You Don’t Have to be a Calorie Expert to Eat Healthy

What comes to mind when you think about what it means to eat healthy? If you live in the world I live in and read the articles and books I read, you might think you have to be a calorie expert to eat healthy and reach your goals. Not so fast.

Most of the nutrition rules we absorb come from fitness magazines and diet books that preach 1,200 calorie diets and other steadfast caloric expectations. So to eat healthy you have to be a chef, a voracious reader (because trends change daily!), and now a mathematician too?

The good news is that no, you don’t have to be a mathematician to eat healthy. Calorie counting is not the save all, end all of healthy eating. In fact in the long run, calorie counting isn’t as effective (or healthy) as we tend to think.

Of course that leaves us with some not so good news: if not, calories…then what?

The Problem with Calorie Counting

Calories in versus calories out. Get that equation right and you’re golden, right?

Eh…

Here’s where calorie counting goes wrong.

Calorie calculations are surprisingly imprecise.

The FDA, the federal agency responsible “for assuring that foods sold in the United States are safe, wholesome and properly labeled”, permits inaccuracies of up to 20% on food labels. There are 5 different methods that companies can use to determine calorie count. That means that your 100 calorie pack could be 80 calories, and just as easily be 120 calories.

The calorie counts that you see in databases like MyFitnessPal are, at best, averages. Don’t get me wrong, I love MyFitnessPal. BUT…think about the apples you see at the store. One is the size of your three-year old nephews fist and the other is the size of your best friends Boston Terrier’s head. It’s not realistic to believe that both of those apples is 80 calories, but that’s most likely what you will find in your favorite nutrition database.

Nutrient Content Depends on the Growing Environment

Don’t eat packaged products? Nice! But there is still room for error. the nutrient content of the food you eat depends on the growing, and storing, environment.

Fruits and vegetables, grains and beans, cows and pigs all rely on their environment to grow big and strong (read: full of nutrients). The nutrient content of the soil, the diet of the animal, the time at which it was picked or harvested…all of these factors play a role in just how much protein/fiber/vitamin/mineral a food provides when it hits your plate.

One benefit of eating local is that you know that you are eating the tomato/corn/beef close to it’s harvest date. The farther your food has to travel, the more nutrients lost along the way.

You Don’t Absorb All of the Calories/Nutrients You Consume

It takes calories to break down the food you eat. TEF, the thermal effect of food tells us that yes, food costs calories to digest and yes, different foods cost more than other foods. Protein is hardest for your body to digest and so has the highest TEF. Fats come next (one of the reasons fats add to satiation is because they slow down digestion). Carbs roll in last, and fiber plays a roll here in how much your body actually absorbs.

The number of calories it takes you to digest varies on your diet, among other things. On average, 10% of your daily energy expenditure is used to digest food.

Your Gut Health Plays a Role

It’s 2020. By now, you’ve heard of gut health. You might even take a pro-biotic to improve your gut health. So, what is gut health?

There are trillions and trillions of bacteria living in your digestive tract. Some of that bacteria is good, some of it is bad. The good bacteria play a major role in aids digestion, enhances your immune system, is good for your heart and can help control your weight.

The healthier your gut biome, the more nutrients your body can absorb from the food you eat.

We’re Not Good at “Eyeballing It”

Research shows that most of us humans, prone to error and all that, are awful at guesstimating serving size and calorie count. Have you ever measured out a tablespoon of peanut butter to see what it really looks like It might surprise you!

Constant miscalculations, no matter how small, can really add up over time.

Calorie Counting Can Create a Terrible Relationship with Food

Forget about addition, subtraction and bacteria in your belly for a second…there is nothing fun about counting calories for the rest of your life.

Imagine sitting down to an anniversary dinner and stressing about the exact calorie count in your chocolate lava cake. Food is more than calories. It is more than nutrient. It is more than fuel.

Food should taste good. It should be an experience to enjoy with loved ones. Most families are so busy with school, jobs, sports, errands, etc that dinner time is the only time left to gather together!

Your relationship with food is about more than what, or how much. After struggling with anorexia for years it took me a long time to get back to a place where I could call this relationship “healthy”. Take it from me: it’s not worth it.

If It’s Not Counting Calories, What IS Healthy Eating?

If healthy eating isn’t calorie counting, what should you do instead? Research shows: slow down, pay attention and learn to listen and trust your body.

Slow Down, Eat Healthier

The benefits of eating slowly include better digestion, greater satisfaction, easier weight loss management and better hydration and yet most of us eat really fast. Life is busy. It’s easy to get distracted, or feel rushed trying to fit in a meal between appointment and to-dos.

Your brain will recognize when you are full and send a signal to your body to stop eating, but it takes roughly 20 minutes from when you start eating to send out that signal. When you rush through a meal, you can eat way more calories than you need simply because your brain hasn’t recognized that you are full yet.

Make it a habit…

• Eat with minimal distractions. Shut off the TV. Don’t eat whole driving. Stop scrolling through emails and absorb yourself instead in the flavors, textures and experience of eating.
• Put down your fork in between bites. Better yet, switch to chopsticks so that even while using them, you slow down!

Keep Yourself Honest and Accountable with a Meal Journal

You don’t know what you don’t know. And since most of us can’t remember what we ate for breakfast yesterday it’s unrealistic to believe that we’re paying close enough attention to our meals to know we are eating healthy and in line with our goals.

The very act of writing down what you eat instantly makes you pay more attention. I ask every one of my nutrition clients to start a meal journal and even though it’s often a difficult habit to start, it shows its worth immediately.

Make it a habit…

• Use a free app, like MyFitnessPal to record what you eat and in what amounts. Try to track in the moment so you aren’t left guessing at the end of the day.
• Track how hungry you are when you eat. You might find that instead of listening to your body you eat at a specified time every day, or you eat when you are bored, or tired instead.

Trust Your Body

Easier said than done, I know. But if you start to slow down when eating, and if you keep a meal journal, you start to learn what your body wants regardless of your environment or cravings.