If you took a quick poll and asked anyone off the street about the best way to lose weight, their answer would likely be the same "Eat less food." As a society, we've been surrounded by the message that, in order to drop unwanted pounds, we have to drastically reduce our daily calorie intake. “Calorie deficit” But what if I told you this notion couldn't be further from the truth? What if, in order to lose weight, you actually need to eat more food? This may sound crazy, I know, but it's true, especially if you have a plan that's easy to implement and just as easy to stick with. To build your own such plan, read these tips to learn how you can eat more, lose weight, and enjoy your diet!
OK, this may go without saying, but your stomach is not a calorie counter. High-calorie foods without a lot of volume oils and ice cream, for example won't do much to fill you up, even though they're extremely energy dense. You'll get full with a high volume of food, so that's what's important here! Now, when I say "food volume," I don't necessarily mean massive amounts of calories. When it comes to weight loss, you have to think in terms of quality as well as quantity. Eating more to lose more is all about eating the right kinds of foods first, and then eating a lot of them. EATING MORE TO LOSE MORE IS ALL ABOUT EATING THE RIGHT KINDS OF FOODS FIRST, AND THEN EATING A LOT OF THEM.
This isn't as hard as some people make it out to be. Instinctively, you know whether a food is something you should be eating or not, but instead of labeling foods as "good" or "bad," think of them in terms of what they can do for your body and how they can help you achieve your goals. Take a doughnut for example. Can you fit a doughnut into your diet and still lose weight? Of course you can, but it wouldn't be a very sensible choice, since it's devoid of nutrients, not particularly satisfying, and happens to be a calorie bomb. After you eat it you'll get a brief burst of energy from the sugar, but then you'll crash shortly after. Then you'll crave more sugar. That's not a fun cycle. You'll feel better and much fuller if you find nutrient dense foods you can eat a lot of. Oh, and those foods like greens, lean proteins, and complex carbs will actually contribute to your goals.
DON'T GO CUT CRAZY Cutting a ton of calories or eliminating food groups is also not a great strategy, yet many people still believe that's the best way to lose weight. Do you know why? Because at the end of the day, it works! You cut carbs, and guess what happens? You become more conscious of the foods you're consuming. Then you eat less food, thereby causing a huge daily calorie deficit and some solid initial weight loss. Great, right? Well not really. At this point, you're building an unhealthy relationship with food. You're not learning balance and portion control, and once your body begins to figure out what's happening and stops responding, you won't be able to maintain that initial weight loss. Eventually, you'll binge, fall off the wagon, and be back at square one. This is not to say that counting calories is bad. I actually count calories myself. Anything that can make you mindful of what you're putting into your body is not a bad thing. But calorie counting alone is not going to get you results. In order to achieve your weight and fat loss goals, you need to count your macros as well.
MASTER YOUR MACROS
When people talk about macros, they're referring to macronutrients: protein, carbs, and fats. Simply counting the number of calories you eat won't tell you if you're getting enough of each food group; it won't tell you if you got enough protein to add muscle or enough carbs or fats to stay satisfied. Macro counting, however, will enable you to break those calories down into the specific foods and food groups that are required to meet your goals. Calculating macros takes all of the guesswork out of dieting and provides you with a style of eating that will get you results for years to come. CALCULATING MACROS TAKES ALL OF THE GUESSWORK OUT OF DIETING AND PROVIDES YOU WITH A STYLE OF EATING THAT WILL GET YOU RESULTS FOR YEARS TO COME.
To understand how to count Macronutrients, please read My Counting calories vs counting Macronutrients blog.