Calories…and Why I Don’t Count Them
Today I want to address a question that I get asked on almost a weekly basis: “Do you count calories? Why don’t you post nutritional information for your recipes?”
Before we get to that, though, I want to let you know about some other fun happenings.
- A few weeks ago on the Daily Bites Facebook page, I asked if people would be interested in seeing the foods I eat on a daily basis to help give an overall picture of what healthy eating might look like in general. The response was a resounding YES! So this week I will be sharing photos of many of my meals and snacks on the Facebook page all week long. They won’t be pretty—just quick point-and-shoot pictures. But if you want to get a glimpse of my plate day in and day out, here’s your chance! Head on over and “Like” the page for all of the updates.
- Speaking of Facebook, the Daily Bites page recently rolled over to 2,000 likes. Thank you, thank you! To celebrate this special milestone, I’ve got a fun giveaway coming up soon. Stay tuned.
- And one last thing: Maggie from She Let Them Eat Cake is giving away a copy of my book! Head over here for your chance to enter.
Okay, now let’s talk calories.
Like I said, I get asked very regularly why I don’t provide nutrition analysis for the recipes here at Daily Bites or for those in my book. The answer comes from a very deep personal place for me that I want to share with you. I think it will help you see where I’m coming from.
A few years ago when I first cut out gluten and dairy from my diet, I experienced some serious weight loss issues leading up that point. Doctors “unofficially” diagnosed me with anorexia and even suggested counseling. But I knew that my issue wasn’t only a psychological one. As much as I wanted to eat, I just couldn’t at the time because I was so sick. Food tasted horrible and only made my digestive system and stomach cramp with pain.
Eating gluten- and dairy-free helped immensely to repair all the damage that had been done. Slowly—so, so slowly—I started to gain weight and feel better over the next months and years. But it was a long and winding road back to optimal wellness for me.
During my “weight gain years” as I call them, I was facing quite a few emotional battles as well. I won’t get into the details, but I’ll just tell you that I was going through a period of grief of sorts, for things far different than the death of a loved one. For a stretch of time, every day felt like a struggle. Thin as I was, I hated the way I looked and felt like it was an inaccurate representation of the fun and quietly confident person I knew that I was inside.
To help me gain weight, I made sure to track what I ate and count my calories to ensure that I was eating enough to put on a few pounds every few months. (Yes, it was that slow for me.) Everything I read told me that in order to achieve my health goals, I needed to keep a detailed food journal and count my calories. So I did. And I hated every minute of it.
I know hate is a strong word. But let me tell you that I mean every word of this: I hate putting a number on my food. Food is nourishment. It’s fuel. It’s a life source. And it absolutely drives me crazy when I have to slap a number on my smoothie or salad or muffin. For me, counting calories takes away from the enjoyment of food and skews mealtime into something that’s a source of anxiety and displeasure.
After a few months of counting calories for weight gain purposes, I threw my hands up and stopped. I wasn’t enjoying food the way it’s meant to be savored and loved. Every meal and every snack became a source of dread. I couldn’t wait until bedtime so that I could at least have a stretch of 8-10 hours where I didn’t have to think about food.
So, long story long, that’s why I don’t count calories. The whole process of pinning a number on food and tracking each morsel just gets me down. The minute I start doing it, I’m transported back to that dark time in my life when every day’s battle was just to get through it.
For the people out there who count calories in the name of weight loss or fitness, I guess all I can say is to each her own. It doesn’t work for me and I don’t think it ever will. And quite honestly, the healthiest people I know have never counted calories a day in their lives and have no problem maintaining an ideal weight. That’s saying something.
In our world of extreme body image idolatry and the desire to look a certain way, I think the worst thing we can do for our health (and the health of our children, the future generation) is to continue obsessing over the numbers behind our food. As I get older, I’m learning more every day that life is all about balance.
To keep things in perspective, I ask myself: when I’m old and gray, am I going to look back on my life and wish I would have been more diligent in my calorie counting and food journaling? Am I going to beat myself up for not being 10 pounds lighter in my 40′s and beyond? Will my dying regret be that I should have worked out just a little bit more for those tighter glutes and more shapely arms?
I think not. As important as food is to our lifelong health and well-being, our lives should not revolve around it. The food choices we make, crucial as they are, do not ultimately determine how long we live or how successful we become during our years on this earth. It’s too easy to lose sight of that when we’re investing precious time and energy into numbering what we eat.
The cold truth is, our bodies will age. They will sag in strange places. They will lose their strength. They will fail us. We will die. And in those final days, speaking for myself, I don’t think I’ll care one fragment of a bit about the calories I ate in my twenties.
I don’t want to live a numbered life. I want to live a nourished one.
-
What are your thoughts on calories and how they factor into balanced living? Do you count them? Why or why not?
I agree–calorie counting is pure torture and it does diminish the joy of eating. I do think it can be useful (like for a week or two) to help a person truly understand portion size and how much they’re eating, especially if they eat in restaurants a lot. Counting calories or measuring portions is very enlightening. That said, I believe when a person eats a whole foods, healthy diet, they’ll naturally just eat what they need to be healthy. Knowing the quality and ingredients of what you’re putting in your body is more important than the number.
Thank you so much for sharing part of your story! My memories of counting calories are equated with “hungry all the time”. Yuck! Living a nourished life shouldn’t leave you hungry.
Thank you! I truly believe that if you get your energy from healthy sources, the calories will take care of themselves. It’s hard to eat too many calories, or become unhealthy on what you eat, if your food is coming from a lot of plants and moderate amounts of wholesome grain, meat, and/or dairy sources. I’ve never counted calories regularly so I can’t compare, but I actually lost some extra weight when I shifted my way of thinking and started reading ingredients instead of “nutrition” labels. In fact, I lost weight even as I switched from skim to whole milk, realizing that calories from milk are good calories. (I know you’re a dairy-free blog, but that’s my story!)
I have gone back and forth regarding calorie counting. I personally thing it can make you crazy, and I agree with you, it can remove the enjoyment from food. On the other hand, though, for people that have lost touch with listening to their bodies and understanding hunger cues, they can be a good tool. Ultimately, though, I agree – no one was on their death bed wishing they spent more time worrying about their weight and calories!
Poignant thoughts. I recently tried calorie counting – more to make sure I was eating enough as I’m quite sure I threw my body into starvation mode last year. What I found was that I kind of geeked out on it and enjoyed it on the one hand. On the other hand, I then felt compelled to eat more just to make up calorie deficits even if I wasn’t hungry. Bah.
Now I’m trying to focus on eating all whole, good for me foods, and listening to what I’m hungry for and trying to balance. And, trying to let go of my concerns about the flabby stomach and just let my body heal on its own schedule. Hard to do. But, necessary for sanity.
What a great and inspiring post. Thank you for this! I think you hit the nail on the head. Healthy living is also, I might add, so much more than food. It’s joy, it’s peace, it’s experiencing sadness when it should be experienced, it’s playing frisbee in the park and eating snow cones on 4th of July. It’s just life, I guess. :)
I think calorie counting is a valid and important resource for many people. I did it for years, and for most of that time, it didn’t drive me crazy. You see, I geniunely like numbers and calculations so it was second nature!
I am not currently counting calories, but sometimes I think I should be. I’d like to lose a few pounds and despite focusing on wholesome, clean foods and trying to listen to my body, I’m just not getting there.
We are all made up a little differently. Since I have a history with obesity and I’m genetically prone to be heavier and gain weight very easily, I know I have to be a little more careful than the average healthy person and that’s where calorie counting can help.
Wow – this post really spoke to me! I haven’t counted calories since my 20′s and my obsessive dieting stage. I’m 47, still battling my weight (emotional eater on a hormonal roller coaster). It seems all of my adult life I’ve tried one diet or another and I’ve learned that I don’t like counting cals, grams of fat or points. I don’t like that kind of structure. So I totally understand your feelings and again I appreciate this post.
Great post Hallie! I couldn’t agree more and I have become much more mindful of what goes into my mouth since stopping counting calories. Instead of shooting for low #’s, I actually choose foods that are good for me. With the occasional healthy treat thrown in of course! And the best part? No guilt after a treat because I don’t keep track of it…just enjoy it and move on. Thank you for sharing your story!!
I feel the same about calorie counting. I did it for over a year and it started to get upsetting and stressful. However, my aunt got diabetes after surviving pancreatic cancer and she needs to count sugar grams carefully to know how much insulin to take. Inspired by her journey I provided nutrition information in my cookbook- but I never look at it myself! (I can’t image finding the time to calculate nutrition information for each blog entry.)
Thank you so much for sharing your story. This is a beautiful and honest post. I also don’t count calories. After my first Ulcerative Colitis flare, I also had to gain weight, and I had to count calories til the cows came home. Uugh…talk about a head ache! now, i just listen to my body — eat when I’m hungry, stop when I’m full. no food is “off-limits” or “good” or “bad” — well….except for gluten haha…that’s REALLY bad:) thanks again for sharing!
Thanks for the reminder of what’s really important in life.
Love you lots.
Me
Great post, Hallie. I, too, hate counting calories–but for the opposite reason: I counted calories far too many times when trying to lose weight, and while it works in the short term, I believe the real solution is eating healthy, whole foods, and learning to know what your body does or doesn’t need.
Great post. For most of my life, I could not gain weight. Now after being gluten free for two years, I am slowly gaining. I have thought about counting calories, but have decided to focus instead on trying to eat healthy. When most of your diet is fruit and vegetables and they are not dripping in fat, it is much easier to keep the calories down. So, by focusing on what I eat, I am not having to count it out!
I’ve done both. When I started my weight loss journey 2 1/2 years ago I didn’t calorie count. I did choose to journal what I did eat to stay accountable. About a year ago I started calorie counting because everyone kept telling me that’s what I should…I had hit a major plateau. It made sense at the time. Now, I’ve hit another plateau and am wondering if calorie counting was as effective as just watching my portions and types of food I was eating.
I have never counted calories…sounds like work to me! Along, the same line, I haven’t had a scale to weight myself in decades. My 3 daughters made a comment once, about how they were glad we didn’t have a scale as they have so many friends obsessed with their weight. My daughters, like myself, had to go by how we felt and how foods affected us. I consider us all to be a healthy weight and it’s means listening to your body.
Beautiful post!
Thank you for being so candid. I found myself in your story. I too went through extreme weight loss along with being so sick – I thought I was losing my mind! Cutting out gluten and dairy has allowed my body to gain some weight very slowly as well. I listen to my body and eat for nourishment and health. (I actually eat a TON of healthy food!) I teach my clients portion control for weight loss, not counting calories. I feel that most people need to be taught the purpose of food and how to gain a healthy relationship with that food – that is my quest!
I understood your comment about how life should not revolve around food – it was coming from the perspective of calorie counting. But when you have three of your five children, and yourself, that are dealing with celiac, leaky guts, as well as allergies to dairy, soy, egg, yeast, and some nuts – life does revolve around food. How to keep food in rotation for healing purposes, what to make that will give the most nutrition and that they will all eat. How to go places with a family that can’t eat anywhere else. And how to fit all this in with a busy life of homeschooling and farming. Sigh. Our lives revolve around food. I would give anything for it to not be so. It makes me more thankful for you Hallie – making great foods and then sharing your secrets with us. Thanks. You are an encouragment along the way.
Stephanie
Hallie, I just recently found your blog yesterday, and I love it. I have a similar story like yours, in a way. I, too, lost a lot of weight (and am very small) when I was 15, like around 15 pounds, and it was for no reason at all. It’s been three years later, but I can’t gain weight. I often have horrible stomach pains to the point where I can hardly eat, and when I try to count calories it just doesn’t work. I tried to force myself to eat 2k calories each day for the past week or so, and I gained a pound or two but then lost it. It’s such a struggle, but I’m thinking on going on an elimination diet to figure out if I have a food intolerance like you did.
Kai: Thanks for sharing your story. I’m glad you found me. :) It definitely sounds like you could have food intolerances! I would certainly give an elimination diet a try and see if you can pinpoint something. All the best to you!! :)
I loved this post. I follow your blog for three reasons.
One, the recipes are great.
Two, I have to follow a FODMAP diet due to a massive range of food intolerances and I am wheat intolerant so the recipes work for me.
Three, you DON’T have a nutritional panel on the recipes!
I have spent almost 20 years struggling with food, from binge eating to starving and back again and finally at a good place where I am pretty much completely intuitive with food. I find it triggering and irritating to see the nutritional details of foods. The reality is, it you make a chocolate cake with butter, we all pretty much know what’s in it, the numbers just take all the joy out of it.
So. Thank you. And keep it up.
:)
Your post is exactly how I’ve felt and needed to hear. THANKYOU! I’ve been calorie counting for a week to try and gain weight, and all its done is made me feel guilty every time I put food in my mouth (e.g. oh this has high carbs, high sugar etc etc) – im stopping from now. thanks :)