Why are people still counting calories when it doesn’t work

[Ifyoubelieveyouwill]

Just that really. I don’t understand why people are still counting calories when the science shows it doesn’t work and makes you gain more weight in the long term. As a 20 year yo-yo dieter I’m proof calorie counting leads to obesity over time.

Now the scientific evidence is conclusive that it’s the nutritional quality of food that matters for weight loss. Not the calories in/ calories out equation. I wonder why diets like WW and Noom are still so popular.

Have people just missed the memo? Not being goady, I’m just wondering whether people feel the short term weight loss is worth it.

I should say I know calorie counting doesn’t lead to weight gain for all, but I truly feel that yo-yo dieting has just had the effect of increasing my weight each time I stop the unsustainable diets, I end up heavier and it’s even more difficult to lose weight because my metabolism slows down.

The people I know who are slim age 40 have never dieted but just eat healthy.

You are over simplifying

Too many calories of any type and you will gain weight

Different food types make it easier or harder to reduce calories

Too few can mess up your metabolism

Feast fast feast fast cycles are not healthy

Well if you believe weight watchers and nooms advertising fodder, you will know that they don't rely on calorie counting.

It's dieting that doesn't work, not counting calories per se

Yes agree, but it’s much easier to eat a whole pizza, then snack later than it is to eat 2 steaks.

Nutritious food is filling and it’s more difficult to overeat.

Low fat food is not filling and difficult to sustain long term.

I did WW a while ago so agree I might be out of date, but then we had to count points. Which is basically calories.

What a load of rubbish. Just because you failed at calorie counting for whatever reason, doesn't mean it doesn't work. I lost 4 stone and have kept it off with counting macros. Not using mfp stupid calculations but a proper calorie allowance that allowed flexible dieting.

It might not work for you but it does work for lots of people.
Not everyone is a yo yo dieter, there are people who realise they consume too much, cut back and stay that way.

@Iggi999 I agree it’s diets which are predominantly about restricting calories if you look at many of the posts on here.

You don't have to eat low fat food either.
I'm not overweight, I will eat cake, I drink wine. I just don't have 3 slices or half a bottle on a regular basis.

I have been between 8-9 stone my whole adult life. I maintain this by calorie counting, exercising and weighing myself regularly. This might not work for other people but it works for me.

Calorie counting is one tool which is still useful if you are trying to lose weight. If you eat a meal which is 1000 calories you are less likely to lose weight than you eat a meal which is 500 calories (yes, of course you need to consider the actual composition of the meal; if the 500 calories meal was purely chocolate that's probably not such a good plan).

I don't think most people say "oh I can eat 1500 calories a day" and then scrupulously count them without any thought for the composition of what they are eating. More, that if you are trying to lose weight you understand that "around" 1500 calories a day is a useful benchmark for what you can personally eat and still lose weight, but you are still considering exactly what you're eating.

Same way as you can decide to follow a high fat low carb diet, but if you gorge constantly on high fat items you're still not going to lose any weight. Same way as if you're following intermittent fasting and take the view you can eat as much and exactly what you want during the non fasting periods you won't lose weight either.

Calorie counting works to lose weight
Keeping weight off is about mental health and attitude, nothing to do with calorie counting

You are confusing and oversimplifying couple things

• calorie counting in itself didn’t make you gain weight, the diet yo-yo mentality did.
• It’s possible that over restrictive eating messed with your metabolism, but that’s due to over-restriction of calories, not counting calories themselves, and it could happen in any kind of diet

• calories do matter. If you eat more food than you need, you will gain weight, regardless of its quality
• quality of food matters too of course, but programmes like WW have adjusted to take that into account

For the vast, vast majority of human beings, eating less than they burn off will make them lose weight. Counting calories is a means to making sure this is done safely.

There's no one size fits all when it comes to dieting. What has been successful for you may not suit someone else.

But it does work for a lot of people. There's no one method that works for everyone. We're all different. Just focus on what works for you.

@Macromum and @OneofPansPeople I’m in awe if you can sustain that long term and wonder what your secret is! I know it’s not due to a lack of willpower for me, just eating the wrong foods.

The science shows that people who diet by counting calories end up putting on more weight long term.

Interested to hear from lots of you who experience otherwise, as I’ve been baffled as to why people are still counting calories knowing what we do now about nutritional science.

I don’t think I know anyone who diets who has kept the weight off long term.

A whole pizza then a snack later, rather than 2 steaks?
Your whole post illustrates its overeating that's a problem.
Who has 2 steaks unless they're playing for The Springboks?

If calories = weight gain, then chronic alcoholics would be morbidly obese. But they tend not to be.

So not all calories are equal. That’s an oversimplification

Because we are all different. I couldn't get on with Slimming World - it gave me too many bad eating habits with carbohydrates. Calorie counting worked really well for me and gave me focus. I used to aim for 1000 a day in food for fast weight loss, but saw a dietician who would give me a rough plan for each day, to make sure I had a healthy balance. Each to their own 🤷‍♀️

The short answer is because it does work, for some people, some of the time.

The long answer is that I don't know that the "science" is that equivocal about it not "working" - that's a very simplistic take when (a) there's no scientific consensus about the causes/effects of weight loss and gain or indeed about the impact of various degrees of being overweight vs underweight and where to draw the line and (b) what is certain is that everyone is different both biologically and in lifestyle and preferences. It's basically impossible to do really long-term, double-blind, controlled for other factors, evidentially valid studies on nutrition so it's really really hard to achieve the single 'truth' about the most healthy diet, hence why public health advice has swung around so much over the years, fat good, fat bad, fat good etc. It's not just governmental incompetence or influence from the 'food industry' although I'm sure those are factors too.

For many people, if they truly stick to it they will lose weight by reducing calories, and they will be able to maintain weight if they don't then increase calories back up once the 'diet' is over. It may be an inefficient, nutritionally non optimal and/or not enjoyable way of eating, and for some people it may not work at all but for these types of diet are easy to understand (whether it's based on points or simple counting or whatever) and don't require you to cut out food groups etc so can fit into existing lifestyles and eating habits hence their long term popularity. One very important factor in the much-maligned-by-MN WW/SW weight-loss 'clubs' is the element of psychological and social support and accountability, whether it's physically going to a 'group' to be weighed in or online coaching via Noom, this is something that can really help people.

I know dietary advice is ripe 'meme' territory and it's very tempting to believe the latest whatever is the absolute truth and be evangelical about what works for you but in reality I think we're a way off true understanding/ 'silver bullet' of weight loss. I know low-carb is flavour of the month right now and I do see some of the rationale behind it especially the more moderate/ Mediterranean style diets that continue to allow/recommend moderate consumption of whole-grain carbs but it's not in my mind the one and only answer, it doesn't work for everyone nor is it 'perfect' - some low-carb diets for instance encourage really high saturated fat consumption, and I've yet to see the low-carb diet that allows for the recommended daily fibre intake and research (not specially for weight loss) is increasingly showing the importance of dietary fibre for bowel health. Plus it's really hard to low-carb properly (not even keto, just low-ish carb) on a plant-based diet and yet for environmental/planetary reasons that is definitely the direction we should all be heading, that much is clearer in the 'science' than low-carb is, for sure.

Basically I am recommending nuance, empathy and caution when discussing or 'advising' others on dietary matter. The wisest (wo)man is the one who knows (s)he isn't wise, to paraphrase Socrates!

@OneofPansPeople I couldn’t eat 2 steaks, but I could eat a whole pizza. That’s my point

OP aren't you conflating the science of calorie counting diets with people's ability to follow calorie counting diets properly

As you say, it's far harder to eat 1200 calories of steak vs 1200 calories of a pizza. That doesn't mean calorie counting doesn't work, it means they are for some people more difficult to follow.

Chronic alcoholics can often spend a lot of time with diarrhoea or vomitting.