In each of our professions, we hear certain things that cause us to cringe. It has nothing to do with the person saying the sentence, but just the misinformation and the amount of times you've heard the sentence.
One of my trigger sentences as a health coach is: "Well this had less calories"
My personal understanding is the height of diet culture in the late 80s through the 90s solidified the idea in all of our heads, that calories are the only thing that matter when it comes to weight. Calories in | Calories Out as we've all heard time and time again. And sure that may be an oversimplification of how you lose weight, but let me pose a real question.
Just because the number on the scale reflects a "satisfactory" number does that automatically equal health?
So as I go on this rant about calories, what do I believe actually matters?
The quality of the calories/food someone is ingesting.
A balanced nutrition label with good macro & micronutrients.
Are those calories good for the whole body
Let's talk a little more about each of those.
The Quality
I had a conversation once that really frustrated someone, however, health is one of my highest values so I couldn't budge on the answer. They wanted to know what 95 calories in a beer could replace foodwise. I refused, politely to provide an answer to that question. I wasn't trying to be an elitist, however there is no nutritional content in a beer. Your body is receiving no nutritional benefit to consuming alcohol, so I cannot in good conscience say it is okay to swap a beer for any food.
Another example I often like to use is the 100 calorie packs of foods. Sure, they can be a low calorie treat, but they could also just be a marketing scheme. Why do I say that? Most of those, when you look at the nutrition facts have nothing but carbohydrates and within those carbohydrates are no fiber. What that means for your body is, you'll have that snack, have a quick spike in blood sugar, but then nothing to stabilize it so you'll immediately be hungry.
The quality of the calories you are ingesting matter, not just that they are low.
A Balanced Nutrition Label
This could go somewhat along with the amount of calories that are in something, but let's dig a little deeper. When I go to the grocery store, I don't immediately look at the amount of calories in a food product. I want to see that something has an overall sound nutritional profile meaning that it has a healthy amount of fat, moderate carbohydrates consisting of fiber and no added sugars, and a good amount of protein. I also want to see if that product has a lot of additives and fillers or if it has a low amount of ingredients. The amount of calories doesn't give a good picture of whether or not something is a healthy option. 500 calories of a slice of cake vs 500 calories of a bowl of quinoa, chicken, healthy fats are not the same because of how they process and function in your body.
Good for the Whole Body
Food and calories are more than just what causes you to lose or gain weight. Food affects your energy, your brain, your mood, your health, your sleep, your stress, your skin.... literally everything so it's important to make sure the food you are putting in your body is good for the overall picture. That is why the nutrition label, the quality of the food, and ingredients is so important. Not to make things difficult, but because it truly does matter for so much of your day to day functioning and life.
So how do you apply this in your day to day life? Learn about nutrition, learn what a nutrition label is truly showing you, empower yourself to understand food marketing and really practice paying attention to how you feel when you eat certain foods. You can change the trajectory of your health and life just by changing up the quality of the food you are ingesting and breaking free of the diet culture idea that calories are all that matter.
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