Low-Calorie Diet and Nutrients - Nutrition Tips - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Being on a low-calorie diet can actually be a problem. There are certain ways that you can go about a weight-loss programm, that are going to be more helpful to you, both on the physiological level and on the mental and emotional level, than being on a low-calorie diet. One of the key places that I see people go awry on this low-calorie diet is they start eliminating the whole group called fats. Fats are actually really essential. Your brain is almost all fat, just so you know. So important that you have some of that in your system. The question is what types of fats and how much. So when I am working with a client, rather than focussing on the caloric intake, because honestly, do you know what a calorie is? Most people do not. Forget the calorie part for now. It is a way of measure things that is kind of outside of our realm of day to day use. Think about what goes on your plate. What actually ends up in front of you on the table? That is a much better way to look at this as opposed to calories. Because I can tell you if I have had plenty of people come in and say: "This piece of chocolate cake was the same amount of calories as this dinner of chicken and spinach. So I thought I just eat the chocolate cake." Well, if you are only looking at it from a number standpoint, that seems to make a good trade. That four year old inside of you loves that idea. But really in terms of the nutrient content, you are better off with the chicken and spinach. It is not really about the calories, it is about what is bringing those calories. What is in those calories for you. The low-calorie foods, the food products that are designed to look like that chicken dinner, do nit have the same nutrient value that that chicken dinner does. So really what you want to look at is reducing the amount of what you are eating, rather than focusing in on the calories per se. Than you will be sure to actually get the nutrients your body is looking for. I always recommend real food first in reasonable quantities.