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Calories Don't Count on This Spoon
Posted by Tracie B
on
12:14 PM
in
calories,
change,
education,
food system,
health,
nutrients,
nutrition
We wonder why women have eating disorders and disordered eating? This is why.
When I lost all of my weight, I was conscious of the calories that I ate, but I never actually counted calories or did much exercise - it was a combination of a bunch of little things - learning how and what to eat, learning about proper portion size, reading food labels, parking further away, taking the stairs, etc, that were instrumental in my weight loss. Over time, little changes add up to big changes.
I've been listening to the en*theos Supersize Me 10 Year Anniversary #FixFood Summit and one of the speakers, Jonathan Bailor, wrote a book called "The Calorie Myth", which I found fascinating.
Now, I haven't read it, yet, but the things he said during the interview made a lot of sense. The main idea of the talk can be summarized by this statement: "In the book, nowhere does it say that calories don't count, it says you don't need to count calories; there's a big difference between those two statements."
Humans (mainly Americans) are the only ones obsessed with counting calories. Wild animals don't count calories, yet they aren't obese and somehow, instinctively, know when to stop eating. For the most part, they eat a all natural, non-processed diet and survive just fine.
It's not the calories that people eat that's the problem; it's the quality of food that's the real issue. The food industry has made it so easy for people to be lazy, by supplying us with every kind of pre-packaged food imaginable, that we're not getting the quality of food that we should be getting.
200 calories of Pop Tarts (which is only 1 Pop Tart, by the way...) is VERY different from 200 calories of broccoli. Not only in the amount that you eat, but also in the nutrients and inflammation that it causes in your body.
Another problem is that the food industry has done TONS of research on what appeals to our senses and, in turn, engineers the food to satiate our fat, sugar, and salt receptors - thereby causing us to want more and more, thus becoming addicted. It's those, pre-packaged, processed foods that are killing America by making us obese, unhealthy and obsessed with weight and dieting.
Just this weekend, I talked with a woman that had no clue that an order of Aussie Cheese Fries, from The Outback, have almost 2,000 calories (1,913 to be exact) and that's not including the ranch dressing. It says that it's six (6) servings, but how many people actually know/follow that rule? Between the three of us, my parents and I would eat that whole thing (est. 800 each /with ranch), plus a Bloomin' Onion (1948 cal / est. 800 each /with petal sauce) then I'd have a full bowl of Alfredo pasta (est 800 cal) and chocolate cake (1574 cal).* That whole meal, calorie-wise, is more than I eat in two days and definitely not at all beneficial for anyone's body.
Then when I mentioned a few simple, healthier ways to cook some of her favorite meals, she seemed completely shocked. It was so strange because, to me, it's common knowledge, but the more I talk to people the more I realize that people really have no clue about the food that they're putting into their bodies and that there are things they can do to regain control of their health - and that's scary.
If you'd like to read more on this subject / books, you can check out these articles:
When I lost all of my weight, I was conscious of the calories that I ate, but I never actually counted calories or did much exercise - it was a combination of a bunch of little things - learning how and what to eat, learning about proper portion size, reading food labels, parking further away, taking the stairs, etc, that were instrumental in my weight loss. Over time, little changes add up to big changes.
I've been listening to the en*theos Supersize Me 10 Year Anniversary #FixFood Summit and one of the speakers, Jonathan Bailor, wrote a book called "The Calorie Myth", which I found fascinating.
Now, I haven't read it, yet, but the things he said during the interview made a lot of sense. The main idea of the talk can be summarized by this statement: "In the book, nowhere does it say that calories don't count, it says you don't need to count calories; there's a big difference between those two statements."
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It's not the calories that people eat that's the problem; it's the quality of food that's the real issue. The food industry has made it so easy for people to be lazy, by supplying us with every kind of pre-packaged food imaginable, that we're not getting the quality of food that we should be getting.
200 calories of Pop Tarts (which is only 1 Pop Tart, by the way...) is VERY different from 200 calories of broccoli. Not only in the amount that you eat, but also in the nutrients and inflammation that it causes in your body.
Another problem is that the food industry has done TONS of research on what appeals to our senses and, in turn, engineers the food to satiate our fat, sugar, and salt receptors - thereby causing us to want more and more, thus becoming addicted. It's those, pre-packaged, processed foods that are killing America by making us obese, unhealthy and obsessed with weight and dieting.
Just this weekend, I talked with a woman that had no clue that an order of Aussie Cheese Fries, from The Outback, have almost 2,000 calories (1,913 to be exact) and that's not including the ranch dressing. It says that it's six (6) servings, but how many people actually know/follow that rule? Between the three of us, my parents and I would eat that whole thing (est. 800 each /with ranch), plus a Bloomin' Onion (1948 cal / est. 800 each /with petal sauce) then I'd have a full bowl of Alfredo pasta (est 800 cal) and chocolate cake (1574 cal).* That whole meal, calorie-wise, is more than I eat in two days and definitely not at all beneficial for anyone's body.
Then when I mentioned a few simple, healthier ways to cook some of her favorite meals, she seemed completely shocked. It was so strange because, to me, it's common knowledge, but the more I talk to people the more I realize that people really have no clue about the food that they're putting into their bodies and that there are things they can do to regain control of their health - and that's scary.
If you'd like to read more on this subject / books, you can check out these articles:
- How Sweet It Is by David Kamp (New York Times)
- Dr. David Kessler, author of The End of Overeating, On Why We Can't Stop Eating by Louise McCready (Huffington Post)
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