To Count, or Not to Count; That Is the Question
Hopefully, you noticed the advice to abstain from counting
calories—many people welcome the suggestion. The age-old
practice of counting calories seems to be a veritable rite of
passage for those serious about weight loss. But we’re not here
to simply lose weight; we’re here to strip fat, and like many
other accepted norms, we’re casting aside the ritual of calorie
counting. Ignoring the establishment is not done lightly: the
idea behind counting calories actually violates the laws of
physics.
Keeping an accurate account of daily calories makes sense
only if the body gets the same amount of energy from 100
calories of carbohydrates as 100 calories of fat as 100 calories of
protein. But it doesn’t. Because food requires energy to
process, some of the ingested calories get wasted. Eating 100
calories of fat leaves your body with only 97 calories by the
time it’s finished processing; 100 calories of carbs leaves the
body with 93 calories to use; 100 calories of protein gives the
body only 70 calories. For perspective, two meals, one high in
carbs and the other high in protein, could both contain 340
calories according to labels. As far as the body is concerned,
the high-carb meal delivers 316 calories, but the high-protein
meal only makes 238 calories available.
Even if you want to go through the calculations, making all
the necessary adjustments for each nutrient, your arithmetic
won’t always add up. Not only do different nutrients provide
differing calories from those listed on labels, sometimes the
same nutrient can provide differing calorie counts. While in
many situations fat only supplies 9 calories per gram, there are
times when fat supplies up to 11 calories per gram. Just like a
car achieving 18 miles per gallon for in-town driving and 26
miles per gallon for interstate driving, the body runs more
efficiently at times and gets more distance out of food.
Unfortunately, there’s no practical way of knowing exactly
when your body is being more efficient.
The human body is just too adaptive, too efficient and too
unpredictable to count calorie usage accurately. It’s extremely
naïve to believe that counting numbers on the back of a cereal
box is enough to predict how one of the most complex
machines in the world is going to respond—although many
nutrition and health experts still insist. The total energy
intake—normally measured as calories—is important, but no
convenient and reliable way of measuring exists. Your best bet
is to follow the guidelines set forth in this book while making
certain to control hunger. It’s the best anyone can do.
