Eating Is Not A Form Of Exercise

I've spoken before about negative calorie foods. The idea is that though all foods have calories, the overall effect of certain foods becomes negative because it apparently takes the human body more energy (calories) to digest these foods than the actual number of calories that are in them.

For reference, negative calorie vegetables include asparagus, beets, broccoli, green cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chicory, chili peppers, cucumbers, endive, garlic, lettuce, onions, papayas, spinach, turnip and zucchini.

Negative calorie fruits include apples, cranberries, grapefruit, lemons, mangos, oranges, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries and tangerines.

Some people have got the idea that if they eat negative calorie foods, they can use it as a form of weight loss and an alternative to exercise. Some people will also advocate that when counting calories, there is no need to include green vegetables as the number of calories is so small.

First off, eating is not a form of exercise. We all need to do exercise to help sculpt our bodies into our most desirable shape, taking into account any limitations placed on us individually by genetics. Also, should you be a calorie counter which I am, you do need to take everything into account. The reason being is that you also need to consider how many of each nutrient you are getting. Every food, whether it is a so-called negative calorie one or not, has some form of nutrient whether it be protein, carbs, fat, etc... If you're trying to make sure you get a certain amount of protein in your diet for example, you can't simply dismiss spinach when factoring in your calories and nutrients for the day.

My recommendation when tracking calories is to treat any form of food as energy and not to ignore it. And forget about the weight loss idea regarding negative calorie foods. At least until there is truly conclusive evidence. There are so many theories on the internet and in books regarding weight loss and many contradict each other. Rather than get confused, focus on the facts, like the whole calorie deficit idea. It is a fact that if you have a calorie deficit, you will lose weight! Wanna lose weight? Forget negative calorie foods and create a calorie deficit.