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EventsWhy You Should Forget About Calories
April 4 2013 by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, MD
in Calorie counting
in Calorie counting As if calorie counting wasn’t silly enough to start with, it’s actually impossible. Why? Because the number of calories printed on a food item or a menu is bogus, as you’ll see in this 5-minute video. The number of calories printed is basically a number low enough that the manufacturer think they can get away with it.
Forget about the calories. Just eat real food.
If you need to lose weight: avoid sugar and starches. If that’s not enough here are a few more tips.
Does mastication interfere with calories? I mean: if I masticate more I can use more calories of a food item.
And cooking? Raw food are less absorbed than cooked foods?
Adolfo
The vegan sandwich is WAY off though, there's no excusing that one. Unless it is actually mostly wood chips, which wouldn't surprise me.
Also, this is arguing from a "calories matter" viewpoint. Personally, I believe hormones matter, like insulin :P
I never eat fast food or prepackaged food. This movie made me realize it is so wide-spread.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atwater_system
Losing weight is possible without counting calories. I haven't counted 1 calorie in 2 1/2 months. I just eat mostly meat, veggies and fat. I have a small bit of dark chocolate or some berries and I just keep losing weight (25lbs total now). Haven't even implemented a workout plan I just take 15 minute walks with a coworker to get out of the office. I would pull back on the nuts and you should see improvement. If you're looking for some good snacks I have a few to recomend that I like to indulge in;
1)Beef Jerky
2)Celery with cream cheese and sooometimes I put grapes on top
3)Sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzerella drizzled with olive oil and balsalmic vinaigrette and dusted with salt and pepper... dried or fresh basil is good with it too ofcourse.
4) Fried Queso Fresco dipped in marinara
5)Carrots with ranch
6)Bell Peppers dipped in Guacamole ORRRR Baba Ganoush... If you dont know what that is don't be intimidated it's very easy to make just google a recipe for it.
7)Deviled eggs
I hope these help, I know I personally HATED counting calories soooooooo tedious.
Good Luck
I personally don't think finite calorie counts are the issue in weight loss and more particularly great health. I do think keeping the demon that is elevated insulin in check goes a long way toward managing satiety which makes eating the appropriate amounts more likely rather then like a runaway train where you need and outside restriction mechanism - like calories to try and assess volume. Once your insulin is in check coupled with no grains or sugar the rest falls into place.
Finding the balance of food that is appropriate for your body to lose weight is not easy; you have to do a lot of 'tweaking'. I also find that you have to still employ the willpower that was needed on any low fat or calorie restricted diet (you're just less hungry), because we live in a toxic society (thanks Dr Lustig) and sometimes 'resistance is futile'. However, I now tell myself that a commitment of 1 year will enable me to lose my excess weight and once at the desired number on my poor abused scale (guilty of name calling) I can loosen my commitment and on occasion enjoy the foods I love (don’t panic, I only mean nuts, cheese, some fruit, wine, tubers and dark chocolate).
1 year is not a long time in the greater scheme of things (I think the tone of my post reveals that I still have some doubts).
That's the danger of trying to regulate everything, it never stops. I don't understand how a person can be for the "Soda Ban" and not see how similar it is to other very stupid ideas that follow the exact same principle.
Otherwise what is the point? Are these labels becoming yet another marketing tool to mislead the public?
I join the commenter above who see this as yet another reason to avoid any food that even needs a label... I go a step further and advise (anyone who asks me) that whenever I see a food that makes "health claims" this is to be treated like a red-flag and avoided it at all costs :-)
...best get an assault weapon and hunker down in my fallout shelter... yup!
Everyone will argue that would kill the economy big time, because we are SO dependent on them. But are we? The buying stays, it only goes elsewhere, e.g. direct to farmers if they produce ethically. That way a lot of people profit, not just a few.
You think big brother is going to look after you and make the right decisions for you? HA HA HA!
I have never in my life had a business entity put a gun to my head and force me to buy a product. Not so with government.
As bad and as evil as corporations and the free market have been, they are nowhere near the maliciousness of governments, which are responsible for the deaths of 169,202,000 murdered in the 20th century and over 133,147,000 murdered before the 20th century, not including wars that were initiated by - you guessed it - the government.
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM
If you really think that democracy is no longer worth working at, then maybe it really is time for another revolution; instead of whining on the internet.
http://freetheanimal.com/2012/10/anarchy-begins-at-home-the-blog-seri...
I see a day when you'll thank me.
Soon Wally World will be selling Calorimeters so we can correctly input our food into cronometer or fitday! lol
I think relying on the info provided is about as worthy as the caloric burn on the machines at a gym. Notoriously off!
If I'm hungry I eat if not I don't.
Just eat real food over manufactured food!
Assuming you buy and eat the same food over the weeks, it could be useful to know if you are consuming 1200 bogus kcalories or 3600 of them.
It is easy to overeat nuts, parmesan is calories dense and so on.
Even a bogus count can make some people realise that they are still eating too much.
Its seems as it is easy to eat too little altso!
And did you know.. if one is a grown up, and eats about 1000 Kcal a day and gain weight.. then one have to take math classes or see a doctor!
Soo its an indicator of something.. one cant thrive on 1000 Kcal a day!
And did you know.. again.. calories do counts.. its a measurment of energy that one need.. but its this calorie dogma that dont take any consideration of how different calories have different biochemical and hormonial affect in our bodys thats totaly wrong!
There is no singel calorie receptor in our bodys.. soo one cant explain anything that happen in our body by pointing on calories.
One have to split it to different macronutrients and there specific receptors and the outcome of consuming them!
Parmesan cheese is supposed to be 390kcal for every 100g. If someone eats 700 grams of it during the day, this someone is feeding on 2730kcal.
Maybe it is not the right number and maybe he will not use all 2730kcal, but at least he will be able to see that he is eating way too much (assuming that he is not doing any physical activity).
Maybe this person is asking himself: why I don't lose weight? Now that he has a rough idea of how much he is eating, he will know that he should eat no more than 300g of parmesan.
I have no problems counting calories, or to evaluate there affect on our metabolism/apetite and overall well being!
There is one major concern about calories.. if one get too litle one feels bad.. we are animals that need energy to feel good and to thrive!
Soo.. if one feel bad, gains weigt and eat to little.. is the answer to ones problem to eat less.. noe I say its to eat real food, to nourish ones body!
http://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-perfect-health-2-nourish-your-body
In places where food is made on the spot, like Subway, Chipotle, and even McDonald's, it is almost impossible to account accurately for some spot-on calorie count.
The obvious answer to "Why don't we enforce the accuracy?" is this: we don't have the time or money. The less obvious answer is: because calorie counting is worthless to begin with.
People love to denigrate and vilify the food industry for not being completely accurate on these calorie counts. My question is this: who is forcing any of us to eat packaged foods and fast food?
Don't go buy something, whine and complain about it, then keep buying it, and try to blame the seller for all of your problems.