Eat a Lot & Still Lose Weight

COUNTING CALORIES IS NOT THE ANSWER

The solution to obesity is not to eat less, but to eat more (of the right food). Here's how to eat a lot and still lose weight! If you live in the Western world, you’ve mostly likely been struggling with your weight at some point in your life. As of this year, 2 out of 3 Americans are overweight or obese and other countries seem to follow this trend. Even though doctors and the media have been trying to help us shed a few pounds, it’s somehow not working. Their mantra is that we should “eat less and move more”. If this caused sustainable weight loss, we would never struggle while being on restrictive diets and be already thin by now. But we need enough food to get through the day. So how can we eat a lot and still lose weight?

However, it has been shown that addition, specifically adding foods that are low in calorie density, is the best strategy for losing weight. Long term studies on low calorie dense diets have shown that those who made the greatest reductions in the calorie density of their diet lost the most weight. They also consumed the most volume and weight of food, which helped them to control hunger and keep them satisfied. Additionally, they also had the healthiest diets with the highest increases in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and the greatest decreases in fat and saturated fat. So they ate more food, were more satisfied, lost more excess weight, and lowered their disease-risk without restricting or counting calories. It almost sounds too good to be true! The secret to understanding this is to understand the principles of calorie density. So let’s take a closer look.

WHAT IS CALORIE DENSITY?

Calorie density is simply a measure of the concentration of calories in a food. The higher the calorie density, the higher the concentration of calories packed into the food bite for bite. This is an excellent indicator of how easy it is to overeat on a food, because the more calories that are packed into a food per bite, the more likely we are to overeat on that food. Foods that are low in calorie density, like fruits and vegetables, don’t pack a lot of calories per bite. They are stuffed not with calories, but with water and fiber, making them bulky (and therefore more filling), which allows us to lose weight without going hungry. On the other hand, foods that are high in calorie density, like cake or burgers, are stuffed with lots of calories per bite, with very little bulk (making them less filling), which can lead to an overconsumption of calories.

Checkout some of our other Personal Training and Fitness Tips.

1. LOW CALORIE DENSITY All unprocessed or minimally processed fruits and vegetables, such as apples, bananas, berries, kale, zucchini, and bell peppers. You can eat freely of these foods.
2. MODERATE CALORIE DENSITY All unprocessed or minimally processed starchy vegetables like peas and corn, intact whole grains like brown rice and oats, and legumes like beans and lentils. You can eat a relatively large portion of these foods.
3. HIGH CALORIE DENSITY More processed plant-based foods like bagels, dry cereal, bread, tortillas, and dried fruit. Limit the consumption of these foods.
4. VERY HIGH CALORIE DENSITY Nuts and seeds, oils and fats, chocolate, and junk foods. Greatly limit or avoid the consumption of these foods. The first 2 groups (low and moderate in calorie density) should make up the majority of your calorie intake. But the ratio of vegetables or fruits to starches can also be an important factor.
We all know that eating a large bowl of lettuce might fill up your stomach, but it will keep you hungry at the same. So make sure to combine your low calorie dense foods with some starches from the second category in order to feel satiated and have enough energy to move around and follow your passions.

You might have recognized that there are no animal-based foods in our 4 categories. This is because you need to remember that these should not be seen as food, since they are very harmful to your overall health and our planet. If you want to eat some chocolate or a burger, then choose the plant-based version and you will be just fine.

The take-away.
Actually, this is one part of a whole concept. Putting all of what we know about easy and healthy weight loss on a plant-based diet into this one page just wouldn’t be possible!

… Just do something. The results will Come!!!!

Call Steve, In-Training Sports | 561-281-8330
In Training Sports
www.intrainingsports.com
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West Palm Beach, FL 33409