Minus 64 pounds: Blick reporter Luisa Ita, 27, lost weight by counting calories. Expert Lia Bally (34) evaluates how useful the method is. She is an endocrinologist and head of the Department of Nutritional Medicine, Metabolism and Obesity at Inselspital Bern. Bally explains that counting calories can be helpful for reaching a daily calorie goal as part of a weight loss diet. Calorie counting can work especially well if someone has a specific goal weight they want to lose. If you eat 500 fewer calories per day than you normally would, you will lose about half a pound per week.
One downside: Calorie tracking is expensive. “Every food item has to be checked and sometimes calculated.” Counting calories reduces quality of life. There are now many tools (a variety of apps) that make monitoring easier, says Bally.
exercise required
Along with counting calories, exercise is an important factor for long-term success. Without strength training, there is also the risk of losing muscle when you lose weight. “If you don’t exercise, about 25 percent of the weight lost is muscle,” says the expert. Another tip from the expert: “Not thinking about food too often can also help.”
Bally advises people of normal weight not to count calories: “The quality of the diet is a priority here.” So: Count calories only when needed so you don’t risk an eating disorder.
The expert is cautious when it comes to fast diets. “These so-called very low-calorie diets can only be undertaken under professional supervision and should be placed in a long-term strategy,” he says. In exceptional cases, such as overweight patients, the nutritionist prescribes special mixtures that meet the daily requirement of essential substances and make such a diet possible.