There are a million and two fad diets out there, like the carnivore diet, vegan diet, plant-based diet, Atkins, keto, etc. While these diets have been shown to help with weight loss, are they sustainable ways to help you lose and keep weight off? Energy is what we are all made of; it's what we consume and excrete when we move our bodies. Energy comes in calories, but what kind of calories matters? Whole, nutrient-dense foods contain the nutrients your body needs to heal and rejuvenate your mind and body. Whereas just calories from, let's say, a donut will provide you with energy, it comes with a cost. Today, in this article, I will explain to you the importance of an energy-balanced diet and how this can sustainably improve your chances of weight loss.
Is A Calorie Really Just A Calorie?
No, a calorie is not just a calorie. A calorie is a unit of food energy; this unit of energy is what determines how our body responds to energy stimuli. When we consume calories in the form of food like candy, donuts, bread, and cereals, we consume a calorie in the form of a refined carbohydrate. In the short term, it is used as immediate energy. Carbs are the fastest forms of energy used because they are the quickest to break down in the body during a state of movement. This helps the body preserve protein and fat as they are used more for recovery and replenishment. When we consume foods that are high in carbohydrates and are not active, this causes the sugar content to spill over into our bloodstream and slow down our metabolic rate. Slowing down our metabolic rate causes us to store excess carbohydrates as fat, especially in the form of refined carbohydrates like the foods listed above. Nutrient-dense carbohydrates like fruit, vegetables, sprouted grains, and seeds contain vitamins, minerals, bacteria, and fiber that help the body rejuvenate, heal, and energize itself. These forms of carbohydrates improve your body's metabolic rate. The difference here is how the forms of energy are used in the body; again, candy and processed foods are just units of energy, whereas whole foods contain nutrients that help to replenish your energy.
In a study of over 120,000 healthy women and men spanning 20 years, researchers determined that weight change was most strongly associated with consuming potato chips, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and processed and unprocessed red meats. The researchers concluded that consuming processed foods higher in starches, refined grains, fats, and sugars can increase weight gain.
This study demonstrates that calories matter in refined, processed energy forms. Weight loss and weight management happen when we consume calories in the form of high-quality foods. Why? These foods contain nutrients that our body needs to heal properly and recover. We store excess calories as fat because our bodies can't identify what to do with these forms of energy. After all, they have no nutrient content; they have energy.
What Is The Importance Of Avoiding Processed Foods
Processed foods have been the center of many trends in the last few years, discussing the harmful effects of eating ultra-processed cereals, candies, sodas, energy drinks, and more. What is the real problem with these foods, and why should you avoid them? These foods contain fortified and artificial ingredients that your body can't process completely, making them inflammatory for your body. Your body can only identify nutrients and utilize energy. Yes, processed foods contain calories, which are a form of energy, but the problem lies in the quality and form of energy they present. When they present refined sugar and carbohydrates, this causes your body's insulin to spike, especially in a stressed-out mental state, and when this is the majority of average Americans' diet, this is where diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and so much more stem from.
Ultra-processed foods comprise fortified wheat, soy, and corn, all of which are inflammatory to our microbiome. These crops are sprayed religiously with glyphosate, a chemical associated with causing cancer. This causes phytochemicals to be produced on these plants, making it harder for our digestive tract to break them down. Multiple studies have found that glyphosate changes the composition and structure of our gut microbiome. Within these foods, we also have seed oils, which have been linked to insulin resistance; they are also finding now that high cholesterol might even be a factor in insulin resistance. These oils constrict your body's ability to break down sugar, and this can create metabolic dysfunction, leading to a slower metabolism, weight gain, and much more. These other additives and artificial ingredients have been linked to cognitive decline, mental health disorders, obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and so much more.
Studies have found that consuming just 10% more processed foods in your diet increases your risk of a terminal illness or disease by 13%. That's with just 10% processed foods—that's one out of 10 meals you consume. The Standard American Diet is 90% processed foods. Let's look at what you can focus on to improve your health.
What Forms Of Energy Should I Be Focused On?
According to science, the primary forms of energy we should focus on are the bio-individual amounts of each fat, carbohydrate, and protein. However, within that, we have to find the correct amounts that can help us reach our goals. Looking at each of these, what are their roles, and where should we source them from?
Protein is one of the most essential nutrients for our body. We are mostly made of muscle; the primary building block of muscle is protein. Some of the main components of our cells are made of protein, and over 60% of our brain is made of amino acids. Protein plays a huge role in helping us recover, rejuvenate, and regenerate new cells. With protein, it's all about the source of protein you use; the most abundant source of protein is high-quality meats, such as Grass-fed beef, bison, lamb, chicken, wild-caught salmon, sardines, and eggs. These sources will provide you with proper amounts of nutrients and minerals that can help keep your metabolism high and your hormones in balance and help with proper recovery. Other protein sources can come from sprouted chickpeas, lentils, beans, nuts, and seeds, which contain high amounts of protein and fiber essential for our gut microbiome. The scale you should use is eating 0.75-1 gram per pound of body weight per day; depending on your current weight, you should adjust this number. An example is if you weigh 180 pounds and eat 135-180g of protein daily. This is for proper energy balance.
Fat is another very important nutrient due to its role in helping absorb fat-soluble vitamins, such as Vitamin A, D, and E, which are essential for healing, hormones, and energy. Fatty acids help with the balance of fat in the body; when we consume the proper balance of fatty acids, it allows us to increase our energy, decrease stress, and improve our brain health. When we have an imbalance of fatty acids in the form of omega 6-9 fatty acids, this causes oxidative stress, which can lead to higher cholesterol, insulin resistance, and much more. These come in hydrogenated seed oils, canola, soybean, sunflower, and peanut oils, all associated with oxidative stress. What types of fat should we consume? Staying focused on omega-3 fatty acids, coming from salmon, sardines, anchovies, Egg yolks, walnuts, avocados, coconut oil, avocado oil, and Extra virgin olive oil are all great foods to incorporate into your diet. Adjust your consumption of fat according to how active you are. Eating 0.35-0.45 g per pound of body weight from these sources has been shown to bring the most benefits. Adjusting these numbers according to your activity level and BMI is also important.
Carbohydrates are the only nutrients in our body that are used immediately as energy, and fat and protein are secondary choices because they have other roles in our body. Carbohydrates are the one nutrient we can play with according to how active we are and the best nutrient to help with weight loss and weight management. Carbohydrates come in the form of glucose, glycogen, and glucagon. Carbohydrates help balance insulin metabolism, participate in cholesterol and triglyceride metabolism, and help ferment. When creating balance with carbohydrates, we must consider our activity level to ensure the energy they provide is used. When we don't use them, they are stored as fat. Too many carbohydrates in our system can slow down our metabolic rate, cause us to gain weight, and slow down the insulin response, especially in the form of ultra-processed foods. What are the best forms of carbohydrates? Fruits, root vegetables, vegetables, Raw organic honey, organic maple syrup, coconut sugar, sprouts, beans, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, and seeds are all nutrient-dense sources of carbohydrates that contain more than just sugar. They contain fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Regarding carbohydrates, we should have a fluctuation depending on your current activity level. Depending on your current activity level and weight will determine your carbohydrate intake. A great place to start for weight loss is to eat your carbohydrates around your training, and on days you are less active, eat less carbohydrates and increase your fat.
Overall, the quality of the food is the most important aspect of your health, but knowing how much energy you should consume can help you maintain and even enhance your overall long-term health. Manipulating your fat and carbohydrates is always the first place to start to see the most optimal results. Because these carry the most metabolic discrepancy, keep your protein high for proper muscle recovery and cell rejuvenation.
How Do You Create Sustainability With This?
Sustainability comes from finding balance with what you are working towards or maintaining in a particular season of life. Nutrition is all about understanding your energy balance sheet. When learning your energy balance sheet, you have to take an inventory of how much you move vs how much you consume. Once you know what it takes to maintain feeling good, you can adjust your energy needs according to your goals. For example, if you are training for a particular fitness event, you can change how much carbohydrates, fat, and protein you need to perform and recover. If you are maintaining health and longevity, adjusting according to your daily energy expenditure is a matter of adjusting.
Plan Effectively: No matter what might be going on in life, having a plan of action for your nutrition is one of the best ways to stay on track and consistently maintain your health. Depending on your life season, it can be a great idea to set aside some time to plan out how you would like your diet to look. Whether you want to incorporate certain whole foods, fasting, or supplements, creating a plan for yourself can relieve stress and prevent you from getting overwhelmed by life's unpredictable events. Consistency is the key to success with your weight loss goals and nutrition goals. Numerous studies have shown that the more we can plan our goals and stay consistent with them, the more success we have with our health progress. You are finding tools like a calendar, app, or anything that works for you to track and document your goals, which is a great way to stay on track.
Follow a Whole Foods-Based Approach: When eating whole nutritious foods, they contain vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids, all of which are carriers for our body to create energy. When we eat these foods, we naturally increase our body's energy reserve and, over time, can improve our body's resistance to fatigue, deterioration, and overall loss of vitality. By raising the consumption of good protein, fat, and moderate amounts of carbohydrates from whole foods, we can keep our body running at a high level for a long time. Keeping protein number one, fats number two, and carbohydrates number three can help optimize your health and longevity.
Know When to Take a Step Back: Depending on the season of life you are in and the level of activity you are performing, it is essential to remember when you should lower or increase your energy intake. When we don't correctly fuel ourselves, we experience metabolic dysfunction. Regardless of activity, consuming too much or not enough can create an inflammatory response. SO knowing your limitations with food and activity is crucial for staying consistent and decreasing the chances of burnout, injury, and inflammation.
Listen to Your Body: Self-awareness is the most critical aspect of all of this; understanding what is driving you to make decisions with activity and food is crucial for you to be able to make decisions that will ultimately affect your long-term health. Reflecting before making a decision is a great way to regulate your nervous system and allow your body to communicate what it needs. This doesn't mean you should overthink every decision you make with food; it's just about being aware of your choices, which can benefit your long-term health and prevent diseases from taking their place. When we can be self-aware, it decreases stress and increases our overall energy and vitality.
Take Away
Overall, this is a lifestyle choice you can begin incorporating to see if it works for you. Balance is fleeting and looks like however you want it to, and this can be a great tool to help you attain balance a little bit easier. Energy in vs energy could be the best way to lose weight.
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