MYTH: Counting calories is: • A waste of time • For women • For people on “diets” • Not feasible • Too difficult • Not important • Confusing FACT: This week’s article will be more of a recount of my own experiences and understanding so I will not have sources at the end, please let me know if you would like some literature on this topic! Referring back to the article on calories and energy consumption, fat loss is based under the overarching principle of energy consumed/energy expended. If this ratio is <1, weight loss will occur. The variables lie in the speed of the loss and manipulation of either the numerator, denominator, or both. I will focus on the numerator (energy consumed). The first (and most important in my opinion) point I want to make it that it is extremely difficult to manipulate this variable when it is not measured. Estimates can be made based on a thorough understanding of what one is eating and how calorie dense the meals are, but this takes more time, effort, and planning than actually counting the calories you eat.