You know the score…right!?

Want to ‘lose weight’? – then consistently consume less calories than you burn, that is the only thing you need to know about fat loss – agree?

Well, it is most certainly true that any single calorie from a food produce will supply a set amount of energy.

However, that does not mean we should completely ignore the nutritional values and quality of what we are eating, and only focus on “calories in VERSUS calories out”.

You see, our bodies respond to the types of food, and quality of that food, which we are eating!

Here are three things to consider when it comes to looking beyond just the calorie content of your food:

A. QUALITY:

Many people place so much focus on calories, that they forget to think about the nutrients they consume. All that we consume has some affect on our physical and mental health, from..

– sleep
– stress levels
– skin
– digestion

And we know that high stress levels (increased cortisol in the body), poor sleep etc can have a negative effect when trying to lose weight/fat.

By only focusing on calories, you could create a deficiency of key nutrients that keep the body functioning correctly.

B. PROTEIN:

If you are restricting your calories consumption without consuming enough protein, it will set you on a path to muscle loss.

However, protein is not only key for building and maintaining muscle, it also has a number of other roles to, such as…

– repair of body cells
– transportation of vital substances

It is also the most satiating macronutrient – meaning it will keep you fuller for longer.

C. SATIETY:

A Snickers bar is usually around the same amount of calories as 200g of chicken – but which of these two vastly different foods will keep you fuller for longer do you think?

Hint: It’s not the Snickers! And which do you think has more nutritional value?

Second Hint: It’s not the Snickers

You see, the body absorbs these foods at vastly different rates and they have different nutrients.

These differences affect your hunger, health weight and metabolic rate in different ways.

The general rule to follow is that highly processed foods are most often least satiating and are more likely to produce spikes in blood sugar levels.

As a result is is easier to overeat and binge on processed foods. (not good when your goal is fat loss!)

➡️MASSIVE POINT TO NOTE…⬅️

💥OVEREATING NUTRITIOUS FOODS WILL STILL CREATE FAT/WEIGHT GAIN!💥

Finally, you are eating great foods – so you can eat as much as you want, right!? WRONG!

It is most certainly still possible to eat too much of a “healthy” food.

This is certainly the case with foods like calorie-dense nuts or avocado for example.

If your goal is weight-loss, then portion control still needs to be applied even with these types of foods.

📲As always, any questions fire them over to ian@gymwolfpt.com

Ian
GymWolfPT