The Tyranny of the Calorie + the Hidden Cost of Counting
On the maniacal mental math that plagues us. Plus: GLP-1s, food noise, how a concept created for steam engines became a tool for controlling bodies, and is it possible to forget the numbers?
Oh, calories. You started as science, became a cultural obsession, and somehow ended up running our lives. But what are all these numbers really doing to us?
For a bit of context: Long before “eat this many calories” became a mealtime mantra, the calorie was never about food at all. It was born in the 1800s to measure the heat needed to power steam engines. A unit of energy, not morality. But by the early 1900s, scientists like Wilbur O. Atwater and the USDA decided to apply that same measurement to people—how much “fuel” we burn, how much “fuel” we should take in.1 And just like that, something designed to run machines was repurposed to manage bodies.
Even by the 1920s, counting calories had become a full-blown pastime, tied up with ideas of science, discipline, and shaping the “perfect” body. So when we say “calories,” we’re not just talking about energy—we’re talking about a system that turned our hunger, our pleasure, and our worth into math.
Which brings me to a question that I want to revisit: a calorie-driven Q&A from a while ago (maybe 2023?), but I’m adding some contextual updates, and bringing in some nuance that I feel wasn’t captured in my original response.
If you, too, are struggling with lingering mental math when you try to make food choices, I hope this helps give you the courage to let go—even just a little bit.
Angie wrote in:
Abbie!
Your podcast and newsletter have been a lifeline. Thank you for what you’re doing—it’s so needed.
I’m having a hard time letting go of calories – they seem to be stuck in my brain, memorized and unwilling to disappear. Admittedly, the knowledge of them is something I can’t let go of either, in that I’m still wary of eating too much. Do you have suggestions for how to stop the mental tallying? Is knowing the calories in foods really all that bad or a deterrent to healing my relationship with food? Because those numbers just don’t seem to want to leave my brain.
I really, really appreciate this question from Angie. I’m sending support and compassion, and of course, solidarity. Because Angie is absolutely not alone. Those numbers are so pesky—they lurk beneath food decisions, informed by decades of diet culture messages, even long after we’ve stopped deliberately tracking them.
Think about it: magazines in the 90s and 2000s glorifying a “day of eating” within some absurdly low number of calories. Diets and “lifestyles” that insist on obsessing over nutrition labels and ingredient lists. Perfectionistic thinking about food choices and portion sizes. Social media graphics showing two side-by-side meals—the “original” calorie amount versus the “lower-calorie” version. Weight loss medications that frame hunger as a problem. The normalization of meticulously measuring and weighing food to hit your macros. And now, restaurants plaster calories on menus while influencers flood our feeds with “what I eat in a day” posts. It’s everywhere, and it’s relentless.
At the same time, we’re witnessing a stark contradiction in our country: our administration’s refusal to feed millions of people who rely on food assistance programs to even access calories at all.
Calories are energy. They are not something to be feared, withheld, or weaponized—they are how we stay human. And yet, that’s not the reality we’re living in. For some, access is limited; for others, restriction is normalized. Either way, the message is clear—control your body, or go without.
Having anxiety around food—and an inability to release the deeply embedded numbers associated with it—is not a personal failure. It’s incredibly hard to let go of something that’s so pervasive. So first and foremost, give yourself grace. This takes time. You deserve to eat without overt or subliminal math equations consuming your precious time and energy. And yes, it’s possible for them to dissipate—I say this from personal experience and through supporting hundreds of clients in the same struggle.
(By the way: If calories have never been “your thing,” please keep reading. This applies to “points,” macros, and any rules you’ve learned over the years about “good” or “bad” foods.)
Here is what I’ve found to be helpful:
Understanding the limitations, dangers, and overall useless distraction of counting calories can help deprioritize them.
So let’s look at the truth about nutrition labels, the effects of tracking calories on our relationship with food, the differences in how our individual bodies respond to caloric intake, and why this relates to binge eating and “food noise.”
Let’s start with the numbers themselves—because the truth is, they’re not nearly as reliable as we’ve been led to believe. Calorie counts on food items are estimates at best, and they don’t accurately reflect