Recipe Disclaimer: Calories Don't Count Themselves

As an RD I often find myself the victim of nutrition prejudice... meaning that folks I encounter assume that I never cook, eat or recommend any high-calorie, high-fat foods. And while the assumption is based in logic (I truly DON'T believe a diet should be based on those types of foods), I feel it necessary to call attention to one fundamental principal of healthy weight management that particularly comes into play as people peruse my recipe section.

Calories Count, But They Don't Count Themselves.

So what does that mean?

It means that it's always up to the individual to be mindful of "how much" you eat, not just "what" you eat. In fact, I'd argue that from a weight control standpoint, the former may be more important than the latter. We all know the person who cuts out all fat from their diet, or all meat from their diet, or all carbohydrate from their diet or all... you get the picture... only to find themselves on an uphill battle.

Peel back the onion so to speak, and what you uncover is that these same folks forget the basic principal that if calories in don't equal calories out, weight gain ensues. Period. No arguments.

That's exactly why not every recipe I develop is trimmed uber-thin of fat and calories. I especially use this principal in what I consider to be "already occasional foods"... desserts, etc. No matter how many grams of fat you trim from cakes and cookies, they're still cakes and cookies. Granted, you can make them better, but if you sacrifice taste to the point that people aren't satisfied after eating them and continue to eat more, what's the point? My thought is improve them, don't sacrifice taste but lastly, practice portion control.

That last part warrants repeating... practice portion control.

So if a recipe or two finds its way to this site that one might not normally expect on an RDs site, I make no apologies. Instead I encourage those as the best places to count your way to a better weight.

~Regan