Why I am against counting calories, Minnesota Starvation Experiment, and for eating Real Food

The first thing you may think is, "Max, you are pretty fit and not fat, and you are a long distance runner, so why would you even think or talk about calories???" I would say that is a good question, but it is true that I have counted calories in the past. Now let me say that in high school and the first half of my freshman year, I could give a crap about calories and just ate whatever I wanted. It wasn't until December of 2009 that I began to think about food as something else.

Walking home from school one day (Yes, I only live 1.1 miles away), I started to think about the amount of bread I eat each day. Did I really need to eat 5-6 slices each day? (This was before I cut out gluten too!) Then I thought even more, what about these cookies and cakes I eat each night at home, were these even necessary? From that day on I decided to cut out this junk food, and hopefully my running would improve.

Well cutting out the junk food made me lose weight, and losing weight made me think I could run even faster. Counting calories was a big thing to me during the next 6 months, making sure I did not eat more than 2500 calories so I would get even lighter. Then it became about not gaining weight, cause you know, you can run faster the lighter you are (yea right...). I went from 135 to 115 pounds over that time period, standing at 5 foot 5.

So what happened, aside from the extreme weakness, loss of energy, and depression? Oh yea, I ran fast for one month than crashed and burned. It was not until I started force feeding myself in May that I ran the times I was in shape to.

I began to eat "primal" that June, gorging myself daily for that summer and fall. I stuffed myself silly each night, making sure that I was completely full, and then I ate more. Those 6 months of going to bed hungry made me subconsciously overeat.

Here is the thing though, my metabolism did slow down dramatically. I was eating more than I ever had, and despite running 10-11 miles a day, I still put on body fat. Although I'm basically back to normal now, the eating disorder lingered for months. I would count calories just to see how much I was consuming. I wouldn't restrict, and I would go through junk food binges almost weekly. (Maybe you've experience a binge...sitting in the kitchen eating everything in sight until uncomfortably full... )

Why Do I Think Counting Calories is bad, even for weight loss?

So if you are overweight, and you want to lose weight, you might decide to count calories. And sure, if you eat less than your body expends, you can lose weight initially. But then your metabolism slows down, and losing weight becomes harder. Calories expended varies from person to person, depending on metabolism. Stress, sleep, weight, activity level, muscle, and the quality of your food all play a role.

 Minnesota Starvation Experiment

While Ancel Keys is responsible for the false fear and hatred toward saturated fat, he did a great study called the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. He took 36 men and had them eat 3,200 calories for 12 weeks, and then cut it to 1,560 for 6 months, eating foods that solidera may have eaten in World War 2.

As a result, after only 6 months, many of the men had a preoccupation with food. They struggled between gulping thier food down, or eating it slowly and savoring it and playing with it. They constantly drank coffee and tea, being limited to 9 a day. One man chewed up to 40 pieces of gum a day. Some collected cooking tools like cookbooks and pans. They had no sex drive. They suffered distress and depression. They had trouble concentrating. One man said the most interesting part of movies were when the people in the film were eating. There were decreases in body temperature, heart rate, and respiration, and in basal metabolic rate (calories burned each day).
Following the experiment some men became chefs. Some could not stop force feeding and binge eating, up to 10,000 calories a day, to the point of being sick. It took 5 months more for some men to resume regular eating.

While not as extreme, I could relate to some of these. I drank a LOT of tea (before my coffee days), in place of eating food. I would go on the computer and look at pictures of food. It was pretty bad, and it makes me sad to see people who voluntarily restrict calories for long periods of time, especially when they are lucky enough to have access to a lot of food.

Real Food

is what I recommend. (Refer to a previous post for my definition of real food). If you are eating healthy whole real food, you will not be tempted to overeat and binge. If you eat enough real food and LISTEN to your body and when you are hungry, your metabolism should function normally.

I think counting calories makes a person a slave to food. Food should be something to be enjoyed, should be thought of as energy and fuel. I hate seeing people obsess over calories. Calories are not a day in day out thing. Enjoy the food, keep it healthy and real, and don't stress about it!