There were no absolutes.
One tablespoon of olive oil has 119 calories, but how much was I using?
The chickens calories depended on its weight, but I didnt have a kitchen scale.
Paola de Varona
Would I need to cut the plantain into perfectly sized pieces for my platanitos?
So I labeled my favorite Cuban dish, and the others I grew up on, as cheat meals.
They were too big and unruly to fit into the constraints of the MyFitnessPal universe.
Paola de Varona
Calorie counting is closely tied to our understanding of nutrition and health in the United States.
Im a testament to all the ways in which the numbers game can go wrong.
Ive spent most of my adolescent and adult life in a standoff with calories.
Paola de Varona
But Ive counted calories on and off since, oftentimes at the direction of a doctor.
Focusing on those numbers has only set me back on healing my relationship to eating.
Does the 1,200-Calorie Diet Work?
Sites and medical professionals alike laud the 1,200-calorie diet as simple and effective.
But recently, I came across a nutritionist on TikTok explaining why this diet is detrimental to our bodies.
What Is Grehlin?
Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates appetite.
The more ghrelin you have in your body, the hungrier you feel and vice versa.
This is a natural response from your body.
Id been struggling with this binge-restrict cycle for years.
When I was following a nutritionists 1,200-calorie diet plan, I found myself hungrier than Id ever been.
I tried convincing myself that my body was simply adjusting to appropriate portion sizes.
The FDA states that2,000 calories a dayare used as a general guide for nutrition advice.
And according to MyPlatecalculator, I should be aiming for 2,000 calories a day to achieve a healthy weight.
Experts arerejectingthe idea that calorie counting alone can lead to weight loss or weight management.
People can consume the same number of calories, yet see very different results.
A one-size-fits-all diet or meal plan is contrary to our very biology.
A single number like our weight cannot tell our entire health story.
What Is Intuitive Eating
Intuitive eatingis considered a self-care eating framework.
Instead of dieting, its the practice of tuning in to your bodys cues and signals.
Ive begun to look at my meals with a what can I add mindset.
Ill add my homemade picadillo over a bed of kale so you can get more greens into my day.
Ill swap out a serving of white rice for some riced cauliflower if I havent eaten enough vegetables.
The foods we eat can carry so much more value than whats on the nutrition label.
2018;51(11):1270-1276. doi:10.1002/eat.22966
