This is one of the most common questions our patients ask us. Calories have become the focus of many diet programs today but is it the smartest way to manage weight?  

In this article, I will discuss:

1. What are calories?
2. Ways calories are used as a means of losing weight (or gaining weight). 
3. Common misconceptions about calorie counting and weight management.  
4. Effective strategies to optimize your weight in a healthy way.

CALORIES AND WEIGHT LOSS STRATEGIES 

Calorie Counting/Caloric Restriction/Calorie Deficiency Diet

This type of diet has often been used as a weight management tool. In this strategy, no foods are off-limits, and the number of calories taken in is the only factor used to produce weight loss. A key point in this program is that NO foods are off-limits. I will discuss this further a bit later in this article.

Calorie Counters as a weight loss tool

What are calorie calculators and how do they work?  Calorie counters are available online with any simple search on the internet.  They utilize a person’s current weight, age, and height to estimate a daily caloric intake to gain, lose or maintain weight.

Is caloric restriction safe?

A March 1, 2022 article in NIH Research Matters, titled ‘Calorie Restriction, Immune Function and Health Span’ states that animal studies on calorie restriction can provide benefits such as improved metabolism, longer life spans and delayed onset of age-associated diseases. However, in the same article, it states that extreme calorie restriction, a 40% reduction in calories, is associated with impaired immune function. 

What about controlling calories?

Controlling calories may be just another way of implementing calorie restriction.  It may be an effective way to identify excess calories.  Many people are unaware of the impact of the food they eat daily, and the calories associated.  So, this may be a good awareness strategy as a person may find 1 or 2 foods that can be reduced or eliminated to optimize any weight management strategy.

How do calories burn? Calorie burning weight loss strategy 

What about losing weight by burning more calories? Would it make sense just to exercise more and burn extra calories as a strategy for weight loss?  Cardiovascular or ‘calorie-burning’ exercise has long been considered a way to modulate weight.  The idea is that cardiovascular exercise burns more calories during exercise than weight training and therefore would be the better option for weight loss.  

Do calories burn faster for some people? 

To really understand whether calorie burning is a good strategy, we need to understand basal metabolic rate (BMR) and how that impacts the number of calories we burn while at rest. Your BMR is determined based on your total lean mass (of which your lean muscle mass is the largest part). Although cardiovascular (high heart rate) exercise does burn more calories during exercise, weight training builds muscle, and increased muscle mass increases BMR. So, in effect, you will burn more calories during the course of the day by lifting weights (and increasing your BMR) than you will be able to burn doing cardiovascular exercise (and maintaining a static BMR).

I want to mention one additional note on exercise and burning extra calories. The more you exercise the more you will want to eat. This is not to say that exercise should not be a part of any weight modification strategy, whether it is to gain or to lose weight. I am also not saying you should only do weight training with no cardio training.  Both are very beneficial, but as a weight loss strategy by itself, the calorie burning strategy doesn’t quite do the trick for most people.

Do calories affect weight differently in women?

By nature, women do have a lower metabolic rate than men. This means that men burn more calories in general than women do. Women need not consume as many calories to maintain weight.  It is also true that genetically, women store fat differently than men. This accounts for the body shape of a women compared with a man.  Neither of these things mean that calories affect weight differently, women are just genetically different in the number of calories they burn (basal metabolic rate) and, in the case of excess calories, a woman will store her weight differently.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT CALORIE COUNTING AND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

Does calorie restriction work and is it safe?

A calorie limiting diet has been proven to work for some people, but a reversal of the benefit often follows once the individual reaches a goal and reverts to a non-calorie counting food plan.  Mild to moderate calorie restriction may be safe but may not be the best overall long-term strategy for weight loss.  As mentioned in the section on Basal Metabolic Rate, using calories as a marker doesn’t accurately measure the amount of energy the body will get from the food you eat.  Everyone’s body is different and uses calories differently.

350 Calories of Carrots or 350 Calories of Chocolate Cake? 

Which will lead to more weight-gain? They are both 350 calories and according to the “calorie theory” they are equal, and both will raise the temperature of water the same amount. But will the cake lead to more weight-gain than the carrots? Absolutely!

What Do Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Have To Do With Weight-Loss?

One reason the cake leads to more body fat is because your body does not respond to cake and carrots the same way. The average slice of chocolate cake is 350 calories, but it has a much greater impact on your blood sugar and insulin levels; this leads to weight-gain. How much a food affects your blood sugar is measured using its Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL). These values for a particular food are a much better predictor of their influence on weight-gain than the calorie.

You would have to eat at least 20 carrots to equal the blood sugar impact of 1 slice of chocolate cake!

Foods that raise blood sugar too much lead to elevated levels of insulin in your body. Insulin is a hormone produced by your pancreas and it tells your body to produce body fat! Insulin also prevents the action of a fat-burning hormone called glucagon and tells your liver to produce more cholesterol!

As you can see, calorie-counting is not the best way to lose weight and keep it off. Calories have very little to do with HOW your body responds to food. Different foods influence weight-loss and weight-gain in surprising ways. It requires a working knowledge of how the body works to create a sensible diet plan. If diet sodas, low-calorie and low-fat diets were the keys to weight-loss then obesity would not be an epidemic in this country.

HEALTHY WEIGHT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Here are just a few tips for healthy weight management:

1. Start by replacing foods you eat that have little nutritional value with other nutritionally dense food options.
2. Aim for foods that provide longer lasting energy.  This may mean you may need to give up some of your carbs for some healthy protein options.
3. Drink water.  Replace your sugary drinks with Ole’ faithful H20.
4. Plan your meals in advance.  Don’t wait for hunger to hit when you are at your weakest and will tend to go for less healthy foods.
5. Get exercise and build muscle.  Start slow if this is new for you and build slowly.  Make sure it is safe for you to do so by getting evaluated by a physician before embarking on any exercise program.
6. Consider working with a functional medicine doctor who will create a custom program for you. In order for you to get healthy and optimize your weight in the healthiest way.

At Naperville Integrated Wellness, we utilize a functional medicine approach to weight-loss and it puts very little emphasis on calories. While this may seem hard to believe, low-calorie diets are not the best way to lose weight and keep it off.  These diets cannot be maintained for long periods of time and those who follow them end up gaining weight back weeks or months later. 

I mentioned previously, no foods are off-limits in a calorie counting diet.  You can eat whatever you want if you don’t go over your allotment of calories for a given day.  After the comparison of carrots and chocolate cake, you now understand that not all calories are the same.  Additionally, counting calories can lead you to avoid nutritious foods because they are “high calorie”.  Also, consider that each person is different regarding the foods that are right for him/her.  This may or may not be a new concept for some of you. Recognizing this, you may now understand why there are so many food choice strategies out there.  Also why many of them may not work for you.  

Schedule A Calorie Weight Management Consultation Now

In our office we recognize that you are unique, and your body’s needs are unique. This is why we utilize functional testing, including food sensitivity/allergy testing, to create a custom food program for you.  Functional medicine is holistic medicine, and the goal of treatment is to remove obstacles of healing.  Functional medicine provides the necessary essentials to allow the body to function optimally. 

If you would like more information on healthy weight loss and functional medicine, please go or our website or contact our Naperville office.  If you are looking for a functional medicine doctor in Chicago,  Wheaton, Geneva,  St. Charles, Wheaton or Orland Park, please contact us today!

Do your own research, inform yourself and ask questions. Always consider the source when gathering information; there is no shortage of false, misleading and completely biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources.

Dr. Sharon Borkowski, ND, DC