How Much Does Calorie Counting Really Matter When It Comes To Losing Weight?

By Jackie Wicks, PEERtrainer Co-Founder
Key Concepts: Diet Fusion, Nutrient Density and Group Support- combined with Calorie Counting help lead to sustainable weight loss.

1.Diet Fusion Summary

2. Nutrient Density Summary

3. Group Support Summary

When people first make the goal to lose weight, they usually start at the ground level:  their calorie consumption.  They follow the conventional wisdom that if you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. 

Many follow the well known and published guideline that for an average woman, if you consume 1800 calories a day, you will maintain your weight.  So with that guideline in mind, they think…hmmm, if I just decrease that input by 300 calories, meaning elminate an extra cookie and my lattte, I will lose weight.  And I’ll step up my workouts a bit and I am on my way. 

There is some truth to this.  You will have some success following this formula, but the problem is this:  all calories are not created equal.  A large apple that has 100 calories and a 100 calorie chocolate chip cookie snack pack are vastly different commodities when it comes to losing weight. 

The reality is, that just looking at the actual calories of something is incomplete, in the same way as only looking at the fat and the fiber of a food or a meal is incomplete picture. You have to look at the actual food. 

The Great Song Analogy

It’s similar to a great song.  You can’t just single out an instrument, or a verse and say, this is why this is a great song.  You have tempo, the person singing it, how it was produced, who is playing the instruments, that all work together in a very specific way that makes you say, this is a GREAT tune.   

To look at an apple and say, well it makes a great snack because it has 100 calories, and it’s high in fiber and low in fat is erroneous.   It makes a great snack because it’s loaded with high quality nutrients that all work together to make it a healthy food.  Remember when you used to hear someone say, don’t eat that bread, it’s just empty calories?  It is virtually empty of nutrients. 

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