Intuitive Eating vs. Calorie Counting: Which is Better for Measuring Food Intake & Weight Loss?
Hey, what’s up? It’s Dr. Jade Teta here.
There’s been a debate raging in the fitness world for several years now… counting calories vs. intuitive eating for weight loss.
Some argue that your body is basically a calculator. It keeps track of how many calories you eat and how many you burn… and you lose or store fat accordingly.
To some extent, they’re right. If you eat a lot more calories than you burn, day after day, that excess calorie load becomes a stressor to your metabolism. And you WILL gain weight. Plain and simple.
However, they think that because only calorie count matters, you should measure and track every morsel of food that goes in your mouth.
I know, that sounds exhausting. So, what’s the other option?
The other side argues, no, weight loss is all about quality — it’s the macronutrient content of your food that matters, including protein, carbohydrate and fat.
These people often believe that you can eat “intuitively”… in other words, by being mindful and tuning in to your body, your body will tell you what foods to eat (and how much).
However, this method can easily lead to overeating… which again, stresses out the metabolism and leads to weight gain.
As I explain in the video lecture below, I believe you need BOTH methods. But you must learn to do one before the other is effective.
Keep in mind, eating too many calories — or too few — is a stressor to the metabolism. Even more than “losing weight,” your primary goal should be to heal your metabolism, bring it back into balance, then optimize it for your goals. Once the metabolism is healthy, weight loss will naturally follow.
Remember, the most EFFECTIVE thing you can do to boost immunity is to strengthen your metabolism, because your metabolism POWERS your immune system.
I hope you’re enjoying this free immune system crash course. Please feel free to leave us a comment or question below!