Wanting to lose weight is very common, everywhere you look there is a new book/exercise program/food plan that claims it will work for you, even if nothing has in the past. Most people see weight loss as cut and dry; you lose weight by eating less and working out more, it's a simple math equation of calories in is less than calories out.
Unfortunately, It's not that simple. The type of calories you are putting in your body causes your body to react and burn energy (aka calories) a certain way. A 100 calorie cookie and a 100 calorie salad are very different even though they have the same number, that's why counting calories doesn't always work.
A 100 calorie cookie results in happiness, not gonna lie. But the reason everyone loves cookies so much is because sugar triggers the pleasure part of your brain. While cookies make you happy in that moment, they also cause a sugar rush; your body releases extra insulin to breakdown and store the sugar. The overload of sugar you ingested can't all be used right then for energy so it ends up being saved for later. Who eats just one cookie? No one. The sugar in the cookie makes you crave even more sugar which results in a cycle, that while it tastes good in the moment, it isn't good in the long run.
On the flip side, A 100 calorie salad might not (for most people) bring the initial happiness a cookie does; it makes your insides happy which is more important. Salad contains a lot of vitamins, fiber, and depending on what is in your salad, can provide a multitude of other benefits. These benefits are long term and have to do with lowering cholesterol, keeping your system functioning right, filling you up so you don't need to eat as much, and decreasing your chances of experiencing chronic diseases.
Calories are just numbers, but the quality of your calorie intake really influences your body and how it functions.
Unfortunately, It's not that simple. The type of calories you are putting in your body causes your body to react and burn energy (aka calories) a certain way. A 100 calorie cookie and a 100 calorie salad are very different even though they have the same number, that's why counting calories doesn't always work.
A 100 calorie cookie results in happiness, not gonna lie. But the reason everyone loves cookies so much is because sugar triggers the pleasure part of your brain. While cookies make you happy in that moment, they also cause a sugar rush; your body releases extra insulin to breakdown and store the sugar. The overload of sugar you ingested can't all be used right then for energy so it ends up being saved for later. Who eats just one cookie? No one. The sugar in the cookie makes you crave even more sugar which results in a cycle, that while it tastes good in the moment, it isn't good in the long run.
On the flip side, A 100 calorie salad might not (for most people) bring the initial happiness a cookie does; it makes your insides happy which is more important. Salad contains a lot of vitamins, fiber, and depending on what is in your salad, can provide a multitude of other benefits. These benefits are long term and have to do with lowering cholesterol, keeping your system functioning right, filling you up so you don't need to eat as much, and decreasing your chances of experiencing chronic diseases.
Calories are just numbers, but the quality of your calorie intake really influences your body and how it functions.