Should You Avoid “Calories”?
- Three reasons why calories are misleading
- Nutritional planning for success
Calories, whilst they are good for a ballpark figure, are most definitely not the best indication of healthy foods and drinks.
Calories have been the measurement unit of nutrition for many decades and most people seem content to use them for everything. However, there is another side to the story and although calories are good for a ballpark figure they should not be treated as gospel.
Here are three reasons why…
1) Deception
Calories are essentially how many units of energy a food releases when broken down. Seems a great idea from the outset: when you consider that food like alcohol and sugars have high densities of energy.
As always though, there are blurred lines, the scale is always going to be skewed to some extent when you are mixing foods and drinks.
Everybody knows that some food is bad for you and others are good for you but it is not always that simple.
Giving a food a number does not tell the whole story. Some “good fats” are high in calories despite being essential for bodily function (eg see oily fish and nuts), whilst something like a gin and tonic is low in calorific it is not necessarily the healthiest choice.
It’s all about relativity.
Other components like fats and sugars should be carefully considered rather than just the calorific value.
2) Obsession
Assigning foods number is not only a vast generalisation but also encourages poor psychological perspective.
It is common for individuals to start out counting calories and get sucked into the compulsive habits long term.
That is by no means healthy. Moderation is fundamental to RYPT and should be considered in your outlook too.
Going to one extreme (eg healthy eating) is not conducive to long term success.
Life is meant to be enjoyed, not about making sacrifices all the time, especially when it comes to food.
If you’re logging every meal, every day and trying to be mindful of how much you should eat, it will eventually drive you insane!
3) Misinformation
As soon as something becomes deemed “unhealthy”, food companies need to work overtime to create an alternative.
With the might that these companies have in advertising, they will always find another way around it.
Phrases like “low fat”, “fat free” or “sugar free” are all commonplace now. Besides, how many adverts feature the word: “calories” in them?
If you are looking for a no nonsense answer, then look at the components of food: macronutrients. There is really no shying away from ingredients! Calories can hide so much but taking a few extra seconds to evaluate the label is worth it.
Check out the RYPT beginner’s guides on YouTube for more information on nutrients in an easy to follow guide.
New RYPT summer offer available online now (limited to 10 places, see website for more).
Ross
