The info in this blog is knowledge I've acquired over the years from various sources like books, podcasts & blogs. I'm constantly adding to this knowledge in my mission to become the 1st super healthy 100-year-old who can do backflips. As I learn more, I will update this blog as necessary to reflect any new findings.
MY INTRO TO CALORIES
Calories are a very new thing for me. I went 27 years of my life before even finding out the definition of a calorie. & that was only because 1 of my mates randomly dropped it in conversation. Like everyone else there at that moment, which had to sit through a very long & uninspiring explanation, I had no context to use that information. I couldn't wait to change the subject after he finally finished talking.
For those interested & not in the know, calories are used to measure the energy your body obtains from foods or uses on activities. That's how a reasonable person explains what a calorie is.
My mate isn't reasonable though, & there's nothing wrong with that. Except when you take an hour to explain what a calorie is. Firstly he described it as the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1°C.
Then he finally went on to explain how calories can also be used to quantify the amount of energy your body needs to do physical tasks like breathing, thinking, maintaining your heartbeat, tap dancing, playing air guitar, karate. This list went on for a good 20 mins.
Then he went on to explain how calories are also used to describe how much energy your body gets from what you eat & drink. & how the amount of energy provided by foods is normally recorded in thousands of calories or kilocalories (kcal).
He also gave unnecessary examples to drive home this point, like how 1 turnip generally provides you with 28,000 calories or 28 kcal. Meanwhile, running for 30 minutes typically requires you to use 300,000 calories or 300 kcal. Cool story, right?
He did attempt to finish on a light-hearted note though. He highlighted how "kilocalories" is an awkward word to use, so people often use the term "calories" instead. I still don't get it, but he laughed after saying it, so I'm assuming it was meant to be funny.
To be fair to him, when you say it out loud "kilocalories is an awkward word to say.
I've always been sceptical of the concept of calories. They've always felt a bit scammy to me. I'm someone who has never had weight issues, so it's very easy for me to be dismissive of their relevance. It wasn't until I decided to reduce my body fat to 8%, which in hindsight was very unnecessary. But at the time, I felt like I needed an irrational fitness challenge so I won't judge "past me" too much. That experience was what finally gave me the context that I needed to look into calories.
Look into why people trying to lose weight put so much importance on tracking or counting them.
Look into how they actually became a thing.
& Look into whether it's an effective method for weight management, or if its all just 1 big scam as I first thought.
WHO MADE CALORIES A THING
Despite calorie counting being commonplace in today's society, this unit of measurement is a relatively recent phenomenon, & the concept of counting calories for health purposes is even newer.
The Origin Story: Part 1
To make a long origin story short, Wilbur O. Atwater (some professor) was the 1st significant player in bringing "the calorie" to the diet world. In the 1890s, Atwater & his team undertook an extensive study into the caloric content of over 500 foods to produce a scientific & healthy way of maintaining weight. Up until this point, a calorie's only purpose was to measure heat. Fast forward to the early 1900s & Atwater became 1 of the leading authorities on dietary intake. His advice was simple, cut out excess & ensure a balance between foods. Why this took over a decade of research work out, I don't know. This is information that everyone sort of already knows but chooses not to follow because junk food is way too delicious to resist (I'm assuming this isn't just me anyway).
The Origin Story: Part 2
While Atwater was promoting dietary restrictions based on the calorie content of food 1st, he was presenting this idea in a complicated way (too much science, not enough fad). It wasn't until 1918 when Lulu Hunt Peters (some physician) got involved & introduced the concept of counting calories as an effective means of generating healthy weight loss that it became mainstream. She did this in book form under the title Diet & Health: With key to the Calories which documented her calorie counting success story. The book was the 1st successful diet book as she took the rather complicated idea of calories & simplified it for a mass audience. Peters brazenly told readers that "henceforth, they would view all their food in terms of calories. A slice of bread was no longer a slice; it was 100 calories of bread." So we have Lulu Peters to thank/ blame for popularising calorie counting for the general public, a trend which continues even today.
I understand the concept of food being energy & making efforts to minimising food consumption so you're only providing your body with the energy it requires. That makes sense to me. I have mixed feelings about reducing food to numbers & figures. Food is so much more than that. What about the nutrients, the flavours, the smells, the chocolate. Personally, I think reducing food merely to calories not only takes all the fun out of eating but also eliminates the intuitive nature of it, which is 1 of the reasons why people find it so hard to do long term.
This brings me to my next question. How effective is calorie counting really if our society is still getting fatter, sicker & has obesity & diabetes at epidemic levels? After all, isn't the whole point of it to reduce this? Is the issue inherently with the science of calories or science of human nature (I don't know what this means, but it sounded cool in my head)
HOW THE BODY USES CALORIES
To answer those questions, the whole calorie-counting concept needs deeper examination. I've conveniently summarised the basics of all things calories below-
Basic metabolism- Your body will use most calories to provide energy to your brain, kidneys, lungs, heart & nervous system (So basically all the essential stuff). The amount of energy needed to support these essential functions is known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR). It rightly makes up the most substantial proportion of your total daily energy requirements. On average, your body can use anywhere between 70-100 calories an hour while you're awake.
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)- Your body doesn't absorb all of the calories you eat. It uses some of the calories you consume to help you digest & metabolise the foods you eat. This is the thermic effect of food which is a measure of how much various foods increase energy expenditure, because of the energy required to digest, absorb & metabolise the nutrients. Unsurprisingly protein, aka the muscle macro (not sure if anyone ever calls it that but i like getting alliteration into my blogs) requires the most energy to be digested, whereas fat requires the least. The calories needed for digestion will be lost as heat when the body metabolises it. The approximate TEF's of the different macro's are listed below-
- Fat: 2–3%
- Carbs: 6–8%
- Protein: 25–30%
TEF Maths- Going with a thermic effect of 25% for protein in comparison to 2% for fat, would indicate that 100 calories of protein ends up as 75 calories, while 100 calories of fat ends up as 98 calories. This is the theory that popularised the high protein diets because by this logic, protein calories are less fattening than calories from carbs & fat. Fewer calories absorbed means more calories can be consumed.
It's mad how our bodies don't treat all foods equally. At least it's not for discrimination reasons. It's purely down to some being harder to digest than others, meaning we don't extract all the calories they contain. As always it's not a 1 size fits all rule. We are not all the same, & one person's digestive system may extract more calories than another's from the same meal so take all of this with a pinch of salt.
Physical Activity- The remainder of the calories you get from foods fuel your physical activity. This includes both your everyday tasks & your workouts. The total amount of calories needed to cover this category can change from day to day & person to person depending on where you fall on the active scale from sloth to gym enthusiast.
THE LAWS OF CALORIES
If the calories you obtain from your diet aren't enough to cover your immediate needs, your body is required to use its energy stores to compensate, causing you to lose weight, mostly from your body fat. This calorie balance concept has apparently been proven time & time again & occurs whether your calories come from carbs, fat, or protein.
Alternatively, if the calories you get from your diet excessively cover your immediate needs, any excess energy is stored for use by future you. Some of it will be stored as glycogen in your muscles, but most will be stored as fat. In conclusion, if you eat more calories than your body needs, you will gain weight, mostly from fat.
I can see why calorie counting is so popular these days. Still, the fact of the matter is, there are no tools or methods available to us regular folk which will tell us exactly how much energy we're burning or consuming. There are too many variables to consider. Everyone's body, metabolism & genes process calories differently. What's the alternative though. Not tracking calories = no awareness & accountability which = no behavioural change which = no improved health.
I guess consistent tracking, even if you have no knowledge of fat-loss or exercise, is better than no tracking. Especially if you are very overweight, very weak, very inflexible, or very anything negative, tracking even anything will help you develop an awareness that can lead to positive behavioural changes.
THE ISSUE WITH CALORIE COUNTING
Many of the studies experts reference rely on peoples food diaries to determine how many calories they consume or burn through physical activity. This means you have to rely on the honesty of the person. This is a problem for me. I have major trust issues; I trust no one, not even myself. I know from experience that it can be hard to hold yourself accountable all the time. When you have those days where you fall off & sicken yourself with junk food, it's easy to skew the numbers so you don't feel as guilty. It's even easier to skew the numbers when you have those days when you've used up all your calories but need to make room for a packet of Minstrels because you haven't had them in ages. I've done some crazy maths in my head to justify eating some more chocolate. Maths like-
"I read somewhere that the body doesn't fully digest all of the nuts you eat so I can probably shave off half of the serving of nuts I ate which gives me an extra 80 calories meaning I can have 1 square of chocolate "
or maths like-
"I had a very loose stool at lunch so my body probably didn't digest a lot of those calories I ate earlier so I can probably just shave off 75% of the meals I ate meaning I could justify eating a 250gram bar of wholenut chocolate"
Your mind can conjure up all sorts of creative calorie maths to allow you to satisfy your cravings. This is why food & activity journals are notorious for being highly inaccurate. Studies report that participants commonly underestimate how much they eat by up to 45%. In some cases, they've even underreported their calorie intake by as much as 2,000 calories per day. I'm not this bad, I might underreport by a couple of hundred calories here & there, but 2,000 is ridiculous. That can be the average person's calorie intake for the whole day.
It's not just human nature to underreport. When it comes to physical activity, people also tend to overestimate how much they move by up to 51%. This even holds true in cases where participants have been paid to be accurate. Not even money is enough incentive for people to be sincere when the truth isn't pleasant viewing. I get it. No one wants to look bad, our reputation is everything. We don't want anyone thinking we're fat pigs who have no self-control.
Even dietitians fall short when they're asked to report their calorie intake accurately, although to a lesser extent than non-nutrition professionals. But still, honesty & accountability seems to be the biggest issue with calorie counting & the reason people fail to see their intended results.
HARA HACHI BU
A custom practised by the people of Okinawa, Japan, hara hachi bu roughly translates as "eat until you are 80 per cent full." The Okinawans are known for having the world's highest proportion of centenarians, & their approach to eating plays a role in this. Hara hachi bu contrasts with the traditional Western custom of eating until the plate is completely empty & you're completely stuffed, then having seconds. Overconsumption, whether it's food or material things, is the norm within our culture, but there're other ways to do things. The power of self-restraint is highly underestimated. We could all stand to practise Hara hachi bu from time to time.
IS CALORIE COUNTING EFFECTIVE
In the short term yes, in the long term no. I don't think there is a debate on whether or not calorie counting is effective, or whether or not it works. The pure science of thermodynamics arguably makes sense. What I think fails is implementation & also the quality of the food that makes up the calories people consume. If you're consuming junk food, you're essentially making your body a bin. Calorie counting only serves to give you a better understanding of how high in calories junk food is compared to nutritious veggies so you can make decisions around the things you put in your body.
If you want to try tracking your foods first because giving up your sugar addiction cold turkey is really hard. I know because it took me a good 6 months to fully stop being tempted by it. I could never eat cake again & not care now, but it takes time. When it comes to calorie counting you don't have to get the numbers perfect. You just need to be kind of right with the numbers to make a big difference with them. Trying to literally count all the calories you eat sucks & is demotivating. I counted calories for years. The only reason I was consistent was by setting up a rigid meal template for the week. Creating structure for my weekly meals then using it as a basic guide made it sustainable. I more or less eat the same 3-4 meals with the same ingredients. I used the myfitnesspal app to set up the meals and track my calories. Once the meals are set up it takes minutes to input whatever meals you ate at the end of each day.
In terms of accuracy, the key is to weigh everything. I have a set of mini scales which I used to weigh everything when I was first setting up my meal plan. Most people, people don't/won't do that, but every label clearly states the number of calories per weight. If you go by those weights, you will still get the desired calories.
While a "calorie-controlled" diet may be a useful way to monitor our intake, we shouldn't make food choices based on calorie content alone. For optimum health, we must still eat a balanced diet containing all food groups. The aim should be to maximise our daily required nutrient intake and focus on the quality of the food you're eating. If you only eat real food which only contain 1 ingredient, things like nuts, veggies, meat, seeds etc. it's hard to over consume.
So, I've come to the conclusion that calorie counting is a means of gaining more self-control but long term if you're still eating a lot of junk food you will over consume. Societal behaviour is not conducive to the attention to detail it takes to be successful at it long term. Probably why most professional bodybuilders/ ridiculously buff gym dudes like to say that they do what 99% of the population can't do with when it comes to diet. It's not that most can't, it's that most won't. If you want to be in the lawless minority that does though, I've outlined how you can calculate the calories you burn. You can then use this information to set the number of calories you need to consume daily to meet your desired goals.
CALCULATING CALORIES BURNED
There are many formulas out there like the Harris-Benedict formula for example, which allows you to work out how many calories you need to consume per day. The formula is adjusted depending on your sex, age, & weight to give a personalised answer.
To do this you first need to you work out your BMR. Then you can multiply this figure by a measure of your daily activity level ranging from sloth to super active to find out the number of calories you need to consume each day to maintain your current weight. From there you can then work out how much you need to reduce or increase your maintenance calories depending on whether you want to lose or gain weight.
I was going present the step by step calculations to do this but calculations are long. No one has time for calculations these days. If like me you hate maths & avoid doing it at all cost this online BMR calculator is your friend. There's also a calorie calculator on there that tells you exactly how many calories you need to need to consume to achieve your intended weight. As the saying goes, Hara hachi bu
Disclaimer: LOLA does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.