The Truth about Counting Calories
For many women I work with, calories dominate their thoughts. They’ve spent years, sometimes decades, worrying about what they should or shouldn’t eat, haunted by numbers on food labels, calorie tracking apps, and the belief that staying in a deficit is the ultimate goal.
We've been conditioned to think of ourselves as calorie-burning machines and the message has long been: eat less, move more, and you’ll control your weight. This narrative is not only misleading; it also fuels shame, guilt, and the sense that we’re somehow failing if our body doesn’t fit a certain mould.
The truth? Our bodies are incredibly complex. And weight is influenced by far more than just calories in vs. calories out.
The Problem with the Calorie Counting Mentality
Calories are not a perfect measure. The numbers you see on food labels can be wildly inaccurate, and even if they weren’t, your body doesn’t process food in the same way every day. This also differs from person to person.
Your energy needs change daily depending on dozens of factors: your age, genetics, hormone levels, sleep, stress, movement, gut health, and more. Even two people with the same height, weight, and age can have vastly different calorie requirements.
Here’s how your body actually uses energy each day:
60–70% of your energy goes to simply keeping you alive, powering your heart, lungs, brain, hormone production, immune system, and cellular repair. This is your basal metabolic rate, and it’s influenced by things like muscle mass, body composition, genetics, and age.
10% is used to digest and process your food. Yes, your body burns calories just by eating! This is known as the thermic effect of food, and it depends on the types and amounts of foods you consume.
15–30% is spent on physical activity which varies enormously depending on how active you are and what kinds of movement you do. It’s worth noting that exercise has many health benefits but punishing workouts to “burn off” a slice of cake only reinforces a damaging mindset.
Your brain and liver, though small in weight, each account for about 20% of your resting energy needs, because they are constantly working, even when you’re resting or asleep.
And crucially, not all calories are equal in how they affect your body. The type of food you eat influences everything from hunger and fullness cues to your insulin levels, fat storage, and how much energy your body uses to process it.
So, What’s the Alternative?
While counting calories can feel like a way to stay in control, it often creates disconnection from your hunger cues, your natural rhythms, and your ability to trust your body.
What truly supports long-term wellbeing is learning to tune in to your body, understanding what it needs, and letting go of food rules that cause anxiety. This looks like:
Choosing foods that nourish you without fear or guilt
Eating a variety of foods that satisfy both your physical and emotional needs
Developing tools to manage stress and emotions without turning to (or restricting) food
Creating a balanced relationship with movement, one based on self-care, not compensation
If you're exhausted from obsessing over numbers, stuck in cycles of bingeing and restricting, or simply want to feel more at peace with food and your body, it doesn’t have to be this way.
I specialise in supporting women who are ready to break free from food anxiety, emotional eating, and constant dieting. If you’re ready to rebuild trust with your body and create lasting change, you’re warmly invited to book a complimentary call with me HERE. Together, we’ll explore if a personalised one-to-one programme is the right fit for you and how I can help.
Support Your journey…
For a deeper dive into overcoming challenges around food and body image struggles and, my best selling book The Binge Freedom Method™ provides a comprehensive, science-backed framework to help you build a healthier relationship with food and your body. It offers practical steps, real-life strategies, and support for breaking free from binge eating and diet culture for good. You can learn more about it HERE.
Breaking the Cycle Starter Kit: This free resource is designed to help you take the first steps toward food freedom. Inside, you’ll find actionable strategies to begin shifting your mindset, manage cravings, and stop the binge-restrict cycle in its tracks.