Counting calories can undoubtedly be a practical way to understand how much to eat and to keep weight under control. But counting calories also has drawbacks. In fact, the obsession with  counting calories in a diet can lead to considering foods only for the calories they provide, and not for the nutrients.

But many calorie-rich foods also have many nutrients, for example aged cheeses, nuts or oily fruit. Not only these foods provide us with a share of fats, but vitamins, especially fat-soluble, and precious trace elements.

For example, dehydrated fruit such as plums or dates are obviously very sugary, providing no less than 300 or 400 calories per 100 grams. But it also provides zinc, selenium, copper. Counting calories then becomes useless if done roughly . For example, if we do not weigh the food, estimating the calories by eye for everything, or we underestimate the calories of a teaspoon of almond or peanut butter, or a teaspoon of Nutella. Little does not mean anything, and often these pasty creams reach 20 grams in weight per teaspoon!

In addition  , 100 calories of crackers or 100 calories of chicken will be assimilated and burned differently and will give us different nutrients .
In fact, if calories were everything, a 1200 calorie diet would be valid whether we ate legumes, cereals and lean meats or if we only ate snacks.

So is counting calories a useless obsession?  I am half convinced.

I believe that counting calories is not the most effective way to lose weight, and that considering calories as the only measure of staying fit is wrong. Food is not calories and calories themselves are a unit of measurement, then used to indicate the energy intake of one gram of a nutrient.

Plus  , everyone is able to cut calories to lose weight. And get fat again as soon as you eat more. And go back to cutting calories. And re-fat, etc.