After discussing the post from the other day on Calorie balance and weight loss with a couple clients, I came to the conclusion, that as complicated as nutrition for fat loss can be, it can all be summed up in this statement:
"Liberally feed your lean muscle mass and judiciously starve your body fat stores."Straight forward enough? Most people eat a bunch of junk(>50% of their total Calories are from refined carbohydrates) that stimulates storage of body fat. When they want to lose weight, they simply restrict their total food intake (including the good Calories that your muscles need). They don't know that, inevitably, they are setting themselves up to fail because they are losing lean body mass. They are creating an 'internal starvation' for their lean body mass, while still growing their body fat stores. As I discussed in the previous nutrition post, the 'Calories in/Calories out' equation changes, and total weight loss plateaus (because they are starving their lean body mass).
So, take time to ensure you are getting high-quality Calories and hold off on the low-quality Calories. Simply starving yourself won't work.
2 comments:
Dan- Again, I want to thank you for these posts on nutrition. I find it all fascinating. It has really helped me change the way I look at food. I now see food as fuel for my body. The information you have provided has caused me to constantly ask myself, "is that food going to give my body fuel or energy or is it going to get stuck in my body fat stores"? I don't want to knowingly add to my fat stores, so I say, "no" to those types of foods and it really is not that hard to do.
That does not mean that I never have a treat, but it is much easier to limit them knowing what will happen once they are in my system.
I am now starting to apply this knowledge to what I offer my children to eat and slowly making changes for them too. WOW, they were eating a lot of refined sugar.
Thanks for the info! I always heard you and others say, "higher protein, lower refined carbs", but your explanations for "WHY" has been eye-opening and has motivated me to make permanent changes. Not a diet, but smart eating!
Jen
Jen,
Glad the information is helpful for you. The hard part is getting the good food. The bad stuff is everywhere (and it is marketed as good food, too).
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