11/06/2023
CALORIES AREN'T WHAT YOU THINK THEY ARE - The mention of calories is frequently met with eye-rolls, exasperated sighs, and outright avoidance. I blame the 80s, otherwise known as the era of the ‘diet foods’ marketing assault. But when was the last time you refreshed yourself on what calories are?
Funny thing, more often than not people avoid the conversation of calories because it seems to be the one area in life where plausible deniability is widely accepted as a valid argument. If you don’t know how calories work, can you really be responsible for the effects they have on your body? YES. Unless you’re going to hire a nutritionist or personal trainer to do the thinking for you, you shouldn’t avoid talking about calories.
Think of your body as a car. A full tank will depend on your make and model, but for example let’s say your body takes 2000 units of energy to run (2000 kcals a.k.a. calories).
Your car requires these energy units not only to get you places, but also to function properly. Running on fumes leads to a breakdown and puts stress on the mechanics of your car. And unlike the modern day gas nozzle, our bodies don’t have an automatic safety stop when it reaches our optimal maximum capacity.
You wouldn’t reach a full tank of gas and think, “you know what - I’m pretty sure I can fill the trunk up too because I have the spare room”. First off, that would be insanity. Second, your car doesn’t have use for that extra gas, so it sits and doesn’t even go to the right places.
Point being, calories represent the energy something will produce for your body. Calories DO NOT represent how much nutrition is in something. Unlike gas where you pay more for premium, you can get both nutritious and junk food at high caloric values. Therefore calories aren’t meant to deter you, they are meant to inform you on what your body will be getting from what you consume.
I recommend everyone learns where their body optimally functions calorie wise. It can vary depending on a multitude of factors but the general guidelines are around 2000 calories per day for women, and 2500 calories per day for men. If you’ve been through cycles of diets, restrictions, binging, and/or have dietary sensitivities I recommend talking to a nutritionist and certified personal trainer in nutrition who can work with you to repair your metabolism to its most optimal functionality.
