Tuesday tip: Calories Count

Tuesday Tip: Calories Count 📝

There’s so much info out there about what you ‘need’ to do to lose weight. Across all the fad diets, magic pills, super shakes and eating strategies only one method stands the test of time. It’s not trendy or marketable, has no fancy name, but it’s the core of why these diets work; energy management (calories in vs out).

All these diets appear very different on the surface; Low carb, paleo, Atkins, 5:2, bodycoach, slimming world, weight watchers etc all ultimately function on these principles. They restrict calories indirectly, giving you a list of foods that make it improbable you’ll be in a calorie surplus. Although you’re not counting calories, you’re often restricting them; cut carbs- you’re likely to end up cutting calories; follow a ‘syns’ or points system – you’ll cut calories; go paleo – you’ll be cutting food groups and calories.

If you manage your calorie intake to create a deficit, you WILL lose weight. This is supported by hundreds of scientific studies. It’s not coincidence or magic. Yes there are different ways of doing this – and yes there are things that influence how easy or hard it is to create that deficit eg hormonal differences impact on how food is digested and utilised, metabolic adaptations to training and dieting make accurately estimating energy requirements and expenditure difficult, and there are errors in both how we log the food we eat and the databases of calorie values we use. BUT that doesn’t change the fact that if you consume less energy than you expend – you will lose weight!

Does this mean you have to count and track calories? No, not if you don’t want to, but of all the methods out there it’s got the best chance of helping you understand what your energy requirements are and how much you need to consume. You can still do any diet that works for you, and choose to log or not log your calories – but when weight loss stalls it’s a great place to start. It’s still an approximation, and although you need to do some experimentation to find the perfect balance, it’s a verified way to approach your goals.

Happy Tuesday 🤗 xx