By Madison Headen
Diet culture is becoming a trend due to the growing popularity of social media’s “fitness influencers”. A common idea that is being presented to viewers is that if one counts their calories and keep these calories within a certain number, then they will lose weight. The idea of calorie counting is something that could work for someone who is trying to diet. However, it is important to take into account the different factors that are involved with everyone’s individual metabolism.
Genes make up a big part of how the body metabolizes calories. Twin studies have shown that different sets of twins will gain different amounts of weight when being fed the same amounts of calories with the same amount of physical activity. This is important to note because many people strive to eat the same exact foods and portions as celebrities and influencers because they believe that by doing so, they will look the same as them. In reality, everyone’s body is completely different and how much we should eat is very dependent on our basal metabolic rate.
The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns daily without any physical activity (energy used for heart, lungs, kidneys, etc.). BMR is dependent on many factors such as BMI (body mass index), muscle mass, genetics, age, health, stress, and thyroid hormone activity. Since so many aspects are involved, everyone’s BMR is going to be drastically different. Therefore, we each should be making our own diet with our own calorie counts that are specific to ourselves.
Physical activity is also something that should be considered when deciding how many calories one should eat in a day. Physical activity burns energy in our body and when we burn too much energy, we need more calories to make up for this. In addition to the expenditure of energy during physical activity, having more muscle mass actually increases one’s BMR. So, people who spend more time lifting weights are going to metabolize their food a lot faster than those with little muscle mass, and they will need to eat more to account for this.
When putting food in your body, it is also important to focus on quality just as much as quantity. When people jump on the counting calories trend, it is very easy for them to focus on the number of calories instead of the nutritional value of what they are eating. If someone were to eat a sufficient number of calories from the same exact source all day, then they would feel full but they would be putting themselves at risk for nutrient deficits. The body needs so many different nutrients and you can’t get them all from eating the same thing all day. Everyone’s diet needs a balance of both calories and nutrients so that the body is getting the energy that it needs to function along with all of the macromolecules, vitamins, and minerals that we need to survive.
Social media has inspired so many people to live healthier lifestyles, but it also has a habit of leaving out a lot of crucial information. It must be stressed to the public that obtaining all of the proper nutrients is so important for the body and its functionality. I feel that there also needs to be more information on social media that addresses how everyone’s bodies are so incredibly different so that people will not try to mimic the same exact diets that celebrities and influencers are promoting. While counting calories is a good way to control intake while dieting, it is so important to do this method correctly. To do this correctly, everyone must understand their personal body composition and BMR so that they can eat according to their specific personal needs.
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