HOW I STOPPED COUNTING CALORIES | why counting calories is stupid + why I stopped

Why are we still counting calories? Do calories matter? Today I'm sharing how I stopped counting calories, the bad that can result from counting calories, and the steps I took to quit obsessive calorie counting. I hope this video is helpful to you on your health journey!

Give this video a thumbs up and leave a comment if you enjoyed it and want to see more videos like this one. :)

----
----
LINKS:

This is just my personal experience with counting calories and everyone is different. If counting calories works for you, great! If not, you aren't alone. Calorie counting turned into an obsession for me. If you have an obsessive personality, I don't recommend counting calories. Everyone is different and has to do what works for them! I wanted to share the downfalls calorie counting caused me in hopes it could prevent it from happening to someone else. This video is not medical advice and I'm not claiming to be a doctor. I'm just someone sharing their own experiences and their health journey. :)

[Rachel-qjzr]

When i stopped counting calories i actually started eating way healthier, because when you’re tracking its easier to reach for processed foods that tell you the calories than to weigh out fresh produce and cook proper meals, whereas now I eat way more wholefoods and actually lost weight from not bingeing

[shinystar]

you’re right. obsessive calorie counting (both in and out) goes against the mindfulness and presence i’m trying so hard to practice. what a waste of life 🤦🏻‍♀️

[giantgrog]

I would honestly love to eat intuitively without tracking calories or feelings of shame and guilt when I eat more. I know it's okay to eat more sometimes. But the fear of losing control and regaining all the weight I lost is just overwhelming and I can't stop it

I had a situation today when my dad made pork tenderloins and when I was eating I got super guilty because it was too many calories so I had tofu but it turned out it had more calories and I got guilty again

[maddiktlrs]

Wow thank you so much for posting this! counting calories, measuring food, and tracking the number of steps I do is all I can think about every minute of every day and I have been trying to stop. The third thing you said, about eating different foods than what you're used to, is so helpful and I am going to start this. i eat the same snack of half an apple with peanut butter 2 or 3 times a day since deleting apps because I know the calorie count, and I find myself still tracking in my head. Eating different foods will force me to move on so thank you for this tip!!!

[foodbeforepills]

Our bodies do not have calorie receptors, but do respond to protein, fats, and carbohydrates. Eating the right food to satiety is the key.

[darkengine]

Counting calories is something I never recommend to anyone nowadays because I've seen it become outright dangerous and even life-threatening for some individuals (especially chronically obese ones). It might not be that many people who are so negatively affected by this but even a small percentage of people who start developing the most unhealthy habits from it is too high of a risk for me to ever recommend it.

For a most extreme and worrying example, I recently encountered someone who was a bit of an alcoholic and so she frequently drank a whole bottle of wine in a day or more. Where the calorie counting then got so dangerous for her is that to compensate for the alcohol calories, she might only eat 300-600 calories in a day. That seems to be begging for long-term liver and kidney damage and malnutrition to eat less and less as a result of drinking more and more (frequently drinking on an empty stomach).

That was an extreme case but lots of chronic cases often have addictions of some sort: not always as bad as alcohol but maybe sodas, fast food, processed food. And when you restrict their calories, instead of eating more healthy and nutritious foods, they can eat even less because they had a king-sized soda that day, e.g., and now the healthy stuff doesn't fit their caloric budget. That combination is often begging for nutritional deficiencies and long-term health problems.

A much rarer case but not so rare (I've known a couple of these cases personally) are people who became bulimic from calorie counting. They binge or eat junk and, to erase the calories and meet their caloric goal each day, they purge. I've known a much larger number who do things almost as bad by skipping meals entirely to compensate or even going on extended, multi-day water fasts.

So I really think if we want to help these people, we have to wean them off their most unhealthy addictions/habits. I don't want someone to erase a salad on a given day because they had soda, or a meal because they ate french fries. I'd rather they consume both healthy and unhealthy at the beginning instead of replacing healthy with unhealthy and work on weaning them off the unhealthiest things like alcohol, sodas, french fries, etc. as the first problem to solve.

[anoucnoelle]

Amazing video thank you for that! 😫❤️ i would loopove to eat intuitive but I feel like I can‘t get full and don‘t trust my body... If I don‘t have this numbers I feel like it‘s even worse because I can‘t trust my body and be intuitive... do you have tips?

[ShadowStarlight]

counting calories go along with weighing every bit of food. on a food scale and tracking exercise. it is mentally taxing with all that. I stop calorie tracking as much for two weeks. I maintained my weight with no problem. also that making things fit part. it is so taxing on the mind overtime. I did it for seven months. lost 24lbs and tired of the counting. the weighing, the opps I went over and so on. since not tracking life has normalized. a lot of stress is off me. Was completely consumed with the numbers, all day and everyday. on everything including macro track. like carb and protein as well.

[jasminfranzi]

this may sound stupid but if I dont track it on my app I automatically track it in my head. And if thats not possible (bc of your tipps for example) i cant get my mind off of it and I start shading myself and feel extremely bad about my body. What can I focus on instead of food?

[Tammy]

Whenever i stopped counting calories, i fall off the wagon and the weight start to creep back on..I can't just go back to eat whatever without being conscious of how many calories are in the food and portion sizes even when I'm not activitely counting that's how i go back to my old eating habits and the weight comes back on. Personally for me, counting keeps me in control and i try to eat healthy nutritious food that keeps me full longer and i avoid junk and sugery food that are looded with empty calories..but i want to be able to enjoy a cookie every now and then and it makes me feel better knowing that i can fit it into my calorie goal when ever i want one without feeling guilty...Also i find after controlling my portion sizes and eating less, my body to used to it over time. When i reached my goal weight. I stopped counting but, i kept losing weight and got too thin because i wasn't eating enough..so calorie counting can come in hand with that if you want to make sure you're eating enough. but then i switched jobs and my now job is less active than my old one and i went back to my eating habits..guess what the weight came back on. now i'm back to tracking since my pants are getting too tight and counting has been the only thing that constistently works for me to lose weight

Also i still allow myself to go out to eat every now and then and enjoy myself without worrying about tracking. I go to buffet every year on birth day. Then next day i go back to track so i can go back on track . For me it me in checks. I don't think it's stups as it has worked for me to lose weight in the past. the reason why gained it back is because i drifted into my old eating habits of over eating. To each his own

[nessawithsmiles]

Do you have tips for having a goal of weight loss without counting calories?

[nancybryce]

There are apps that make counting calories very easy and totally effortless, and you can eat anything within the allowance. Plus maintain correct weight relatively easily. Or is it just me?
Love my fitbit, really simple and motivating.But doesnt suit everyone I get that.

[jalenv]

I did the keto diet to lose weight instead of counting calories because it’s more simpler and you can lose weight quicker

[steffanydangelo]

I love this and your channel and your social media and you and I miss you and that's all! You're a gem

[mariaheinrichs]

When you read this comment, can you please get back to me? Because I have a question. Can this even cause depression? I already have problems with anxiety without the calorie counting crap. When I was in high school, I had three or four people that kept on harassing me to lose weight. This one educational assistant in particular was a very serious person and told me that one cup of pasta was enough. The staff wanted to know everything I had for breakfast lunch and supper every single day. They wouldn’t even allow me to have one piece of toast with the rest of the class in the morning because in their words, I already had breakfast and the pieces of toast were only meant for people that couldn’t have breakfast where they lived. Not even one piece? Come on! The people that didn’t have breakfast were not the only ones that had toast. The whole entire class was allowed to. I of course didn’t listen and had toast anyway, but the guilt always hung over my head like a major cloud. I have a second question while I’m at it, which is also why I am wondering if you could please get back to me. Can counting calories also be insulting to other people? The reason I’m asking this is because I don’t want to make any members of my family feel that they have to modify meals to suit my obsession. Bottom line, can it lead to depression and can it also make other people feel insulted?

[alejandroaguanta-classical]

Calorie counting ain't bad, it is stressful if you count different foods everyday of the week though. I eat about the same stuff with some tweaks here and there and always allow myself to gorge in some awesome garbage meals every now and then.

[showpony]

Calorie counting is all you need for fat loss and muscle development