National Nutrition Week: Master calorie count for mindful eating with this expert guide

‘We are what we eat' said Ludwig Feuerbach - a German philosopher, in 1848. His words echo the profound influence nutrition has on the mind and body. Thus, analysing the science behind food consumption becomes imperative - as it empowers individuals to make informed decisions about their dietary choices.

In light of National Nutrition Week commencing in the first week of September, we investigate - mindful eating through calorie-conscious choices. The event was launched in March 1973 by members of the American Dietetic Association (now the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics) to promote nutritional education. India followed suit and launched the observance in 1982 to encourage people to adopt a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

Watching what we eat becomes crucial to maintaining a balanced intake of essential nutrients, managing weight effectively, and reducing the risk of chronic disease. Delving into this scientific landscape, Midday.com explored expert insights on calorie count to align with mindful eating.

Unravelling the concept of calorie count

As an overall strategy to achieve your fitness goals, calorie counting assumes a pivotal role, shares Ms Shilpa Joshi, a Mumbai-based nutritionist who develops scientific and personalised guidance around calorie-conscious meals and metabolic nutrition, at the health tech startup - Fitterfly.

Shilpa Joshi

This nutrition approach involves tallying the calorie count in each serving of the foods you consume, aiding in the arrangement of your meal plans. You have the option to consult with a dietitian to obtain the calorie content of different foods, or you can acquire books that detail the calories present in various servings of foods.

For pre-packaged meals, the nutritional labels on these items furnish information regarding calories per serving. The crux of successfully managing your weight lies in either curbing your calorie consumption or adhering to a targeted calorie goal determined by your body weight. This serves as a fundamental pathway towards attaining a healthy weight and subsequently sets the stage for achieving optimal fitness levels, adds Joshi.

How to effectively watch the calorie count

Opinions on calorie monitoring vary - while some advocate for precise calorie counting and meticulous measurement, others suggest estimating portions or tracking macronutrients, and still others endorse intuitive "listen to your body" methods. Here's the key takeaway: Each method works if executed well!

These approaches can be classified into the following:

Macro counting
Monitoring macronutrients is important to attain the desired blood sugar levels for individuals with diabetes. Indian diets are notably carbohydrate-rich, making it essential to regulate carbohydrate intake by meticulously tracking them in every meal. This practice contributes to the management of postprandial glucose levels, ultimately leading to reduced glycemic fluctuations and improved long-term glycated haemoglobin (HbA1C) levels.

Carb counting
This is a technique used in the management of type 1 diabetes. With this technique, it is possible to calculate the insulin doses for every meal and achieve near-normal blood sugar.

Fat counting
Fat counting has been a popular method used for weight management. It involves counting fats in the meals or snacks eaten and ensuring that levels of fat intake are kept to less than 30 per cent of the meal.

Hand portion tracking
This technique uses the hands as a measurement tool to gauge appropriate portion sizes of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and vegetables. As per international methods of food calculation, a well-rounded meal includes one of each of the following: palm = 1 portion of protein (meat/fish/poultry); closed fist = 1 portion of carbohydrates (grains and starches).

Mindful eating over militant tracking of calories

Depending upon where one is in their health journey, the intensity of tracking calories may vary. Mr. Nikhil Kapur who is instrumental in designing science-backed fitness regimes at Atmantan Wellness Centre, Mumbai. Often, people fall into the temptation of tight calorie monitoring and elevate their sense of anxiety around eating.

Nikhil Kapur

Kapur remarks that this obsession can be tackled. Militant tracking can be omitted and replaced with mindful eating habits with practice and discipline. There is nothing like obsessing over calories to ruin your meal experience. Mindful eating begins with you anticipating the nourishing food you are about to receive. The mental frame of mind should be that of food nurturing and sustaining you.

A few things to begin with:

1. Go gadget-free during meal times
2. Apportion time for your meals and avoid rushing through them
3. As a rule, eat at the right time to avoid missing meals causing hunger pangs and ravenous cravings
4. Instead of succumbing to fad diets, pick a diet that suits you. Acknowledge that every body type differs and diet is never one size fits all.
5. Always try to choose healthy meals or snack options that have zero preservatives, low salt and low sugar.
6. Also, welcoming the nourishment we are about to receive is the ideal frame of mind that needs to be honed meal after meal.

For wild snack cravings, Kapur likes to munch on fruits and mixed nuts. "I suggest keeping it light and healthy with muesli bars (non-processed), baked snacks (read the labels) with less salt, unsalted seeds, healthy substitutes for sugar and snacks with no preservatives. For example, amaranth ladoos and ragi ladoos.

Joshi adds that mindfulness mindful eating involves engaging sensory and emotional aspects to fully savour the food choices. Adopting a mindful approach to eating enables individuals to actively engage with the aromas, textures, flavours, and tastes of their meals. By tuning into personal preferences and aversions through these senses, it is possible to establish a deeper connection with the act of eating, leading to greater consciousness about the food consumed.

Determining the quality of calories

Understanding the significance of calories is important. However, it is equally important to understand the composition of these calories. When considering calorie intake, Joshi suggests opting for carbohydrate calories originating from whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits, as opposed to refined products like white flour, sugar, jaggery, and sago.

Similarly, when addressing fats, prioritise acquiring most of it from inconspicuous sources rather than relying heavily on oils, clarified butter (ghee), and butter. Concealed sources of fats include nuts and seeds, and these offer a more balanced nutritional approach.

Social situations and dining out can be challenging when trying to monitor the calorie quality. To navigate this, selecting an appropriate dining venue that offers healthier alternatives is the key. Joshi's hack for this is to decide on your food choices in advance. For instance, certain places excel in appetisers while others specialise in desserts.

It is advisable to opt for a focused selection when dining out - limiting your indulgence to a few items rather than consuming all three courses. A prudent approach would be to start with a salad and a non-cream-based soup before your main meal. It is also recommended to avoid going to the restaurant on an empty stomach. Consuming a small, wholesome snack prior to your outing can help prevent overindulgence and excessive consumption during your restaurant visit.

Key factors to determine individual calorie needs

As you grow older, your metabolism experiences a slowdown, leading to reduced calorie expenditure during periods of rest. People of an advanced age may need a lower caloric intake compared to their younger counterparts. "Gender also plays a role: men typically demand more calories than women due to their heightened muscle mass and increased energy consumption," shares Joshi.

When striving for weight loss, increasing your physical activity level enhances the quantity of calories your body expends for energy. By engaging in physical activities that utilise calories and concurrently reducing your calorie intake, a deficit is generated, thereby enabling weight loss.

Kapur shares factors to be considered while determining individual calorie intake:

Age
Sex
Lifestyle
Workout - both volume and intensity of workout
Deficiencies
Underlying health conditions
Health goals

Physical activity results in increased caloric expenditure. Thus, individuals who maintain a high level of physical activity, such as professional athletes, will find themselves in need of additional calories. However, for more common forms of recreational exercise, like going to the gym or participating in friendly sports matches, the demand for extra calories is generally not substantial.

Common pitfalls while monitoring calorie intake

Over the past few years, Kapur has been on various dietary protocols - sometimes for academic purposes and other times for his health reasons. In his experience, one of the most common issues that people have is that they tend to steer off their diet on a random day. Later, they try to recoup the calorie gains by rigorous dieting. This does more harm than good in the long run. What one needs to do in a situation like this is to step back and recalibrate their plan.
Additionally, sometimes we set unrealistic caloric goals for ourselves. Like any athletic event, the body needs to prepare for it. Similarly, you must also prepare for those caloric deficits. Even a cleanse at Atmantan is done gradually over a few days as the body prepares to go into a fasting mode. Even post-fasting the body should pace itself to normal intake. Shocking the system should not be in the form of sudden deprivations. Mindful eating habits will always triumph over impromptu diets.