Calorie Confusion

My earlier two posts talk about the importance of calories. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms that calories are key to weight loss. "But I don't eat many calories," you might think to yourself.

But calories are sneaky little devils. They can crop up in the most unexpected places. And trying to balance them can be a bit confusing.

Here are a few common mistakes, and how you can avoid them.

1. "All natural, healthy food is low in calories." Don't make this mistake. As I mentioned in my last post, "healthy foods" like granola and olive oil can be FULL of calories. It is easy to quickly consume large numbers of calories unconsciously if you do not pay attention. Fat and processed carbohydrates may not immediately lead you to feel full, and you may accidentally take in more calories than you need.

2. "If I eat sugar-free or low-fat foods, I don't need to count calories." Don't make this mistake either! Studies have shown that people actually tend to OVEREAT these foods precisely BECAUSE they think they can get away with it. They may actually eat MORE calories! Always check the calories in your portion size.

3. "If calories are the only thing that matters, I'll just starve myself all day to save up the calories for a really big dinner." NO! Don't make this mistake. Studies have shown that starving yourself all day will INCREASE your hunger hormones at night, leading to overeating. Furthermore, this practice may actually slow your metabolism during the day.
One more problem with this approach - overeating a huge dinner at night can leave you too full to eat breakfast the next morning - so you end up setting yourself up for the same vicious cycle. Start your morning off with a healthy breakfast - you may have to force yourself at first, to break the cycle. Your body will thank you.

4. "I don't really eat that much - just a little grazing here and there. I don't know why I'm gaining weight." Studies have shown that when people "graze", without any planning or formally keeping track of what they are eating, they end up eating a LOT more calories than they realize. Other studies have suggested that people actually burn more calories when they eat on a regular scheduled basis, rather than randomly snacking. The best way to avoid "overgrazing" - plan ahead what you're going to eat for the day, then keep track of it in a journal.

5. "I want to lose weight quickly now by eating less than 800 calories per day, and then I can just maintain my weight loss later by eating my usual calories." Um, can we say Oprah's 1980's diet? Starving your way to rapid weight loss might sound great to some (not to me!), but this approach is FULL of PROBLEMS. For one thing, your body ends up burning up its nice, lean muscle, not just fat, if you starve yourself. Secondly, starving yourself just plain doesn't work very well for long term success. Cutting your calories to the "Very Low Calorie" level will slow your metabolism down - so when you go back to a more normal calorie level, your weight will yo-yo through the roof! A much better, kinder, and more successful approach is to find out your current daily calorie needs, and then cut calories and increase exercise to end up with a "deficit" of about 500-1000 calories per day.

This will result in a one to two pound weight loss per week (you lose one pound of fat for every 3500 extra calories burned - do the math. Cutting 500 calories per day, times 7 days, equals 3500 calories, or one pound lost.)

Doesn't sound like a fast enough weight loss? That adds up to between 50 and 100 pounds lost in a year. There, that's a little better, isn't it?

If you really want to lose more than 1-2 pounds per week, it is possible, depending on your weight, healthy, and medical factors, under the supervision of a physician and nutritionist.

6. "Once I reach my goal weight, I can go back to my old habits, and the weight will just magically stay off." Sounds ridiculous when we say it that way, doesn't it? Yet so many people end up acting as if this was true!

The reality is that long term weight loss and maintenance requires some ongoing work. Simple as that. That said, the reality ALSO is that it is actually EASIER TO MAINTAIN, THAN IT IS TO LOSE. That is good news, backed up by long term studies of successful people. But it doesn't mean that you can become completely oblivious to calories, and exercise. The reality is that you CAN eat more calories at maintenance, but you can't forget about calories completely, or you risk excess "calorie creep". You also need to maintain regular exercise. Maintenance is an art itself, but it is an art that you get better at, as you practice. Long term success is also tied to long term support, and accountability.

The reality is that our society does not make it easy, or "automatic" to continue healthy habits. You'll need support from somewhere, to "fight back" against all the unhealthy influences in our society. Most of our long term successful patients check in periodically, just to keep themselves on track!