In order to achieve maximum results from your muscle-building or fat-loss programme, taking in the right amount of calories is essential

Your calorie balance is what will dictate whether you gain or lose body weight, making it incredibly useful to track this information. Unfortunately, there are a number of calorie-counting myths people fall for, that will cost them results in the long run. By making yourself aware of these myths, they won’t affect your progress.

Myth 1: There are negative-calorie foods
One major calorie-counting myth is that certain foods actually cause the body to expend more calories digesting them than they provide. The belief is that if you eat these foods, they will actually cause more weight loss than if you hadn’t eaten them in the first place.
Reality: While there are certainly foods that provide very few calories, especially once you factor in their dietary fibre content, there are no foods that will put you in a negative calorie balance.

Myth 2: If you exercise enough, you don’t have to count calories
Another calorie-counting myth is that if you exercise enough, you don’t need to count calories. Often, individuals who feel dragged down by regulating their calorie intake will attempt to lose body fat simply by training more.
Reality: Increasing your activity levels will cause the body to burn more calories and help in terms of total weight loss, but it’s important to keep in mind that the body can only handle so much exercise. At some point, it’s going to have difficulty recovering and if overtraining sets in, fat loss will stop.

Some men who have high amounts of muscle mass and a fast metabolism may get away with not regulating their calorie intake to a large extent, but there still must be some degree of moderation taking place. How much will depend on each individual.