As a personal trainer of many years, I am quite familiar with the concept of calorie counting, having dabbled in it myself on-and-off over the years. I can comfortably say that it has become very much a standardised and mainstream concept. Unfortunately, however, it does not tend to account for the physiological changes and subsequent shifts in nutritional requirements that occur within each and every month as a woman.

To be clear, calorie counting itself is a phenomenal tool that allows for people to be aware of how much they are ingesting on any given day, so that they can better manage their weight and potential fitness goals. It allows for people to develop a sense of awareness of basic nutritional requirements (on a macro level – protein, carbs, and fats), and it provides the opportunity to be aware of how varying amounts of food consumption affects the body.

Multiple approaches to calorie counting exist, including ‘If it fits your macros, or IIFYM’, the ‘5:2 diet method’, ‘intermittent fasting’ and ‘calories in vs calories out’. The principle of any approach is to ensure you are consuming just enough of each macronutrient, namely protein, carbohydrates, and fats, in order to meet your daily requirements based off your individual starting point and end goal (be it body composition or fitness related).

Regardless of any approach, the concept is that within each day and/or week, you are consuming the same amount of calories (whether or not these calories are broken down into specific macronutrients or not).

But as a woman, this ‘same week in, same week out’ approach is actually counter-productive..!

As a woman myself, and as someone who has studied naturopathy, it is so important for me to make clear to ANY woman who is interested in counting calories, that:

• Our nutritional requirements as women vary throughout each month!

This is because our menstrual cycle, which occurs across a 28-day cycle (this is a generic example length, and yours may be different), involves various shifts of a number of hormones including estrogen, throughout each week of that 28-day cycle. These hormonal shifts affect our mood, our ability to think analytically, our social tendencies, our energy levels, and so much more. Our chemistry literally changes week-to-week across any given month, and this means that our nutritional needs vary as a result.

Have you ever noticed that in the week or so after your period, you feel lighter, more energetic, overall more content in life, and are less reliant on food? Have you noticed too that in the week or so leading up to your period, you are more lethargic, potentially grumpier, maybe battling getting sick, and somewhat hungrier? Not to mention any cravings that may come up around that time – usually for things like sugar, chocolate, and other such snacks and treats.

These shifts in hunger cues and associated cravings, are the result of your current hormonal profile at any point in time across your cycle. Specific examples include:

• Your metabolism (the rate at which you digest and utilise food) increases slightly during the time leading up to your bleed, and decreases slightly just after your bleed;

• Your mood is more stable just after your bleed, as opposed to just beforehand (which can be managed by the types of food we eat);

• On a biochemical level, the shifts in hormones along with the changes in levels of certain vitamins and minerals, means that we require an increase in certain vitamins and minerals at various points across each cycle. We definitely require more iron during and just after our bleed.

• Estrogen levels are affected by the types of foods we eat. Hormonal imbalances can be exacerbated if we are not careful of how much phytoestrogens we are eating through foods (like soy products), especially at times within our cycle when our estrogen levels are already higher.

• Women need to eat adequate amounts of each macronutrient in order to sustain healthy fertility levels. If any calorie counting model followed does not allow for adequate consumption of any macronutrient, this can have profound negative effects on fertility.

• Optimal gut health and physiological functioning in general requires that we eat a varied and whole-foods-based diet. This helps minimise food intolerances, and ensures we are getting our required micronutrients at any point in time.  

To bring this back to calorie counting models, often times calorie counting models are extremely basic in their design, in the sense that they are modelled off a specific number calculated based on a generic calculation.

This generic number often-times does NOT take into account specifics of a person’s physiology other than basic height and weight (BMI). It does not take into account specifics such as lean muscle mass, individual metabolism, accurate total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), or any hormonal shifts experienced as a woman.

Of course, awareness is a huge part of this equation, and an easy initial ‘fix’ is to manipulate calorie counting to account for slightly more calories consumed at certain times of your menstrual cycle than at other times. This is something I personally do whenever I am actively counting my own calories.

The other part of the equation not often involved in any calorie-counting model, is that micronutrients are SO important ALWAYS for optimal functioning as a human. This is regardless of your gender, and it is often missed when calorie counting is utilised.

Being aware of which nutrients your body requires more of at any given point in your cycle, allows for you to incorporate whole-foods that can match those requirements, so your body can do its thing with ease!

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There is so much more to this conversation! Hopefully, though, this has provided enough information for you to make more informed decisions around calorie counting within your own life, and how to make it work best for you.

For more information on the hormonal shifts that occur within each month for women, check out my blog ‘Women Shouldn’t Live Their Lives Like Men’.

Mon xx