Guest Article by Mike Starks, CEO of The Meal Movement
In 1824 Clement created the concept of the ‘Calorie’. He used it to measure steam energy.
Today it’s the buzz word in weight loss. “Eat this many, burn that many.” I overhear women talking about calories like I overhear men talking about football. As I have said in prior articles, America is the most nutritionally educated country in the world yet considered the most obese. Most women over the age of 20 can decipher the calorie content of any food on the planet faster than a Quad Core Intel Giga doohickey chip. Seriously, my wife knows the calories of a Brazilian peanut coated in anything. My 9 year old daughter is already talking about calories. It’s engrained in our culture.
Calories are simply a measurement. A number that we often focus on because we have been told if we eat more than we exert…we gain weight. Flipside – exert more than we eat and we lose weight. Experts say that 3500 calories = 1lb of body fat. I used to believe if I went to the gym and ‘worked out’, I would ‘burn XX# of calories’. I pictured in my mind these little white things called calories literally ‘burning’ off of my body and me becoming Fabio Jr. I was wrong. My hair never grew out nor did I get a Swedish accent and even worse I never lost weight.
It’s my opinion from experience in working with a lot of women that calories are one of the reasons America has become obese. But not in the conventional way most people think.
Let’s look at a real example…a very real example that every woman reading this email can relate to…I will use ‘Sara’ as our illustration.
Sunday morning rolls around and Sara decides she is going on a diet. She tells her family that night and they quiver when they hear the ‘D’ word. They know the routine and what is about to occur. (Seriously ladies, notice when you say the ‘D’ word around your husband, he mysteriously has to work long hours that week). Sara wakes up Monday morning and decides she will eat no more than 1200 calories a day. She just saw an ‘expert’ on the Today show who recommends 1200 calories a day… so this sounds like a great number. It also means she can eat 400 calories per meal. Sara is excited and determined that ‘this time will be different’. So she decides to ‘be strong’ and kick some caloric butt. She decides she is going to eat only 600 calories her first day! To get a headstart on this diet. She figures if she eats 600 calories and her allowance (BMR) is 1200 calories and she ‘burns off’ 500 calories at aerobics…she will lose (according to Caloric theory) about 6 ounces of body fat per day or 1lb every 3 days. (Confusing isn’t it?)
So the diet day begins. Sara nibbles on a carrot for breakfast. Then she eats a low calorie meatball for lunch, then one almond for a snack. Sara’s hungry but determined. Her family is avoiding her because they know what’s about to happen. By day 3pm Sara is tired, hungry and she’s lost 3lbs. She’s already picked out her size 2 mini skirt and new heels. Just a few more pounds and she’s trying out for the Victoria Secret runway show.
Now she’s up to 1200 calories a day. At night she adds up her calories consumed for the day and eats anything in site as long as it keeps her under 1200 calories. She does this for a while then notices she’s not losing any more weight.
Now Sara is real tired and her family is real scared. Sara wakes up on day 8 decides she’s just meant to be a size 12 and that she will try again next spring when some new rocket science diet or excercise program is out on the market.
Next year, Sara does it again and the results are the same. Each year becomes harder. Each year she becomes a little heavier and little more frustrated. Then it happens. She gives up for good. She’s defeated and then the weight really begins to pile on. A few years later she is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Weight loss is no longer a concern, now it’s life or death.
Folks, this has occurred in America for the past 40 years. Companies focus on marketing ‘calories’. A lot of ‘experts’ focus on calories. Schools teach calories. The end result, we are calorie counting experts. We have done what we were told to do…count calories, eat low calorie, burn calories, avoid bad calories but eat good calories, etc. As my grandpa used to say… “It ain’t workin”.
Something to think about…Growing up in the 60’s, my mother NEVER said ‘Don’t’ eat that! It has too many calories’. We did not know what a calorie was in 1965 yet America was not obese. Japan does not count calories and yet they have no obesity issues. So simply put…calories don’t count. Say it again…”Calories don’t Count”.
There I said it. Label me a quack or a renegade. Calories fool people into believing if they focus on a number then they will lose or gain weight. I wish it were that simple but it’s not.
I do not believe in labeling anything low carb, low fat, low calorie. Why? Because certain foods create body fat while certain foods do not. Some are high calorie, some are low calorie. Some are high fat, some are low fat. Some are low carb, some are high carb. Some are low glycemic, some high glycemic.
Companies market their food as ‘low (fill in the blank)‘ because it leads us to believe it will lower our weight. It simply ain’t that easy. (I know ‘ain’t’ is not proper…nor are calories!)
To prove my point I decided to become a human guinea pig. For 7 days I performed a little experiment to test caloric theory. I videotaped the experiment in hopes that the Today Show experts (and You) will learn from it. My experiment involves 12-14 Big Macs a day. I consumed 4000-4500 calories and 300+ grams of fat each day. HOWEVER, I did not eat the bread. Only the meat, cheese, dressing, lettuce, pickles, etc. Now according to caloric theory (BMR) I should have gain between 4 & 6lbs. Guess What? I actually lost 2.5lbs. Impossible you say? I think not. The video will be sent to you later this week.
The Meal Movement 28 day program is now the #1 Diet Meal Delivery program recommended by fitness professionals in the United States. What’s amazing is that almost all of our trainers agree…calories are confusing and simply do not work. Eating natural food like meats, vegetables, eggs, select nuts DO. They also agree that avoiding processed foods and simple starches are a must to succeed in your fitness and weight loss goals. Last, they ALL say it must be simple. Their clients must not have to think about their food. They must not have to plan, prepare, shop, cook or clean. It’s simply too much.
The Meal Movement does not require adding, counting or measuring. It is simply eating natural foods without processed starches or sugars. It turns on your body’s fat burning switch and teaches you how to eat for a lifetime. Calories are not a concern on the Meal Movement program.
Next month I will discuss ‘weight’ and how the concept of weight loss may be another reason you are not losing weight (did you get that?).
Great Taste, Small Waist!™
The Meal Movement
Mike Starks
CEO
PS: To get off the calorie trap and to begin burning fat and learning how to eat for a lifetime, start the Meal Movement Today! Click here to Order!
Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of moving Get Fit NH Bootcamp from Commercial Street into our new digs at 287 South Main St., and what a year it has been!
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