Counting Calories and Stepping on Scales: Why Math isn’t Making us Healthier
Roughly one hundred people within the FORM family participated in the 28-day transFORMation. They will be the first to tell you: You don’t need to do math to feel and look your best.
Humans are the only species that count calories. Yet humans are the only species that struggle with an epidemic of type II diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease.
We are the only species that weigh ourselves. Ironically, we are the only species that experience such alarming rates of obesity.
Humans see food as calories, fat, carbs, and protein. All other species see food as, well, food!
Conventional wisdom would dictate that the more math we do, the healthier we will be. But the opposite is true. The more we think we know and the more we try to control our food, the sicker, fatter, sadder and more tired we become.
Let’s stop doing math. Instead, let’s start using our intuition and listening to our bodies.
Humans are highly intelligent, but we’ve been brainwashed into thinking we need to rely on numbers and outdated dietary recommendations rather than relying on the messages our own bodies provide us.
COUNTING CALORIES
Calories are not and never will be equal. Do not count them. It simply will not add up. A calorie is a unit of measurement- like an ounce- and tells us nothing about the contents. For example, you can have 8 ounces of pure water and 8 ounces of formaldehyde. They have the same measurement, but one will kill you. Same thing with a calorie.
I have said this before, and I will likely say it again and again…and again: Every food or drink you put in your mouth sends a message of healing or a message of harm. Health is about choices.
One hundred calories of a sugar-free, fat-free, artificially-flavored, yogurt-like products sends a very different message than three hundred calories of whole fat Greek yogurt, walnuts, and fresh blueberries.
The first ‘yogurt’ slows down metabolism and wreaks chemical havoc in your body.
The second yogurt provides healing, nourishing, high-octane fuel that allows your body to burn efficiently.
Try this: Instead of counting calories, focus on optimizing your nutrition with QUALITY. Quality nourishment is real food.
Real food grows from the ground and/or has a mother. Period.
Learn to read labels. If you see something that doesn’t have a mother or grow from the ground, don’t eat it. It is not food.
STEPPING ON THE SCALE
The number on the scale is not an indicator of health. What are indicators of health?
- Energy level
- Mental clarity
- Healthy libido
- Shiny hair
- Lean body
- Clear skin and sparkly eyes
- Ability to sleep
- Mood
- Stress level
Here are some reasons why the number on the scale is not a true measure of health:
- It is easy to lose five pounds by punishing and starving your body. Does that make it a good idea? No. Shoot- I can lose fifteen pounds by cutting off an arm. Good idea? Not really. Becoming a meth addict will likely help me to drop a few pounds. Wise? Nope.
- Thin people get sick.
- Slightly overweight people can be very healthy.
- You may not lose pounds, but increases in lean muscle mass helps your clothes to fit better.
- More muscle on your body improves insulin sensitivity and hormone regulation.
- Muscle is more dense than fat. Pound for pound and inch by inch, I think I would rather have muscle.
Most of us have a set point- a weight that our bodies feel the best. If you treat your bodies kindly, it will move toward that set point. Treat it kindly by giving it the nourishment, exercise, and rest that it needs.
Try this: Rather than beating and starving your body into submission, treat it with kindness. Love yourself. When you love something, you nurture it.
When you nurture something, it thrives.
