Is Counting Calories An Exact Science?

Most people who count calories for weight loss or weight management assume it’s an exact science. It’s not. 

Make no mistake, the principles of energy balance work:

Take in more calories/energy than you expend, you gain weight.
Take in fewer calories/energy than you expend, you lose weight.

However, counting calories as a way to try to know, and control, your energy intake is fundamentally — sometimes hopelessly — flawed.

For starters, you can’t really trust that the calorie (and macronutrient) numbers you see on food packages are accurate. You see, the way they’re calculated — if they’re calculated at all — is surprisingly imprecise.

Plus, even if food package numbers were precise, once the food is cooked, or chopped, or blended, the amount of energy available for digestion and absorption changes.

Then there’s what happens once that food enters your body…

In the end, even something that seems as simple as knowing how many calories you’re taking in (and absorbing) can be influenced by dozens of unexpected factors.

That’s why, today, we share the 5 biggest (and surprising) problems with calorie counting as it relates to the “calories in” side of the energy balance equation.

Donald Grandy

Precision Nutrition Certification - Pn1

Sport and Exercise Coach

dongrandy@gmail.com

*This content is strictly for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any lifestyle program.