Don’t know. Don’t care.
I used to care. A bit too much.
Did you ever find yourself competing with someone in a cycling class, just to see who would burn the most calories? And then feeling disappointed, even frustrated, when you were the one burning less, for the exact same suffering? I know I did.
I was even the teacher in those classes. And I remember how, when someone around my age and fitness level was burning more than me, it would actually upset me.
I’m the coach, I should burn more!
What a joke.
The number we blindly trust
The problem is, we give a lot of importance to a number that doesn’t really reflect what we think it does.
Calories burned, whether it’s on your watch or whatever device you are using, are just an estimates. They’re based on heart rate, weight, age, and general algorithms. But they don’t take into account your metabolism, your hormonal state, your level of fatigue, your recovery, or even how efficient your body is.
Two people can do the exact same session and end up with completely different numbers.
And there’s something even more interesting: the more trained you are, the more efficient your body becomes. Which means you might actually burn less calories for the same effort over time.
So chasing higher numbers isn’t necessarily a sign of progress. Sometimes, it’s the opposite.
Somewhere along the way, we lost the point
We all know working out is good for us. You need to move, you need to lift, you need some form of cardio.
But what if the root of it (doing this for our health) got lost in the whole “more kcal, more bpm, more orange zone” trend?
At some point, it stopped being about supporting the body… and started being about chasing numbers.
Your body is not a machine. It’s a survival system.
Your body is designed to keep you alive. It will constantly prioritize safety and balance, what we call homeostasis. Being stable, having everything in the right place at the right time. To get there, it needs very basic things: good sleep, hydration, nutrient-dense food, stable blood sugar, and manageable stress.
Sounds easy, right?
Yeah, not so much.
Stress is not just in your head
For a long time, I thought stress was mostly work-related. Deadlines, responsibilities, last-minute changes. Also the mental load of everyday life, managing things, thinking ahead, taking care of others, handling what needs to be done.
But there is so much more that fits under that umbrella.
Your body will feel stressed if its basic needs are not met:
Lack of sleep is stress - whether it’s not enough hours or not good quality sleep.
Dehydration is stress - and no, coffee doesn’t count, sorry.
Unstable blood sugar is stress - especially when it’s a full roller coaster all day.
Poor digestion is stress.
Under-eating or eating things your body doesn’t process well is stress.
All of this creates a physiological load.
And your body doesn’t differentiate between “mental” and “physical” stress. It just knows something is off, and it tries to adapt.
Yes, your workout is stress
Exercise is a a form of stress. A beneficial one, when your body has the capacity to respond and recover. But still, a stress.
So when you stack a full day of low sleep, mental load, dehydration, inconsistent meals and low energy… and then add a high-intensity workout on top just to burn calories, it doesn’t always land the way you think it will.
Sometimes, it just adds more to the load.
Let’s replay that cycling session
It’s 20:30. You gave everything.
You were out of breath most of the time, sweating until it literally looked like a little lake under your bike. Your watch says you burned 647 kcal - more than your friend, more than the coach.
Yay you !!
…Yay you !?
Let’s rewind your day for a second.
How much water did you drink today? (again, coffee doesn’t count.)
You were sitting most of the day, right? Did you even see daylight?
Your kid was sick last night? So… not much sleep.
Lunch? Just a sandwich?
It’s okay. Life happens. Of course it does.
But now the question becomes: was that workout actually supportive… or just another stress on top of everything else?
Burning more is not the goal
We don’t need to constantly burn calories.
We need to shift the question to: what does my body need today?
Because almost « stealing » 600 kcal from an already stressed and tired body… and calling it a win, is not always supportive, even if it looks impressive on your watch.
Train hard. Support harder.
I’m not saying stop doing those cycling/hiit/wod. I love cycling. I love cardio. I love lifting.
And if you love doing those intense sessions, those crazy Hyrox races with your friends, keep doing them.
But give your body the means to actually handle them.
If those things bring you joy, then support your body so it can keep up with what you love.
Give it sleep.
Give it hydration.
Give it real food.
Give it recovery.
Because yes, those sessions are intense. They’re demanding. They ask a lot from your body.
So meet it halfway.
You only get one body
It’s your best friend for life.
And the goal is not to constantly push it to exhaustion just to hit a number.
The goal is to take care of it, so it can carry you, support you, and allow you to keep doing the things you love for a long time.
So no, I don’t know how many calories I burned. And I don’t care.
Not because the number is completely useless.
But because it was never really the point.
