‘Course that ignores all the other things that sugar does besides provide (empty) calories: like raise blood sugar, depress the immune system, rob the body of calcium and use up mineral stores. But that’s another story.
This quote (from the article linked to below) is referring to the idea that all you need to do is “burn” more calories than you eat to lose weight. If only it was that simple. trainers and weight loss coaches would have degrees in Mathematics instead of Anatomy & Physiology.
I stumbled upon this enlightening (and pretty short and sweet) article reiterating the problem with counting calories, both when eating and “burning” calories in your attempts to lose or manage your weight.
Frankly, as with too many things in the fitness “industry”, you are being sold bad science … or at least outdated, short sided, incomplete science at best.
Check out the link below for more. In the meantime, remember, when it comes to your food, focus on these four things:
Quality over quantity – quality first! Rather, Just Eat Real Food! (JERF Baby!)
The effect your meal has on your blood sugar – balance your carbs with your fat and proteins, try to get a little bit of all three at each snack or meal. Balance your apple with peanut or almond butter, balance your toast with some REAL butter or ghee, balance your scrambled eggs with green peppers or tomatoes.
Portion size – use the Palm, Fist, Thumb rule and listen to your body – eat until you are not hungry any more, instead of eating until you are full.
Listen to your body – make a note to yourself to improve your body awareness before and after meals. Consider where your hunger cues and eating triggers are coming from, along with how you feel after a meal – how are your feelings of fullness, bloating, indigestion, water retention, feelings of more or less energy, and finally note your mental focus. These are all signs of your blood sugar and whether your food choices are agreeing with your physiology. Your entire body is as unique as your finger print, everyone’s body reacts differently to different foods.
Side note: The only thing I would question about this article is the recommendation to use sugar alcohols for your artificial flavoring – it just doesn’t agree with most people, that is if you are going to be in public in the hours following a meal heavy in sugar alcohols, if you know what I mean. They are listed under the sugars on your typical food label, so I would avoid any food that has more than 3 grams per serving.
Side note #2: except for when you are challenging yourself a little more each day or week and using this number as an indicator of your workout intensity, you can pretty much ignore the “Calories Burned” number you find on every piece of cardio equipment these days. Again, equipment makers are using bad science to sell silliness to gym owners, managers and members. Plus, unless you are doing some intense intervals on the cardio machines, use them only as a warm up for your workout … doing an hour of cardio 3 x per week is like so 1991. Say no to “cardio”, come and get strong with the rest of us;)
Please let me know what you think in the comments below or comment on my Facebook Page.
