By Lindsay Martin–Society today is obsessed with appearance. Tabloid headlines share secrets about weight loss or the newest exercise that burns a ridiculous amount of calories. The question is: should we count calories in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle?
I recently got the MyFitnessPal app. I entered my weight, height, and how many pounds I wanted to lose, and the app generated that amount of calories I should have each day. I then became obsessed with calories and working out, ensuring I never went over that magic 1,200.
However, 1,200 calories is the general number of calories that you cannot drop below without suffering negative consequences. In fact, your body will probably go into starvation mode and you will actually slow down your metabolism and store more calories as fat.
“I was using the MyFitnessPal app for a few weeks until I realized that although I was never eating more calories than what was recommended, the food I was eating was not nutritious, and did nothing for my body,” said Lexi Busch.
Counting calories is not the answer when trying to commit to a healthier lifestyle. A healthy body cannot be based only on poundage because muscle weighs more than fat. Also, it is important to remember that fewer calories do not equal good nutrition.
Leave a Reply