Why you should stop counting calories

Thin was "in" starting in the 1920's, and its been "body goals" ever since. We've spent decades shrinking the female body. From crazy diets like boiled eggs and coffee to lemonade cleanses, we've been told we are supposed to do X, Y, Z to stay skinny. If you've ever tried to lose weight, you've probably counted calories. And if you're a woman, you've probably fixated yourself on consuming 1,200 calories per day. (Weird fact: the majority of women I've spoken to about how many calories she thinks she should eat per day says 1,200 for no apparent reason). It seems like women have just "heard" over the years this is the goal number, but I digress....

So, here's my straight to the point list on why calorie counting doesn't work:

1. You probably don't know your RMR (resting metabolic rate). This is what your body needs to function and stay alive. Without this baseline, everything is just guessing.

2. Food labels are off by as much as 25% in either direction - that's a HUGE variance!

3. Your gym equipment is also off by as much as 25% (or more in some cases) with how many calories it's telling you you've burned. (Between this and the food labels we could be off by 50%!)

4. We all process and absorb food differently.