Stephanie Cuesta
Holistic Health & Fitness Coach · CHEK Institute Certified
STOP COUNTING CALORIES
Hi, I'm Stephanie Cuesta. After more than a decade in investment banking, I learned the hard way that no amount of success matters if your body is struggling, so now I work as a Holistic Lifestyle Coach helping people rebuild their relationship with their health. I work with clients through private 1:1 coaching, online workshops and retreats, on the things that actually shape how you feel day to day: nutrition, movement, sleep, stress, hormones, energy and aging well.
I'm genuinely happy to be sharing what I've learned here, and grateful to vyvo for opening the door. Passing on knowledge that can help someone, wherever they are on their own health journey, is the part of this work I care about most, so being given the space to do it means a lot. Today I want to start with one topic in particular, because it's one I had to unlearn myself.
I dedicate this article to all the people who have put calorie counting as a priority in their lives. Or to all those who have already been counting calories obsessively.
I went through this myself, and believe me, everything got better (my mental health, my fitness, my energy levels) when I stepped back from it. In my own experience, treating calories as the whole story held me back, and I've come to see a lot of the calorie messaging we grow up with as something worth questioning rather than taking at face value. So I decided to write something about it, to share why I changed my own mind.
1. It's Not How Many Calories, But What Kind
Never before have human beings been so overweight as in today's society. What convinced me, looking at the research and at my own life, is that it doesn't seem to come down simply to people eating more. For me it became much more about the TYPE of food on the plate than the number on a label.
The foods I personally minimise are refined carbohydrates: sugars (primarily fructose), grain-based foods and sodas. My understanding is that these affect insulin, one of the body's main fat-regulating hormones, far more than fats and proteins do, and that's the reasoning I follow in my own choices.
This is why I no longer believe, for myself, that one calorie simply equals another. Two meals with the same calorie count can sit very differently with me depending on what they are made of. I'd rather put my attention on the quality and the nutrients than on the count.
The one I'm most cautious about is fructose, which I understand the body converts to fat readily, and which turns up as a cheap sweetener in most processed foods. I keep mine low as a personal rule of thumb rather than a prescription for anyone else, and if you live with diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol or hypertension, that's a conversation for you and your doctor, not a number from a blog.
2. Replace Bad Carbs with Healthy Fats
We have been told for a long time that fat makes us fat and raises cholesterol. My own view has moved away from that, and I think the wider conversation is slowly shifting too.
I am not talking about the fats I personally avoid: trans fats, margarine, canola oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, soy or corn oil. Those are the ones I leave out.
I am talking about the fats I've come to rely on, the ones that, for me, brought back energy and a sense of wellbeing:
- —Olive oil and olives
- —Coconut oil
- —Avocados
- —Raw grass-fed butter
- —Grass-fed meat and pasture-raised poultry
- —Wild-caught salmon
In my experience, good fats keep me fuller for longer and leave me steadier through the day. That, more than any calorie figure, is what I notice in my own body.
3. It's Not About Calories In vs. Calories Out
When I wanted to change my body, what worked for me was not cutting calories and adding hours on the treadmill.
Movement is life, and moving your body in a functional way is part of my daily habits. But I personally found long cardio sessions counter-productive. They left me more stressed, not leaner, and my own sense is that the stress side of it works against you. Shorter, well-designed strength sessions have been far more effective for me.
The way I now understand it, fat storage and fat loss have far more to do with hormones than with a simple calories equation. The carbs I named above are the ones I see disrupting that balance for me, including the signals that tell you you've had enough to eat. That's the lens I use, offered as my reasoning rather than as settled fact.
And here is the part I most want you to hear. I spent months of my life living on around 600 calories a day, on only low-fat foods. I was very skinny, but I was skinny fat. No muscle, no energy, and I wasn't losing any more weight either. I had pushed my body badly out of balance, and it took me a long time of living well, eating properly, to recover. I share that not as a method but as the mistake I'm warning you away from. Please don't go there.
4. What to Focus On Instead
If you want to feel better in your body: stop making the calorie number the point.
Count the chemicals instead, if you want to count something. What I focus on now is:
- —Nutrient-dense whole foods
- —Good amounts of healthy fats and proteins
- —Good carbs like vegetables
- —Organic where I can manage it
- —Balancing my hormones
Focus on being HEALTHY, rather than being skinny. That shift is the one that changed everything for me.
And step away from the programs and ads that make you feel you are not good enough because you don't look a certain way. So often, to sell you something you don't need, they create a problem you don't have. Move on from that.
If you are struggling with any kind of eating disorder, please start by stopping the consumption of weight-loss content altogether, including this kind. You are worth so much more than a number. Love yourself enough to stop the self-beating, and reach out to someone who can properly support you.
By caring for your mental, physical and emotional health, things tend to fall into place. Even your weight.
In Health and Happiness,
Stephanie
Stephanie Cuesta is a contributor to vyvo. She co-leads women's wellness retreats with Prana Lou and works with clients on integrative, sustainable health. Her perspective is her own.
Website: https://stephcuesta.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephcuesta/
