The Potential Dangers of Calorie Counting

So, I've been thinking about how to write this post for about two weeks now... I don't want to burst anybody's bubble or step on toes... but most of all, I wasn't sure how to write this without attaching my own personal experience and emotion that's associated with it. This may get a little choppy, so please, bear with me (also... if you actually get through this whole post, I'll be proud and there will be some fun info at the end). 

For years and years, I’ve heard about how when you’re trying to lose weight, you need to keep careful track of your calorie intake. Essentially what you want to do with a nutrition plan combined with your exercise is to burn more calories through the day than you take in.

No news there, right? Well… here’s what you may NOT know.

For some people, it’s a matter of eating less; constantly counting and journaling your food intake so that you can cut down on calories. For others however (ahem, me), there is the opposite problem. I need to be counting calories to make sure that I’m eating ENOUGH.

I know, weird.

When I was younger (14 or 15), I was already pretty overweight. I heard that in order to lose weight you had to cut down on your caloric intake. Only problem… I didn’t do my research and I didn’t ask anyone. I didn’t know what a normal person is supposed to eat during the day – roughly 2,000 calories to maintain your weight 2,500 for the extremely active and athletic). I also didn’t take note of the fact that what kind of calories you intake matters. 400 calories of processed and sugary foods is a very different 400 calories than one enriched in veggies, protein, and whole grains. Needless to say, as a young teenager, I preferred the former.

Somewhere, and I don’t remember where, I got it into my head that a normal person is supposed to eat only 1,200 to maintain their weight (um yeah, I totally just cut out a meal and a half in there). So me and my bright self decided that I had to cut it down from there to be able to get rid of the excess pounds; all the way down to 800-900 calories a day.

For the first month or so, I was hungry all the time but I couldn’t figure out why. I knew I was cutting back on my food intake, but com’on, that’s what you’re supposed to do, right?

“It doesn’t matter what kind of calories they are,” I told myself, “just that you’re consuming less of them.”

Ha. No. Big time wrong.

Almost immediately I not only stopped losing weight, but I even started to gain a little. Because, duh, I wasn’t feeding myself enough. My body was freaking out because it thought I was in starvation mode so held on to every little ounce of food out of its natural survival instinct.

Very long five year, painful and bad story short, I eventually got to the place where I had to face that the calories I was putting into my body were the problem. It wasnt about how much I was eating, it was about what I was eating. So this is where I want to caution you.

Yeah, solid fruit and veggie diets can be good for you... but only in the short term. Your body does need the protein and carbohydrates (and yes, even some sugar) in order to maintain balance and stability and then to promote muscle growth (some of you can read that as fat burn... whatever. almost the same difference).

Before I started Insanity back in December, my older sister (now a certified fitness instructor) literally made me swear that I would eat... and eat a lot. I wasn't allowed to skip breakfast, cut meals, to get "too busy" again, or to just eat sugary/high carb foods.

So ladies... as you are going through any weight struggle... yes, a change in eating habits is important (2 cookies not 5 and yeah, add more salad to your daily intake), but you NEED to eat. I've seen a picture circulating where the tagline is "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." I'm sorry, not to be disrespectful, but that mentality really is a bunch of crap and is extremely dangerous.

We are created such that we need sustenance; and no, not just men. The more you work out and the harder you do, the more you need to eat. As I said before, the kind of calories you consume does matter - 400 calories of healthy greens and some grilled chicken will do miracles for your body; wheras 400 calories of potato chips... not so much.

One thing I've also learned.... never cut out anything. If you have a food allergy, that's one thing. But don't tell yourself that you can never have the chips, cookie, or ice cream. That just sets you up for failure. The balance is in moderation. Let's face it... I LOVE ice cream, but I dont have to have it every night; and when I do, I can deal with just one scoop not a heaping bowl. Will it possibly take me longer to lose all the weight? Maybe. But I know myself well enough (and have seen it happen) that if I completely deprive myself of ice cream for any period of time... as soon as that period is over, I have to have atonofitallthetimeorelseIfeellikeI'mabouttodieandwillneverhaveicreamagainsoeatitallrightnow!!!... you get the point.

Bottom line... if you're going to be working out a lot or even hard for short period of time, you MUST eat, eat regularly, and eat more than you think (yes, I did just say that). Once your body has transitioned into fat burning, the healthier food you take in will burn faster because your body doesn't question when the next time you will feed it is. Find ways to cook veggies so you like them. I know a salad every night the same way gets pretty boring... so try new stuff. Don't get so yanked in by calorie counting that you forget what kind of calories you're using. Eat the strawberries, not the gummy bears. Make your own french fries (sweet potato fries!) instead of stopping at McD's on your way home; bake them, don't fry - season with garlic and pepper, not as much salt.

It's amazing the ways you can adjust to help your body without even really trying!
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p.s.
I know you're all curious (if anybody is actually reading this) about how much weight I ended up losing with Insanity. I finally did check (actually it was several weeks ago that I checked, I just keep forgetting to post it). No it was not a dramatic 40 pounder like you see in the infomercials; I didn't go from a size 18 to a size 4 in 60 days. But here's what did happen:

I lost 7 lbs, went from a tight size 12 to a good fitting size 10 and am confident when I walk out the door in a fitted shirt and jeans that I don't (usually) look like a blob.

But here's what's even more important... during that process, I gained a boatload of muscle, endurance, energy, overall strength, general happiness, and health. I breathe better, don't get nearly as many cold spells (my family will testify... I used to be frozen nearly all winter and into the spring even when piled in layers and blankets).

If you ask me (and nobody is, so I guess it's a moot point, but I'll say it anyways), what I have gained is of such greater importance than what I've lost.