Counting calories in your diet is not the solution.

Obsessing about counting the calories of everything we eat is an ineffective strategy.

Nowadays, it is common in many groups to base their diet mainly on counting the calories in food, regulating the calories they ingest taking into account the calories they expend. Thus, the process of trying to lose weight, maintain your current state or gain weight is built on this principle.

This point of view proposes that, if you want to lose weight, the calories expended in your daily life must be higher than the calories you consume.thus boosting total weight loss.

However, taking care of your diet is fundamental for your health, and for this reason we want to justify to you why counting calories is not enough for it..

What are calories and what is their function?

Calories are an energetic unit of measurement, and in their application to the human body quantifies the energy that our body will receive from food.. The function of calories in the daily intake is to cover the energy required for the vital functions of the organism, as well as the additional actions developed.

The calories we expend naturally derive from the functions of breathing to the pumping of the heart. All the other actions we perform on a daily basis also consume calories, such as reading, walking or cooking.

Our body is like a machine, and our fuel is calories and nutrients derived from food. The more physical activity we do, the more food we will need to meet those requirements..

Why counting calories is not enough?

Although the body needs energy, that's not all. The intake of sufficient calories is a necessary but not sufficient condition.Food provides calories, but also nutrients, and the body needs them.

All foods have calories. In an extreme case, considering only calories, you could manage to lose weight on sweets and pizzas, as long as the intake is lower than the one consumed during the day. And yes, it is possible, but it is not healthy, it is possible, but it is not healthy.

In this way, you will most likely end up getting sick in the short term, and even something that would be contradictory: you will not have enough energy or feel good during the day. In addition, the weight you will lose will not be efficiently from fat, but you will probably lose quite a lot of muscle as well.. Maintaining muscle mass is necessary for good aesthetics and health.

Are all calories equal?

This is the important point, and why we do not recommend basing a diet on calories. Calories do not react equally in our body depending on where they come from.Today, most ultra-processed foods have a multitude of empty calories, i.e. they do not provide any nutrients. Moreover, they deregulate our hormonal environment and will later end up in the form of body fat, as it is easy to reach a caloric surplus through most of the products consumed by today's society.

Fulfilling nutrients is more important than calories

To achieve a feeling of well-being and fullness, as well as good health and aesthetics, the most important thing is to quantify the total count of nutrients according to your objective and the factors of each person (diseases, allergies, pathologies, pathologies, etc.). (diseases, allergies, pathologies, etc.).

We can classify the nutrients in the two macro groups; let's see how they are.

Macronutrients

Macronutrients are the most important nutrients for our organism, as it requires them in large quantities to function properly.. They can be classified into three large groups, each of which fulfills a specific function:

• Proteins: they develop the transporting and structural function in our organism.
• Carbohydrates: they provide energy to our body.
• Fats: they are necessary so that certain types of vitamins can be absorbed and also in the process of the manufacture of hormones in the human being.

Micronutrients

Micronutrients are also necessary in our body to carry out different chemical reactions. Unlike macronutrients, we need them in small doses.We can classify them mainly in vitamins and minerals.

Carbohydrates in our diet

Carbohydrates are one of the main sources of energy in our organism; therefore, we need them in small doses, the quantities of these to be ingested will depend to a great extent on the physical activity you perform.. In addition, it is also important that you take care of what types of carbohydrates you consume.

Classification of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates can be classified into simple and complex carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates

They have a simpler structure and can therefore be easily assimilated by our body.. They are interesting for physical activity, due to their rapid assimilation; however, they should not be abused, since they deregulate our hormonal environment. An example of a simple carbohydrate is sugar.

Complex carbohydrates

They are accompanied by other nutrients, such as fiber.. This allows them to be absorbed more slowly, thus avoiding damaging our hormonal environment, as long as we do not abuse them. Some examples of these are pasta, rice or potatoes.

Remember, if you eat more carbohydrates than your body needs, they will be stored as fat.. Adapt them to your particular case, but remember, a burned food is better than a food not ingested.

Fats in our diet

Fats are another source of energy for our organism, in addition to fulfilling essential functions, such as good Cardiovascular health, derived from healthy fatty acids.

They are the nutrient that has the highest caloric densityThey are the nutrient with the highest caloric density, providing 9 calories per gram, as opposed to carbohydrates and proteins, which provide 4 calories per gram. We can find different types of fats in the foods, classifiable mainly in these categories that we will see next.

1. Saturated fats

They are necessary in their just quantity whenever they have a correct origin for some functionssuch as, for example, the creation of hormones. An example of a good source in which we can find them is, for example, meat.

2. Trans fats

This type of fat used to modify the texture and taste of food.. Our body does not need them, and they are harmful. They are found, for example, in ultra-processed foods.

3. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats

These fats are also called "healthy" fats, are essential for good cardiovascular health.. They are derived from nuts, olive oil or oily fish, among other sources.

Protein in our diet

The main function of proteins in our organism is structural and transporting.. We can classify the proteins in complete and incomplete, according to if they possess all the amino acids or lack some in particular. Amino acids are smaller particles of protein, so that a protein is composed of a set of amino acids.

Complete proteins

Contain all amino acids. Examples are meat or fish.

Incomplete proteins

They are lacking of some amino acid. For example: legumes.

Calories matter when nutrients are met

Once the necessary nutrients are met, it is important to take calories into account, mainly based on your goal. But remember, as long as the diet is varied and complete!

Based on the objective, we can summarize the following keys.

To boost fat loss

A calorie deficit is requiredthat is, spending more than we eat. The deficit can be achieved through physical exercise or by regulating certain nutrients in the total dietary intake.

To gain fat or build muscle mass

A caloric surplus is requiredi.e. eating more than you spend.

Health and fitness lie in the balance of habits.

Find a balance in your life, this will contribute to your health and fitness.

We recommend you to focus on taking care of the nutrients you consume, as this is essential to maintain a healthy weight.It is essential to maintain a varied diet, and to take into account your conditions and goals.

In addition, it is also important to take care of healthy habits that will contribute to all this, such as physical exercise, rest and emotional balance.