It Turns Out That Home Cookin’ Really is Better

I recently stumbled across a video that immediately brought to mind a myriad of questions that get brought up by our weight loss patients. While we tend to focus on calorie counting during consultations, we often don’t have the chance to really dig into too much detail different types of foods. While there are many reasons that most of our food suggestions are “whole foods,” (by which I mean meals for which you buy ingredients and prepare yourself) the most important reason is the accuracy with which you can count calories.

As the following video, originally posted by the NY Times and author Casey Neistat, shows nutritional content labels on prepackaged foods are notoriously inaccurate. Using apps and journals is only as effective as the information that you input, so be careful as you count your calories and remember, if the nutritional content seems too good to be true, and you didn’t weigh out the ingredients yourself, there is a good chance that it is in fact not true.

Full credit to Author Casey Neistat and the NY Times Opdocs for the video content.

I don’t want this information to induce a calorie counting panic attack for our more meticulous patients, just be aware that if you want the tightest possible control over you Calories In/ Calories Out ratio, you will be better served making your own foods. Also, if you are trying your best and not seeing progress you might want to take a closer look at the details of the food you are consuming, you may actually be eating more than you think, and that’s not necessarily your fault.