Diet Quality vs Calorie Quantity

When it comes to diet, fitness, fat burning and weight loss I learned a very important lesson a long time ago. Not all calories are equal in regards to their effect on fat burning, weight loss, fitness and health.  

Yet, calorie counting is the biggest thing going on right now in the weight loss industry.  

You see it in several websites, forums and other media.  Check out the Spark People forums over at sparkpeople.com and you will see the frenzy of people trying to hit a magic number of calories.  Everyone wants to cash in on this, so the myth that all you have to do to lose weight is hit a magic number of calories each day is highly marketed and  perpetuated.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with counting calories.  The problem is that this counting of calories has been placed above concentrating on quality of food and the quality of calories.  Therefore people are trying to hit a special number of total calories each day without regard to the nutrients the foods contain. 

 What makes things worse is that some of these foods lacking in nutrients have a negative effect on how hormones effect the storing of fat on your body.

To illustrate this point just think about how 100 calories coming from candy will affect your body as opposed to 100 calories coming from vegetables, berries, and or a lean protein source like chicken breast. 

 The 100 calories from candy will have no positive weight loss effects and or health benefits while the 100 calories from the vegetables, berries etc. will have a direct positive impact on your health, and will help indirectly with your fat burning and weight loss goals in numerous ways.

If you're one of the many people that like counting calories and keep a daily total then by all means continue, but just  make sure that you take quality of calories and quality of food into account.  It will help your fat burning and weight loss goals. 

 I personally do not count over all calories and focus mostly on quality of foods.  If you've read up no the Fat X diet you know that quality of food is the foundation and the engine that has driven it's success.