low-fat calories in/calories out believers to wrap our head around, and that is to eat plenty of food to properly nourish us. As you try and wrap your mind around this one, go back and remember, weight gain happens because we cut calories and slow our metabolism. And the reason you’re unable to lose that weight once you’ve gained it has nothing to do with willpower.

 So you have to eat plenty of food to fuel your body, but it has to be the right food. The right food will signal the right hormones to do the right things with the energy you’re providing. Your body is smart and it desperately wants you to be healthy and it will reward you once you start giving it its preferred fuel, and that once again is healthy whole food sources! So get rid of the sugar and processed foods, limit the starchy vegetables, and focus on all that delicious nutrient-dense fat and protein. And enjoy it in abundance!!!

 My favorite way to achieve all of this is by eating a ketogenic diet. The keto diet focuses on eating plenty of healthy fats, a moderate amount of protein, and keeps the carbs ultra-low. It turns your metabolism into your best friend, working for you instead of against you as it likely has if you’ve been cutting calories.

 If you want to give keto a try and would like some guidance, get on my waitlist for my 6-week group class called Keto Clear. If you’re on the list, you’ll be the first to know next time it’s available. I’ll link below to the waitlist. If you’re ready to start playing around with it on your own, or you’ve tried it and struggled, I have a free ebook you can download with a list of do’s and don’ts for a successful keto diet

 Thank you for tuning in, I hope you’re feeling encouraged and empowered to go out and try something new! But most importantly, cut yourself a lot of slack.

 See you next time!