SHOULD YOU COUNT CALORIES?

If there are so many unknowns and inaccuracies in measuring energy (calorie) intake, is there any point in doing it?

And if so, how should it be done?

One challenge is defining what, exactly, "calorie counting" means.

• Does it mean being aware of your energy intake using some method of awareness?

• Or does it mean precisely weighing and measuring exactly what you consume?

The answer is: It depends.

Whether I ask my clients to become aware of their general energy intake or measure more precisely depends on many factors, including:

• Goals: What they want to do.

• Knowledge: What they know.

• Competence and skill: What they can do.

• Consistency: What they can do, repeatedly and well.

For some clients, the point of tracking is to become more aware of their energy balance (calories in / calories out), so that they might change it (for instance, eat more to gain muscle mass or eat less to lose fat).

Other clients may want to monitor energy intake to discover:

• the relationship between energy intake and recovery or athletic performance;

• how their energy intake calibrates with physical hunger (or other factors such as stress and sleep);

• how much of a certain macronutrient (i.e., protein) they are eating;

• and many other reasons.

Some clients may need more precise and targeted nutrient levels to maximize performance or reach more advanced levels of leanness and muscularity.

Tracking your intake allows you to more accurately assess how consistently you’re eating. Research shows that people often underreport intake, sometimes by up to 1000 calories per day!! And that tracking intake even without other dietary intervention can lead to clinically relevant weight loss.

Tracking can help you align your actual intake with your estimated needs, and gather more accurate data on whether your nutrition plan is moving you towards your goals or if adjustments are necessary.

Most clients can (and should) track their intake, especially when working on the skill of matching energy intake (calories) to needs and goals. In my experience, hand-portion tracking (details below) works best for most clients and for folks who travel a lot. Number-oriented clients who find tracking macros empowering are welcome to track macros.

Regardless, most people will do best long term to get a sense of energy / macronutrient / hand-portion needs, but focus more on the skill of regulating eating behaviors than on following diligent tracking protocols.

So, we try not to confuse the why (i.e., what the ultimate purpose is) with the how (i.e. the tool, technique, or tactic used to fulfill the purpose).

If the purpose is knowledge, observation, and change, then yes...

Some type of awareness and measurement process is important.

Data on people who successfully achieve and maintain healthy bodyweights and body compositions (as well as other goals, such as athletic recovery), show:

• Self-monitoring is a powerful tool that leads to clinically relevant weight loss (i.e., enough weight loss to improve health and wellbeing).

• People who self-monitor lose up to 5% bodyweight even without dietary counseling.

• 75% of successful weight losers still monitor their body stats and food intake in some way.

Tracking and being aware of energy intake, as well as correctly calibrating it, is an important skill for most clients. Some people also may have to be more deliberate and structured in their approach, especially if they’re looking for major changes to body composition.

But... there are many options for doing this.

It all depends on clients' interest, skill level, and willingness.

The data suggest: It doesn't matter how detailed the self-monitoring and tracking is, as long as people do something consistently.

SAMPLE TASKS & ACTIONS

Choose a method of adjusting energy balance (calories in / calories out) that works for YOU.

Important: Exactly how you choose to adjust energy balance is less important than the results. Track your progress to see if you’re getting the results you seek.

Let's look at a possible continuum of calorie counting (i.e., awareness of energy intake) ranging from least to most precise, detailed, and skill-testing.

Low effort / skill

• Take a photo of what you eat, or

• Write down general amounts, i.e., "small blue bowl of oatmeal", "2 pancakes".

Moderate effort / skill

• Use a hunger and fullness journal to indicate how hungry you were at the start of the meal, and how hungry you were after.

• Use hand-sized portions, such as palms of protein, fists of vegetables, thumbs of fat, cupped handfuls of carbohydrates.

• Use a tool such as a portion-controlling plate.

High effort / skill

• Use measuring cups and spoons for some things, and / or standardized amounts (i.e., a 12-ounce can of soda)

• Weigh everything using a food scale or measure with measuring cups / spoons, and track all items precisely using calorie-counting software.

In our Moxie Custom Nutrition Plan, we provide a "Quick Start Guide" that calculates a clients' hand-sized portions from their weight, goals, and activity level at intake. We've done the math on the back end so that clients who want it can get a starter portion guide that simplifies their tracking, without having to worry too much about details. The hand-sized approach will dramatically simplify the eating and tracking process, and it's nearly as acurate as the calorie and macro approaches.

Some folks even like to start with the calories and macros, and then swith to hand portions as they feel more comfortable.

Importantly, although we suggest simple methods for measuring food portions along with tracking energy (calorie) intake (and potentially macros), it doesn’t mean “anything goes” or that measuring isn’t useful. Rather, it means that we’ve found that a streamlined, lower-effort process works tremendously well and offers enough precision while helping make it easier for clients to stay consistent (and not get lost in the numbers).

For clients with disordered eating, specific tracking is less helpful.

For instance, evidence suggests that over-use of calorie and macronutrient tracking software is strongly linked to symptoms of disordered eating, such as:

• rigid expectations and "shoulds";

• all-or-nothing thinking;

• binge eating; or

• ongoing anxiety and preoccupation with food and eating.

Now, ask yourself:

• What method do you need?

• What method do you want?

• What method can you reasonably do, consistently?

• What method would help you feel most successful... and sane?

What's the "best method:? There isn't one.

At least not one for every single person all the time.

Explore how you might improve your awareness, monitoring, and accuracy of your energy intake... and look for the most appropriate and successful method for YOU.