The popular advice “eat less, move more” is severely flawed. In fact, in today’s blog, you’ll finally understand why that message may be partly responsible for your own weight loss resistance. Let’s be real, if weight loss were as simple as calories in versus calories out, don’t you think we’d all have shedding pounds solved by now?
Here’s the thing:
How you eat is just part of a long series of factors that make up your overall health — including whether or not your waist size is dropping.
Weight loss is way more complicated than just calories. It’s about a lot of things, including:
- Nutrients
- Body composition
- DNA
- The type of exercise you perform
- How much you exercise
- Hormones
- Quality of your food
In addition to all the above, did you know that the concept of a calorie is severely flawed?
So, on the back of all your food packages are a bunch of numbers. And the ONE all us girls jump to first has got to be the calorie count, right? I mean, we’ve been ingrained to pay attention to them since we were teenagers!
“I’m not going to eat it if it’s over X amount of calories! Oh heck to the no!”
Well, have you ever wondered where that concept was even created? When calories came into existence?
Calorie is a term or a notion that was discovered in the 1800s, and it hasn’t changed since. Isn’t that fact alone shocking to you? The 1800s!
Back in the day, the calorie content of food was measured by burning it to ash. Since our metabolism is essentially the burning of fuel in food, this became the commonly accepted measure of how we evaluate food, or the energy that’s required to burn the food.
Stated another way, it’s less about how many calories are in a given piece of food, and more about how much energy it takes or requires to burn that food to ash.
Okay, now if you’re following along you’ve probably already thought to yourself, “What? This doesn’t even make sense!”
Exactly.
Almost every packaged food today features calorie counts on its label. Most of these counts are inaccurate because they’re based on a system of averages that ignore the complexity of our individuality; the uniqueness each one of us has in terms of our digestion and metabolism.
When I realized that this concept was developed in the 1800s and that it doesn’t take into consideration or factor in our individual ability or energy required to burn food, I was struck with relief.
But hold up, before we dismiss calories entirely, I need to explain when/why/how calories DO make sense. You’ll find that all on my podcast, The Chalene Show, below, titled: Calorie Myths: Eating Less and Moving More
You’ll also learn…
- What is really happening to your body when you’re cutting calories and exercising more
- Why losing weight is less about the calories and more about the energy differential
- My personal story with over-exercising
- What happens to your mind and body when you exercise too much and don’t get enough rest
- How much exercise is too much exercise
- The difference between exercising and training
It’s a can’t miss episode! I want you to eat right for YOU and not feel any ridiculous societal pressure filled with untruths and contradictions!
Make sure you’re subbed to The Chalene Show so you never miss an episode!
And if you’re looking for a workout that is specifically perfect for YOU, then I’m going to recommend THIS BLOG by my friends over at 131 Method! Remember, it’s not about moving MORE, but, rather, moving RIGHT.
