The myth of calories in, calories out:
Why restricting calories and over-exercising just won’t work for you

by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP

I hear stories every week from women who are incredibly upset by not being able to lose weight, no matter how little they eat or how much they exercise. They are trying so hard to make the approach of counting “calories in, calories out” work for them. But when they don’t lose weight, their family, friends — and even healthcare practitioners — tell them they just need to try harder.

Here’s how one woman described her frustration with trying to lose weight before joining our Personal Program:

“My next step was diet and exercise, which was the way I had always lost the weight before. I was already walking three to four miles per day, so running two miles every other day was added. All runners are thin, right? I counted every calorie, carbohydrate, and point in my diet. This became grueling… Talk about being angry and frustrated, feeling as if my body had betrayed me.” Meg, age 55

I don’t believe any woman should have to feel as if her body betrayed her. If you know what it feels like to try and try to lose weight without success, I understand. I want you to know there could be very real, physical reasons you aren’t reaching your goals — reasons that do not directly relate to counting the number of “calories in, calories out”:

Your body could be blocking weight loss.
Food is information — and you may not be getting the messages you need.

I know you have the power to lose weight. But what I see every day is that change can only take place when women take part in weight-loss programs that really pay attention to the variations in our bodies and the foods we eat. With programs such as our Personal Program for Weight Loss Resistance, I hope all of you who have struggled with other dieting plans will be inspired to achieve lasting results with reasonable diet and lifestyle changes. Let’s take a closer look together:

Your body could be blocking weight loss: Sally is too stressed to lose weight

Many women today experience metabolic imbalances that block weight loss. A metabolic imbalance means there is an underlying issue in your body’s physiology that causes tissue (fat) to build more quickly than it can be used. This will happen no matter how closely you count your calories, and makes it extremely difficult for you to lose weight.

Often, women aren’t aware how metabolic imbalances in their adrenal, thyroid, sex hormone, or neurotransmitter pathways can prevent weight loss, even with proper diet and exercise. This common issue is known as weight loss resistance.

One good example is my patient Sally, a single mom who works full shifts at a clothing store and chases two toddlers around the house. Even though she was constantly dieting and somehow managed to work out at the gym every day — she was gaining weight!

After talking with Sally, I realized the issue causing her weight gain was an adrenal imbalance — and it wasn’t going to be resolved by upping her reps at the gym. Our adrenal glands are responsible for the release of the stress hormone cortisol, a critical survival mechanism. But for some women, stress leads the body to respond as though it’s in danger and it “holds on” to weight as a form of protection. More exercise can make the problem worse.

If you have an adrenal imbalance, what your body needs is time to heal. In Sally’s case, she agreed to make a few simple changes:

Reducing the intensity of her exercise to dial down the stress hormones circulating in her body.
Eating three balanced meals a day and two snacks to level out the spikes in her stress hormones.
Addressing her emotional health, with a focus on creating a supportive social network and finding time to relax each day.

Much to her surprise (but not mine!), Sally’s clothes fit differently a few weeks later. Once we had addressed Sally’s imbalance, her body began to relax enough to “give up” her extra cushion of weight.

Learn how our Personal Program for Weight Loss Resistance helps rebalance your body to promote weight loss.

Food is information — and you may not be getting the messages you need: Alicia’s “calorie spreadsheet” focuses on low fat/no fat

The very nature of the foods we eat, how we eat, and when we eat all add up and make a difference in how we metabolize our food — and whether we gain, lose, or stay the same weight.

For example, two hundred calories of high-fructose corn syrup salad dressing sends very different information to your genes and metabolic pathways than 200 calories of extra-virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Those differences are why my patient Alicia became so tired and frustrated — not to mention hungry — when she persistently tracked calories on a spreadsheet without thinking about her food choices.

Like most of us, Alicia was short on time for cooking. In a typical day, she would grab a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast, heat up a frozen burrito for lunch, and sit down to her largest meal in the evening after work.

When I reviewed Alicia’s weekly calorie totals, I saw plenty of prepackaged low-fat foods and diet frozen meals — but few fresh, whole foods. And since different foods are digested, absorbed, stored, and burned very differently — Alicia’s food choices were just as important to her weight-loss efforts as the number of “calories in, calories out.”

In addition, there is new research highlighting the importance of the relationship between food and our genetic makeup — another crucial reason why what we eat is often just as important as how much we eat!

Here is what I explained to Alicia:

Whole, minimally processed foods require more energy to digest, and therefore maximize the number of calories you use. Sometimes it is good to be inefficient!
Certain foods help satisfy you more, such as fiber and protein . You’re likely to feel hungry soon after eating foods high in refined sugars or white flour.
Foods containing beneficial organisms (called probiotics) and their favorite food (called prebiotics) support healthy digestion and help you maintain an ideal weight.
The timing of your meals and snacks can influence your efforts. I recommend women eat within an hour of waking and finish eating by 7:00 PM if possible. I also recommend two snacks a day.

Learn more about our Personal Program's WheySational shake for a healthy snack to give you energy.

I also reminded Alicia that our bodies adjust metabolically to the number of calories we eat. I often see that when women track calories too closely — on a spreadsheet, for example — they drastically reduce the number of calories they eat. Unfortunately, doing this can actually teach our bodies to burn fewer calories, because our bodies think they need to conserve energy.

We keep moving forward

As you can see, the notion of “calories in, calories out” is truly a myth — even though it gets so much attention from the headlines and fitness gurus. That’s why it’s so important to me that you have information and support you need to make changes that will really work for you.

Remember what we heard from Meg at the beginning of the article? Here’s what she recently told us, after making the simple dietary and lifestyle changes recommended in our Personal Program:

“Every week I see results in how I feel and how my clothes fit. My hair, skin, and nails are better and my thought processes are clearer. I joined the program initially to lose weight but found so much more. Balance your mind, body, and spirit — and the weight will take care of itself.”

Like Meg (and Sally and Alicia), you may discover there’s more to your healthy-weight equation than constant calorie-counting and exercise. We look forward to hearing from you!