Everyday I have a discussion with someone regarding calories – how many should I have? I don’t want to eat too many. This food is lower in calories than that food.. And so forth! In my experience people (especially women) are terrified of the word “calorie” & will avoid it like the plague. However its rare to find these women consuming anywhere near enough to elicit some serious fat loss!
I would never disregard calories completely, but for 90% of the population I believe counting them is a waste of time! Eating 4-5 meals from whole food sources is enough to drive to calories up (as well as an abundant of nutrients they were most likely lacking!!) to a suitable level without counting.
Eating a low calorie diet for short periods (1-2 weeks) will see some reductions in body fat, however eating low cal long term can be detrimental to your health an ability to achieve your optimal body composition. Long term low calorie diets lead to increased cortisol production – our major stress hormone. Increased cortisol leads to insulin resistance, weight gain, and cardiovascular disease. In addition, low cal diets have show to down regulate our thyroid hormone making weight loss more difficult in the long run.
For women, if you exercise regularly aim for 1400cals+ (more like 1500 but lets not get too crazy). And men 2200+, I still consider these numbers low but its a good place to start if you’ve been afraid to eat too many for too long!