In modern society, many perceive food solely in terms of calorie intake, which significantly contributes to the high rates of overweight and obesity among U.S. adults. My husband and I, both in our senior years—I'm nearing 61, and he is 69—have faced our own health obstacles, including serious back issues and osteoarthritis. However, we've managed to improve our well-being by maintaining a healthy weight.

While weight management is crucial, health encompasses much more than just numbers on a scale. Both Bruce and I have embraced a lifestyle that prioritizes overall wellness, and achieving a sustainable weight is a relatable goal for many.

The pervasive notion of calorie counting has influenced my life for years, and despite striving for a healthier diet since the late 2010s, I was still meticulous about tracking every calorie. It was frustrating to engage in two to three times the recommended weekly physical activity, yet watch my weight steadily increase despite consuming fewer calories than I burned. After five years of using fitness trackers and logging meals, I've come to a firm conclusion:

Counting calories is not only ineffective for weight loss; it often leads to weight gain.

Many individuals have shifted from counting calories to tracking macronutrients, but even tools like MyFitnessPal and Noom frequently include calorie counts. Noom, for instance, categorizes food into color-coded sections—orange, yellow, and green—where green foods are essentially limitless, focusing on fruits and vegetables, while orange foods represent proteins, and the red (now orange) foods encompass fats and sweets. This categorization can create a restrictive mindset around food choices.

I found Noom beneficial in 2021 when I hit a weight loss plateau while managing my weight independently. While Noom aids many users, I suspect that those who rely on it for weight loss may regain the weight once they discontinue its use.

Regaining weight is often a matter of reverting to diets that promote harmful gut bacteria, leading to inflammation and metabolic issues. Though these "bad" foods vary for each person, after a week on Zoe Nutrition, I've identified two main categories that adversely affect gut health: refined carbohydrates and fats, often found together.

Wellness encompasses far more than merely balancing calories consumed with calories burned. A crucial aspect of wellness is a nourishing diet. Many individuals who are significantly overweight with metabolic diseases often insist that they eat healthily, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

To achieve not just weight loss but genuine health, it's vital to discover the right foods, meals, timing, and nutritional choices tailored to you and your microbiome. While I'm uncertain if the microbiome is the sole key to health and longevity, I believe it's a significant factor. Caring for one's microbiome is more crucial than merely counting calories.

It's essential to acknowledge that processed foods harm everyone’s microbiome. The detrimental microbes prevalent in our diets influence not only inflammation and metabolic health but also our mental well-being. Recently, I jokingly referred to a hypothetical "Twinkie microbe" that craves sugary snacks.

Reflecting on my past, I often felt terrible after indulging in heavy meals and rich desserts—both physically and mentally. These sensations are signals from our bodies indicating that we are not making optimal choices for our homeostasis.

During 2019 and 2020, I convinced myself that I was eating healthily while adhering to a "calories in/calories out" mentality. My active lifestyle—250 to 350 minutes of vigorous activity weekly—led me to treat myself nightly to a Reese’s Big Cup, which ultimately hindered my weight loss and contributed to gradual weight gain.

After realizing the negative impact of this habit, I chose to stop eating the Big Cup and joined Noom, embarking on a year-long journey with its color-coded food system and behavioral insights.

Here's a revelation: many individuals obsess over calorie counting, making it difficult for them to enjoy foods they perceive as unappealing, like kale or quinoa. However, if you avoid processed foods and fast food, you might be pleasantly surprised by the healthy options you come to appreciate—everything from fresh produce to basic proteins.

Our current food system has strayed so far from real nutrition that it parallels the effects of ineffective medications. The relentless focus on the "calories in/calories out" dogma, devoid of substantial evidence, has led to widespread misconceptions about effective weight management and health.

The processed food industry has successfully demonized dietary fats while promoting sugars, much like the tobacco industry once did. If medical professionals truly cared about health, they would prioritize education on the microbiome and holistic wellness rather than prescribing drugs.

To foster personal health, individuals should adopt diets that exclude processed foods and snacks. Instead of fixating on calorie counts, they should pay attention to how they feel after meals and throughout the day. These mindful practices not only benefit individual health but also contribute to a decrease in overall processed food consumption.

If interested, you can explore the Zoe Nutrition program, which provides real-time insights into your blood glucose and lipid responses, as well as an analysis of your unique gut microbes. The research backing Zoe stands in stark contrast to other profit-driven wellness apps.

The timing and order of meals significantly affect our microbiome. While I might have been able to enjoy a Reese’s Big Cup occasionally without issue, daily consumption led to an imbalance in gut microbes.

The calorie information prominently displayed on processed food packaging is misleading. An apple, averaging 95 calories, is not nutritionally equivalent to a 100-calorie pack of Oreos. While the apple contains more sugar, it also offers fiber—essential for gut health.

Weight gain and declining health are not solely about calorie consumption; they are primarily linked to inflammation, akin to suffering from constant internal burns. The myth of “just losing water weight” during initial dieting phases ignores the reality of nutrient depletion and muscle loss.

Interestingly, bathroom scales only became commonplace in the 1920s, and the rise of processed foods began around the same time. The obesity epidemic escalated in the 1980s, correlating with the introduction of highly processed diets.

The concept of calories emerged in the mid-19th century, initially to measure energy in explosives, and has since been misapplied to food. The early experiments that established this link failed to account for the complex interactions of gut microbes essential for digestion and overall health.

Ultimately, I am grateful to have liberated myself from the constraints of calorie counting and am eager to deepen my understanding of my microbiome and overall wellness.