Why calories?

[rockpool]

Am I the only one who feels the whole idea of counting calories is rather outdated?

A lot of recent research indicates that losing weight by minimizing calory intake is bound to failure (long term), and that the only way to achieve long term weight loss is  by eliminating fast carbohydrates, stop eating between meals and practice occasional fasting.

Personally I would love if Fitbit could include also the possibility to measure one's intake of carbohydrates (fast and slow) and periods of fasting. 

Any comments?

[rockpool]

Am I the only one who feels the whole idea of counting calories is rather outdated?

A lot of recent research indicates that losing weight by minimizing calory intake is bound to failure (long term), and that the only way to achieve long term weight loss is  by eliminating fast carbohydrates, stop eating between meals and practice occasional fasting.

Personally I would love if Fitbit could include also the possibility to measure one's intake of carbohydrates (fast and slow) and periods of fasting. 

Any comments?

[JohnnyRow]

Interesting topic. You would probably get  more interest in it by posting in one of the Lifestyle Discussion Forums, such as Manage Weight.

[rockpool]

Thanks for the tip JohnnyRow, I have now reposted the topic in Manage Weight. 

[Dominique]

Energy balance (= calories) is the primary factor affecting body weight. You may not need to count calories in order to lose weight, but you certainly need to create a caloric deficit. And minimizing calory intake isn’t the only way to create the deficit needed for weight loss: you can also increase your energy expenditure.

As to eliminating fast carbohydrates, stopping eating between meals and practicing occasional fasting being "the only way to achieve long term weight loss", it is simply not true.

[rockpool]

There is plenty of new research that explains why reducing calorie intake hardly ever leads to long term weight loss. But it was not my intention to start a debate on the subject of what weight loss method is the best. My suggestion was that it might be a good idea if Fitbit could also encourage people who are trying to lose weight according to newer research. 

[Daves_Not_Here]

@rockpool - you can suggest new features here

There are gaps between what Fitbit does versus what various people think it ought to do.   People often express frustration with these gaps.  Outside of the feature suggestion mechanism to which I've linked, I'm not aware that Fitbit has ever revised their offering to accommodate what someone has posted might be a good idea.

Your opinion as to what is the "only" way to achieve long term weight loss, while perhaps held strongly by you and others (and I'm inclined to agree with you), is not yet widely accepted.  Therefore, it's unlikely to be accommodated into product design until enough of a consensus justifies the development costs.

[rockpool]

Note that I did not express the opinion that "the only way to achieve long term weight loss is  by eliminating fast carbohydrates, stop eating between meals and practice occasional fasting." I said that "A lot of recent research indicates" that this is the case. 

At the same time I know that loads of people these days have abandoned calorie counting in favour of methods like for instance 5:2, LCHF or the method described by kidney disease and diabetes 2 expert Jason Fung.  My thought was that it might be a good (economically viable) idea for Fitbit to attract all those that have tried calorie counting for years and years to no long term avail and now want to do something about their health issues based on new research. If the interest in this sort of Fitbit addition does not exist, then of course the whole idea is a dead end. 

[Alicat2104]

I don't count calories, gave up in July 2017, and don't track either, and have been happily maintaining my 117 - 119lbs with positive changes in body composition. Monday last week I decided, in a mad moment, to track for just once day out of curiosity so reinstalled MFP and got on with it. I made no special effort, just ate to hunger like I have been doing for the last nine months, and by the end of the day I was on over 2850 calories. That was against a FitBit burned calorie count of 2250. 

[HokieHoo]

My goal has always been to lose weight. I am not trying to get to a certain body fat % or train for a competition or anything. I think losing weight is a pretty typical primary goal of many people using these devices and on these forums. I count calories because it works for me. Always has- so until it doesn't, I won't go to something that is more complicated or go to fasting because I am an angry person when I don't eat.

That being said, I certainly implement healthier eating habits. Lower fat, limit refined sugars and carbohydrates, eat more vegetables, and use whole grains (still in limited amounts), etc. Of course that helps the weight loss and probably there are some elements of these "new methods/research" that you allude to- but I am not tracking them or reading up on them because that would require more effort and I personally, at this point in my life, do not need to do anything different. That may seem like an ignorant approach- but there are so many conflicting and "new" and "alternative" and (fill in buzz word here) methods out there and I am not an expert, so I stick to what is easy and works for me. 

If calorie counting isn't working for you (you didn't actually say that it wasn't working for you only that there is research that shows that it doesn't work) or you want to track something else instead-go for it! Do what works for you. As someone else pointed out, the likelihood of fitbit accommodating other types of goal tracking is slim. 

[rockpool]

As I said, it was not my intention to start a debate about what works and what doesn't, because it's obviously not the same for everyone. This is exactly why I thought it might be a good idea for Fitbit to try to attract the increasing numbers of people that do not believe calorie counting is the best way to lose weight.

But, as I also said before, if there is no interest in this kind of new features, then it's a dead end. 

Anyway, I enjoy my Fitbit thouroughly for other features, so I am not going to lose my sleep over this  

[rockpool]

To be a little more specific, what I had in mind was the possibility to set goals for various food stuffs according to the user's specific health issues, like blood pressure, diabetes 2 etc.  Depending on what the person's doctor/dietician suggested or the specific diet a person wants to pursue to lose weight, he could set goals for the most common food stuffs involved in the most common kinds of health issues/overwieght,  e.g. omega 3 and other fats, fast and slow carbohydrates (especially added sugar) and protein. The added features might also include the possibility to set a goal for number of hours fasting during a period of a week/month.

The calorie counting function would of course continue like before. 

Parts of the technique already exists on various health sites on the internet. I just thought it would be swell to have it all in my Fitbit. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if the feature is already being developed by some tracking companies.    

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

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@rockpoolwrote:

Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if the feature is already being developed by some tracking companies.    

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MyFitnessPal seems to be the most commonly used app for tracking food. It has a lot more features than Fitbit has (for food tracking) and it integrates with the Fitbit app both ways (Fitbit can pull food data off MFP, and MFP can pull activity data off Fitbit). Maybe MFP already has many of the features you’re interested in? Have you had a look at it? My feeling is Fitbit will never "reinvent the wheel" in order to match every single feature offered by MFP.

[rockpool]

I think you are right Dominique. Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try it out!

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[GershonSurge]

@rockpool,

Newer research is not necessarily better. Starting in about 1980, medical, pharmaceutical, supplements and the health industry have pretty much been taken over by these entities, along with the meat, dairy and milk industries to fund reductionist studies that try to prove one small product can solve a problem. Studies seldom get funded anymore unless the funders can make a profit. 

For instance, the vitamin E supplement was brought to market because of a reductionist study that showed it reduced the possibility of heart attacks. That is true if the vitamin is eaten in the form of whole foods, but not true if a supplement is taken. Yes, it does reduce heart attacks, but it increases all cause mortality by increasing the probability of other types of cardiac disease.

You are rightly bringing attention to calorie counting seldom being successful as people focus on the calories instead of the food eaten. Someone on Fitbit the other day mentioned having an Arby's sandwich and fries (I think) for a small lunch. Unfortunately, there is little healthy nutrition gained by eating those calories.

One problem with calorie counting is there are websites that also total the vitamins. They encourage people to take supplements to fill the gaps. Supplements are more often bad than good, but these supplements fund the industry.

Most recent "research" I've looked at is hogwash and proves nothing. They don't even contain controlled studies. They do "meta-studies" and base their conclusions on other hogwash. If you can't trace findings back about 35 years in an unbroken chain of studies, it's probably hogwash. The reason I make this brash statement is it takes at least that long to demonstrate with 95% confidence that something works.

As for Fitbit, they can't meet everyone's needs. I suggest modifying how you use the existing system if you want to count calories. Fast days will show up as little or no food consume.

[Lollia]

Do you have links to this research?

And if the Fitbit shouldn't' measure calories, what SHOULD it measure?

[rockpool]

Lollia, please read again, I never said Fitbit should stop recording calories (I actually said the opposite). I also said twice that I will not enter into a debate about weight loss methods.

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[Daves_Not_Here]

@rockpool - for a guy who keeps saying he doesn't want a debate, you seem oddly argumentative and easily misunderstood.  If so many people are unable to precisely parse the meaning of your words to your satisfaction, such that you must invoke them to "read again" and repeat that you don't want a debate, maybe the issue is not with those people?  "You misinterpreted my words, I didn't say that, I said this, I didn't mean this, I meant that, read it again, you got it wrong, I don't want a debate, etc." are argumentative debating responses.

This is a weight management forum that involves lots of discussion and debate on various theories of weight loss and maintenance, calorie counting and the recent research to which you had alluded.  You posed three very relevant questions in your initial post that invited discussion, including "Why calories?",  "Am I the only one who feels the whole idea of counting calories is rather outdated?", and "Any comments?"  And now you object to the responses that speak directly to those very questions.

I offer the following Monty Python skit for your entertainment and possible self-reflection.

[rockpool]

I don't object at all. I appreciate yours and every one elses comments. Comments is not the same as debate. I realize lots of people swear by calorie counting and did not aim for a discussion with them. I was throwing out ideas to see if there were others who had doubts about the efficiency of calorie counting and would also appreciate a few new Fitbit features.

But, as I said, if there is no interest it's a dead end. I am quite prepared to live with that 🙂

By the way I am not a guy, but a 71 year ild wonan.

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[rockpool]

Sorry for the typos. Writing on my mobile. I am of course a 71 year old woman.

Sorry also for the misunderstanding. I realize this was probably not the right forum for my question after all, since people here are used to discussing weight loss techniques and this was not what I wanted to do. Very sorry if I offended anyone. I reacted to what i perceived as an attack on me for views I never expressed, but I may have got the wrong end of the stick. Sorry about that.

If there is no one in this forum who would like some features on Fitbit along the lines I sketched, then I am quite happy to close this topic.

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