Calories are only part of the picture when it comes to weight control. Although tracking calories is one way to ensure you do not go over or under your daily calorie limit, it can and often does backfire if this is all you use to monitor eating. Instead, long-term weight control and a healthy lifestyle require a multidimensional approach. Healthy eating takes into consideration not only how much, but also what you eat as important determining factors.
The Facts
Each day your body requires a certain number of calories, individual units of food energy, to function normally. If the calories you take in and those you expend are equal, you will maintain your current weight. An imbalance in either direction, however, means your body will either store the excess as fat and you will gain weight or your body will need to use the energy in fat stores to make up the deficit and you will lose weight. In the short term, tracking calories can help you decide how much is enough according to your weight control goals.
Calories and Energy Density
Energy density, the relationship between calorie content and the amount of food, is one reason that limiting weight control to tracking calories often backfires. Foods that have a high energy density pack many calories in a small amount of food, whereas foods with a low energy density mean you can eat more and still take in fewer calories. For example, if you allot 600 calories for a midday lunch, you can have a single bacon cheeseburger, after which you may still feel hungry, or fill your plate with a bowl of soup, a turkey sandwich, a piece of fresh fruit and a few carrot or celery sticks and sufficiently satisfy your appetite. As a 100-calorie midday snack, you can have 1/4 cup of raisins or a full cup of grapes.
Calories and Nutrition
Calories have no relationship to the nutritional value of food. Because of this, you could consistently track a daily calorie limit of 2,000 calories per day, but still suffer symptoms of malnutrition. In this way, tracking calories can have a serious backfire effect. No matter what your calorie limit, you need to include a full range of carbohydrates, protein and fat in your diet each day. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a diet that breaks calories into 45 to 65 percent carbohydrates, 10 to 35 percent protein and 20 to 35 percent fat.
Solution
Using calorie tracking can help you to control your weight as long as you also consider principles of good nutrition. Talk to your doctor or dietician and set a daily calorie limit that is right for you, look for foods that have the right energy density and then plan meals and snacks according to USDA guidelines. This will ensure that you are able to meet calorie tracking goals while supplying your body with a healthy and satisfying daily diet.
Member Comments