There’s a lot of buzz these days about calories.  Counting and cutting calories is one of the most common methods people use to try and lose weight.  But does it really work?  In my experience, and in America’s experience, it ultimately ends in failure.

So why doesn’t counting calories work?  The calorie counting/cutting approach works in the short term because you deplete the body of resources (including good resources).  People count their calories, keep them under some arbitrarily low number, and lose more weight than they should over the course of 2-6 weeks.  Ultimately weight loss stalls, their eating goes back to normal because they run out of will power and momentum, and gain all the weight back, along with a few new pounds.  In the long run this approach actually damages the body:

~You down-regulate your metabolism because your body thinks there’s a famine and you need to conserve calories/resources.

~Usually the cutting of calories is too severe, and results in a loss of muscle tissue.  This loss of muscle tissue also causes a decrease in metabolism, which makes it harder to lose fat and easier to store it.

~The thyroid slows down to conserve calories, which can cause major medical problems with the thyroid in the coming years.  It also is part of the reason some people are cold, while other people are normal.

~It stresses the body.  Whenever the body is stressed, it secretes cortisol.  When cortisol is overused (which is in most people today) it ultimately results in more fat loss (specifically around the belly-button).  It can also deplete the body of nutrients needed by the body to create other hormones like DHEA, testosterone, progesterone, and more.

~It depletes the body of essential nutrients.  Nutrients like Zinc are depleted very rapidly when calories are restricted.  This depletion of vitamins and minerals will ultimately throw off many of the body’s regulation systems, including the ability to properly regulate hunger and satiety.  It also kills mood (i.e. causes depression) and also kills sex drive and fertility (too low in healthy fats).  This is also the mechanism by which anorexics get trapped in their anorexia (unable to perceive either their bodies or their hunger properly).

So what’s the solution?  I propose that instead of limiting WHAT you eat, we teach you HOW to eat!  This looks like learning what a good breakfast is, what are healthy snacks, which foods to emphasize, and when to eat as well.

What I do with my clients is teach them HOW to eat, not tell them how much they shouldn’t eat.  Our country has tried the eat less mentality for decades, and we are deeper in the hole than ever.  What I’ve found with my clients is that when I teach them HOW to eat, they:

~Feel satisfied with what they eat, not deprived

~Their appetite will actually self-regulate the way it’s supposed to

~Get much more nutrients

~Actually lose weight, sometimes by eating MORE!

~Have more energy throughout the day

~Ultimately look and feel better overall

America doesn’t have an eating more problem, it has an eating wrong problem.

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