Everyone is looking for secrets to how to lose weight and everyone also knows that diet is a big part of reaching your body weight goals. Even if you are not trying to lose weight but want to maintain or improve health such as lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. nutrition is key. So this blog post will hopefully correct the myth that there are such things as healthy or unhealthy foods. This belief puts people into a trap that ultimately inhibits following a healthy diet. But wait, how can you follow a healthy diet if there are no such things as healthy foods. Here is how:
It is all about the QUANTITY. Nutrition is essentially just a numbers game it is really just math. If you are familiar with The Weight Watchers program then you know it is all based off of points. Whoever made this program is a genius and just took the numbers already associated with foods and simplified it down into a point system. So what do I mean it is all based on numbers. 1. All foods are broken down into the same nutrients Foods are broken down into the same macro and micronutrients it does not matter whether those nutrients come from a salad or burger. For example, there is no difference in polyunsaturated fat (the “healthiest” kind of fat to eat) from a salad vs. a burger all that changes is the amount. A burger is commonly referred to as being unhealthy because of its QUANTITY of calories, saturated fat (the “unhealthy” fat), sodium, and cholesterol. But what if you are protein or calorie deficient would a salad really be the “healthier” option for you? No, you would want the protein and calories. That is because a healthy diet is relative and based on each individual’s numerical needs. 2. Weight loss and gain is all based on the number of calories you eat. Proteins, fats and carbs are all considered macronutrients. Macronutrients all contain Calories (Proteins and carbs contain 4 Calories per gram, while fat contains 9 Calories per gram). But do not be fooled, there are some differences in how each macronutrient is metabolized, but without getting into the biochemistry, the basic science is that excess Calories equals excess fat. It does not matter if they come from fats, carbs, or proteins if your energy needs are met you will begin storing calories as adipose tissue, which is what people refer to as fat. 3. What is the math of weight loss and gain? Even if you did not like math in high school or college, the math to calculate weight gain and loss is easy enough for anyone to do. One pound of fat equals 3,500 Calories. There are seven days in a week. 3,500 divided by 7 equals 500 calories. So, for every 500 calories you eat less than the number of calories you burn in a day equals weight loss of one pound per week. And vice versa eating 500 calories over your requirements per day means you will gain 1 pound a week. You can find an estimate of you daily calorie expenditure at https://tdeecalculator.net/. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds then plan on eating 500 Calories fewer per day and expecting the weight loss to take about 10 weeks or doubling it and eating 1000 fewer calories and expecting it to take 5 weeks. It is not recommended to lose more than 2 pounds per week. 4. Quality and Quantity, not Quality vs. Quantity So we discussed that there are no such things as healthy or unhealthy foods. The issue with this belief is that many people will believe that as long as they are eating “healthy” foods then they are safe. It is very much possible to eat too much of “healthy” foods. For this reason quantity should always be taken into consideration no matter what. So, I encourage you to pick food options that align with your health goals, but to always look at the nutrition facts and keep count. Portion control is essential to healthy eating. Healthy eating can be difficult for many people and this blog post just scraped the bottom with the first step in following a healthy diet. Being aware of how much you are eating is just as important if not more important than what you are eating. Eating healthy does not mean that you can not have dessert, it means that if you are trying to lose weight you should limit and control how much calorie dense foods, which most desserts are, you consume, but you do not by any means have to cut them out all together, and do not eat 5 servings of salad just because salads are considered “healthy” always look at the nutrition facts to make sure your serving sizes align with your goals. Nutrition takes time and patience to plan, measure, and keep track of your meals, but in the end it is worth it by providing you with the results you want. I hope you enjoyed this post feel free to sign up for email reminders of new blog posts and to contact me if you have any questions or concerns, thank you for your time.
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