Dieting vs. Calorie Counting… the truth behind what really works
By Estela Schnelle MS, RD
We all want to reach a healthy weight… we want to know how to reach it and how to maintain it. The confusing part is finding the best way to do this! For those of you who’ve read my bio, you know that there was a phase in my life where dieting was the only option. I was constantly thinking a diet would solve my problems. A common thought I would often have would be, “Once I reach my goal weight, my life will begin”… “I can finally have fun”. It got to a point where no diet was working for me, I became a slave to the scale, and worst of all, it affected every other aspect of my life. No matter how hard I tried, or how much I exercise… nothing worked.
At what point in our life do we think we need to “go on a diet?”
It all comes down to unhappiness. It may be that we are unhappy with our appearance, unhappy with the way our pants fit, unhappy with the person we see in the mirror, unhappy because we realize we are truly overweight, or, just unhappy with life in general. All the while we still think the next diet will solve our problems, make us happy, and finally enjoy life.
Does a Diet Really Work?
The answer is yes… and no. People want to see results! When we make the decision to lose weight, we want the weight gone yesterday! Diets promise quick results. Some diets often going to extreme measures such as unsupervised detoxes, cleanses, and eliminating entire food groups. Can we see results doing this? Absolutely! Why do we see results? Because we are cutting back on calories and the foods we love… resulting in a nice gift we call weight gain in return!
It all comes down to basic math. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories than what your body needs. There’s no miracle diet or solution. If you’ve had success on a past diet, it’s because you were eating less calories than what your body needed, not because we ate our protein 20 minutes before we ate our starch. Programs such as Nutri-System and Jennie Craig will definitely produce weight loss because they are reducing your calories. Everything comes pre-portioned or frozen. They do all the work for you. You don’t have to count calories or measure anything out. All you have to do is heat and eat. This does produce great short-term results, but what we really have to ask ourselves is “how realistic is it to follow this for life?” That’s the question you want to ask yourself every time you are tempted with a diet. “Can I commit to this for the rest of my life?”
A Calorie is a Calorie
No matter what ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat our meal comes in, a calorie is a calorie. If we eat more than our body needs, we will gain weight, whether our meal is vegetarian, vegan, low carb, or fast food. I’ll say it again… IF WE CONSISTANTLY EAT MORE THAN WHAT OUR BODY NEEDS, WE WILL GAIN WEIGHT.
Now don’t get me wrong here. I would be doing my role as a Dietitian an injustice if I said the health of a meal didn’t matter. It certainly does. A well-rounded healthy diet is important for heart health and disease prevention. The point I’m trying to make is that we don’t have to follow a crazy diet. It’s all about balance and moderation.
Eating healthy is very important, but how much we eat is even more important. We have to find that place of balance and moderation. For example, lets say you’ve been craving a cheeseburger and French fries all week long. Make a plan to eat it, and enjoy it. Here’s how you do that… You know the average cheeseburger and French fry combo has at least 1000 calories if not more. Let’s say you’re a 5’5” active female and require around 1800 calories per day. Eating that entire cheeseburger meal will blow your calorie budget. The goal here is to be mindful of what you eat during the day surrounding that cheeseburger. This doesn’t mean to starve yourself all day so you can “splurge”. The idea is to make sure you surround that meal with other healthy meals. Make sure to be active that day. Eat a healthy portioned controlled breakfast. If you know your going out for cheeseburgers at dinner, don’t eat steak & eggs or a stack of pancakes for breakfast. Opt for a healthy cereal or an egg white breakfast taco. The same idea goes for lunch. Choose something healthy and portion controlled. Make sure your comfortably hungry prior to each meal. When the time comes to enjoy the cheeseburger meal, take your time and try to only eat half. Think to yourself “Does my body really need to ingest 1300 calories at one meal?” The answer is most likely “NO!”
What’s the point of all this?
The main point I’m trying to get across is that you can enjoy the foods you love every single day, it’s all about making a plan, balancing it all out, and enjoying in moderation. If you eat a stack of pancakes for breakfast, a plate of pasta for lunch, and 4 slices of pizza for dinner, that’s unbalanced. Make it a plan to keep your intake 80% healthy, and 20% junk! If you went the whole day without eating any veggies, make it a point to get some in the next day. What’s most frustrating to me is the “diet world” puts out so much conflicting information. This confuses the heck out of people! Including myself! What I hope you get from reading this article is “go back to the basics”. It all comes down to how much we eat. Remember… EATING HEALTHY IS VERY IMPORTANT, BUT HOW MUCH WE EAT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT!
If you have any questions about this article, want to know more, or have suggestions for future topics, add a comment in the comments section below. If you know of anyone who may benefit from this article click on the “share this” icon below, there, you can post a link to this article or email it to a friend.
Tags: calorie counting, diet, dieting, weight loss
March 9th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Great post,
How do I figure out what my daily caloric intake should be?
I am a 6′1″ 190lb male who works out on average 1-2hrs a day?
I just want to make sure I am eating enough, but not to much.
Thanks – SD
March 10th, 2009 at 6:18 am
Thanks for the wonderful insight Estela! I woke up a bit frustrated with my weight loss efforts, since I haven’t lost any weight in the two weeks that I have been trying. I lost 3 pounds then gained it back, which could just be regular body fluctuations. But I was very upset about it, and your posting inspired me to keep trying.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:17 am
SD – there is a very simple way to figure out your calories
wt in lbs/2.2 = wt in kgs.
wt in kg x 37 = your total calorie needs.
this equation is not for everyone, this is for someone who is VERY actve.
Oraly – so glad to hear the article helped you! Remember, our weight can fluctuate by 5 lbs of water on any given day. Try to weigh yourself no more than once per week, and try to do it first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything. Keep up the good work!
~Weekly Bite
March 11th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Thanks so much for that wonderul post! I completely agree & try to tell people this all the time. If you eat over your calorie limit whether is apples or pizza, you will gain weight.
I have a question for you though. I’m a 5′3 medium build female. I currently weigh 135-137. I have been maintaining this weight for a few months despite the fact that I would actually like to lose 10 more lbs to get back to my happy weight range of 125-127. I have been maintaining on anywhere from 1600-1800 cals & I do about an hour of exercise 5x a week. I have a very sedentary desk job & try to incorporate additional activity when I can but its pretty hard. I find it VERY difficult to stick to 1200 calories which is where I can lose weight pretty consistently – I simply get too hungry & feel deprived. I do best on about 1400-1500 calories – do you think its realistic that I can lose weight on this amount? I try to eat as many real whole foods as I can & I also try to mind my hunger cues. I already do as you encourage w/ NOT restricting anything but eating the foods I love in moderation.
I honestly think my biggest challenge has been the weekends. I do well eating about 1300-1500 calories all week then I overindulge in too many higher cal foods over the weekend which makes my average weekly consumption too high to lose. After thinking about it, I realized that I was trying too hard during the week to limit my calories to 1200 but that caused feelings of deprivation & true HUNGER so it lead to overeating on the weekend. That is why I feel a more moderate consumption of 1400-1500 each day would be best. Do you agree?
March 31st, 2009 at 11:01 am
Hey there, Nutrisystem looks like a really NOW product with some great usable diet INFO and an intelligent, realistic approach. Any thoughts?
March 31st, 2009 at 11:19 am
Hi Joseph,
Regarding Nutrisystem, the point I was trying to make is that we need to look at these programs as a lifelong change. If we want to use nutrisystem to lose weight, that’s fine, but the most important part is that we take away the lesson of portion control and apply that to our day to day life. I’m sure there are many individuals that have amazing success and continued maintenance with Nutrisystem. The downside is I have met many people who have not had success with the program, and the main reason was they felt it was unrealistic to order the food, and more importantly, they were viewing it as a quick fix. It all comes down to behavior change. If we see a program that can teach us how to implement heathy eating in our day to day life, and we actually make the behavior change, great results will occur.
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