This Infographic Shows Problems With Calorie Counting.
You can carefully count each serving of marmalade or peanut butter and then tally the calories burned to compensate. But it actually hurts your efforts (and sanity) more than it helps. This is why you shouldn’t rely on “calories in” and “out”.
At its core, the laws of thermodynamics don’t lie: if you consume more calories than you consume, you lose weight , and vice versa. This all sounds simple, except that we’ve already discussed why counting calories in and out, as if it were simple math, can sabotage your weight loss efforts. In fact, there are many variables that will affect both the amount of calories your body actually gets from the foods you eat and the amount that will be expended. This infographic from Precision Nutrition simplifies what happens in both cases.
In terms of “calories,” the first infographic shows how not all food calories are absorbed. This is because not all foods are created equal. For example, the amount of fiber in food or how it is prepared can affect the amount of calories. Also, food labels and how much people think they are eating are initially very inaccurate .
The problems outlined in the second infographic are getting really interesting. Basically, you can’t predict exactly how many calories you burn due to differences in individual metabolism, lifestyle choices (like sleep deprivation ), genetics, and your dietary history. Added to the mystery are the inflated “calories burned” you see on cardio machines and fitness trackers, and this nasty bias called the licensing effect where you probably overeat just because you exercised and now think you deserve to eat more …
Clearly, all the “calories in versus calories out” is not easy. This does not mean that you should stop worrying about calories. Let’s be clear: they still matter, but not to the point of obsessing over neurotic accounting methods and distracting you from your enjoyment of life. If you’re trying to lose weight, tracking calories or macronutrients for a while will give you a better idea of serving sizes and how much you’re eating .
After all, exercise and diet are just two pieces of the weight loss puzzle. According to Dr. Yoni Friedhoff, author of The Diet Fix : “You lose weight in the kitchen, you get better in the gym.”
The problem with counting calories in and out | Precision Nutrition