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Calories have a terrible reputation, and it's costing us. This week, I make the case that calories deserve a PR revamp: they're not the enemy, they're your body's life force. I'll get into why almost everyone under-counts what they eat, why that's a design feature of being human rather than a personal failing, and why it's actually good news if fat loss comes down to calories and not your hormones. Compassion-first, shame-free, and backed by the research.

The research (sources)

• Lichtman et al. (1992) — obese subjects under-reported intake by ~47% and over-reported exercise by ~51%; metabolic rates were normal. NEJM. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1454084/
• Champagne et al. (2002) — registered dietitians under-reported by 223 cal/day; non-experts by 429 cal/day. J Am Diet Assoc. https://www.jandonline.org/article/S0002-8223(02)90316-0/abstract
• Bajunaid et al. (2025) — largest doubly-labeled-water dataset to date; the general population misreports intake by ~27%. Nature Food. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-024-01089-5
• Storz & Ronco (2025) — among 18,150 adults, dieters under-reported nearly twice as often as everyone else (23% general population vs. 44% of low-carb dieters). Current Developments in Nutrition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12538426/
• Tooze et al. (2004) — fear of negative evaluation was a top predictor of under-reporting, especially in women. Am J Clin Nutr. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15113717/

A note before you listen

This episode talks about calories directly, including the small bites and tastes that add up over a day. It's meant to take the fear out of the subject, not add to it. But if numbers are a tender spot for you right now, take what serves you and leave the rest.