Do Calories Even Matter For Weight Loss?
by Amy Leisner
I was raised during the glory days of “light” foods, and counting calories for weight loss was everything.
Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, Slim Fast, weight loss soup, the hot dog diet, the grapefruit diet. You name it, I’ve done it. And we’ve all heard the “secret” to weight loss is simply these four words:
Calories in, calories out.
But is it really that simple? And is it really even true?
Like most things around health and weight, this idea is wildly oversimplified, and it’s extremely misleading.
Calories are just a small piece of a larger health puzzle.
On a very basic level, the idea of expending more calories than you take in to lose weight is still considered the gold standard of weight loss to the medical community. To review: “calories in” refers to all of the calories you get from the food and beverages you eat and drink. “Calories out” are the calories your body burns. This is where statements like, “eat less and move more,” are proclaimed as the solution for weight loss.
And in a way, this is somewhat true. If you consume fewer calories and move more, creating a calorie deficit, you might have a better shot at losing weight than if you’re taking in more calories than you expend.
But, only focusing on the number of calories you consume and expend is a huge oversimplification, and doesn’t tell the whole story of health and weight loss.
Here’s why “calories in-calories out” doesn’t work for everyone.
The problem with “calories in, calories out” is that calories are just one factor of health and nutrition.
Only considering your calorie consumption doesn’t take into account the sources from which you’re consuming your calories, and how those are impacting your health and ability to lose weight.
Here’s why the calories in-calories out model falls short:
A calorie deficit isn’t always “healthy”: If you decide 1500 calories are the maximum you should consume in a day to lose weight, you know that consuming 6 slices of pizza or knocking back 10 cans of coke (which both roughly amount to 1500 calories) throughout the day are not healthy diets. So eating in a “caloric deficit” doesn’t necessarily translate to optimal health because it doesn’t account for the sources of those calories, and how that food is affecting your long-term health.
Not all calories are created equal: Different foods are processed differently in your body, and can potentially impact your metabolism in different ways. There’s a reason you feel a certain way after eating 300 calories of Girl Scout cookies vs. 300 calories of kale. The nutrients found in your food matter— they contribute to your immunity and ability to ward off disease and long-term health problems. Nutrients also affect your hormones and metabolism and thyroid, which all factor into your ability to lose weight. Plus, nutrient-dense foods are going to make you feel fuller throughout the day.
You can only slightly change the “calories out” part: Calories “out” don’t always come from getting more exercise. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR)— which is how many calories your body burns just by functioning— makes up 65-70% of your daily calorie expenditure. So 65-70% of your “calories out” is completely out of your control! Knowing your BMR can be crucial to calculating how many calories you should be consuming/expending to lose weight, but having an accurate picture of this requires inaccessible lab equipment, so we’re left to just estimate.
Your hormones are very important: Your hormones can hugely affect your ability to lose weight—for example, estrogen can affect your metabolism— and different foods, like sugar, affect your hormone levels. Simply tracking calories doesn’t account for the kinds of food you’re eating, and how that food impacts your hormones.
Your body processes things differently: Appetite, sleep quality, age, stress levels, and your microbiome all vary from human to human, and all have an effect on how each calorie of food will move through your system and affect your ability to lose weight.
Food labels are notoriously inaccurate: Tracking calories is another challenge in and of itself. Food labels, for example, are allowed to have a 20% margin of accuracy. And cooking at home? You’d have to measure and track every little thing, down to the spritz of oil you put in the pan to know the calories. No one is going to do that. Even apps and calorie trackers are rough estimates.
Men and women are different: Unfortunately, since women were not required to be included in clinical trials until 1993, so much of our health knowledge is biased towards men. So there’s still so much about weight loss and calories, specifically relating to women, that we don’t know. We know men lose weight more easily, and calorie deficits work great for them. But some studies have shown that low calorie diets aren’t necessarily ideal for women.
The worst part about counting calories? It can become an obsession. You can start feeling guilty or anxious when you consume “too many,” and can begin to inhibit your body’s natural ability to know when it’s hungry and when it’s full.
Here’s what to focus on instead of calories.
The calories in calories out theory isn’t flat out wrong; it’s just over-simplified, which isn’t helping anyone struggling with weight loss or health in general.
So if you’ve been counting calories to no avail, here are a few things to focus on instead:
Consider WHAT you’re eating: Like we said— not all calories are created equal. Getting calories from healthier sources is more beneficial (not just in terms of weight loss, but in terms of overall health) than just restricting your calories.
More whole foods, less processed foods: If you don’t want to count calories, shifting to a more unprocessed diet can help. Fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, non-starchy veggies, fish, superfoods, and yogurt with live probiotics are hard to “over-eat” because of their high nutrient levels. Limit processed foods like candy and soda as much as possible, and don’t be tricked by healthy-looking packaging, either. Read the label.
Track your macronutrients instead: For both weight loss and overall, longterm health, tracking your macronutrient intake— how many proteins, carbs, and fats you’re consuming— can actually be more productive. Macronutrients, unsurprisingly, tell you more about the nutrients in your food than calories, and how many you’re consuming affects not only your weight, but also your hormones, thyroid, sleep, metabolism, and energy. There are tons of helpful apps for tracking your macros and making sure they’re balanced.
Notice how you feel: Tap into your intuition. Think about how eating (or not eating) a particular food will make you feel beyond the moment you take a bite. Will it make you tired later? Will you feel guilty afterward? Notice if you’re actually hungry, or just eating out of boredom.
Consider more sustainable solutions: One extremely important reason why eating in a calorie deficit is often unhelpful for women’s weight loss? It’s unsustainable. Restricting ourselves every day for the rest of our lives just isn’t feasible. Apps like Noom focus on long-term behavioral changes around diet and exercise, instead of quick fix diets.
Get better sleep: Are we annoyed by this advice yet? It seems to be the solution to everything, but it is so essential for overall health. In regards to managing your weight, it will help regulate hunger hormones and increase your metabolic output.
Celebrate all your wins. We really don’t give ourselves enough credit. It might sound a little cringey to do this, but it helps. Be proud of yourself for making it to yoga or choosing a salad over a panini.
And don’t stress if you have to get a pair of pants that are a size bigger than you’re used to. Sizes are fake, anyway.
Amy Leisner is a Long Beach-based freelance writer who covers wellness for The Candidly. You can find more of her articles here.
