You've probably heard that the right way to lose weight is to "eat less and exercise more." Sounds right, but is it? I've lost over 72 pounds without excessive hunger. I've learned that what I eat is more important than how much.
I've been obese most of my life. I used to think that I was doomed to be fat for the rest of my life. I was eating and exercising based on a flawed model, however. I was taught in grade school to eat according to the USDA food pyramid. Here is the servings breakdown:
- Fats, Oils, and Sweets - Use sparingly.
- Milk, Yogurt, Cheese - 2 or 3 servings.
- Fish, Poultry, Eggs, Beans, Nuts - 2 or 3 servings.
- Vegetables - 3 to 5 servings.
- Fruits - 2 to 4 servings.
- Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta - 6 to 11 servings.
This was my government's recommendation. Even though I would try to eat the minimum number of servings, this diet didn't work for me. For simplicity and to illustrate what happened let's assume I ate one good food for each category and then figure the total macro-nutrient content (in grams).
- Fats 0 Fat 0 Carbohydrate 0 Protein
- Skim Milk 0 Fat 24 Carbohydrate 17 Protein
- Skin-less Chicken Breast 6 Fat 0 Carbohydrate 33 Protein
- Broccoli 1 Fat 11 Carbohydrate 4 Protein
- Apple 1 Fat 41 Carbohydrate 1 Protein
- Whole Wheat Bread 9 Fat 120 Carbohydrate 30 Protein
This adds up to 17 grams of fat, 196 grams of carbohydrates, and 85 grams of protein. Converting this to calories totals to:
- Fat 153 calories
- Carbohydrates 784 calories
- Protein 340 calories
- Total 1277 calories
The heart of the problem with this diet is that it is based on the consumption of carbohydrates. Our bodies burn fat by default. When we eat carbohydrates our blood sugar level goes up. Our bodies release insulin to deal with this increase. Insulin, in an effort to return our bodies to normal, signals our bodies to do two things:
- Burn carbohydrates instead of fat.
- Convert carbohydrates into fat.
When we eat a diet that is based primarily in carbohydrate consumption insulin levels can stay high. High insulin levels make us hungry and weaker when the sugar is used up. This isn't normal.
Eating this way made me hungry. I would end up losing weight on this diet but found it to be a constant struggle. I would eventually give up gain the weight back and feel like a failure. The failure was in the plan.
I now eat a diet that is low in carbohydrates. My insulin levels stay low so I eat less because I'm not as hungry. This allows me to maintain a lifestyle of natural weight loss. You can find out more about how this has worked for me here.
Author: Tim Bransford
Tim Bransford Yorktown, VA
Independent Team Beachbody Coach
I spent years being obese. I was a prisoner in my own body. I discovered a system that allowed me to lose over 72 pounds. Now I help others to do the same. This is simple, it works, and its not a fad. Go to
The Big Fat Blog to discover my weight loss secrets.
View Count: 63
Weight Loss Diet Videos
|
|
HOW TO: snack healthy and get skinny
here are a few small tips and tricks that work for me!! enjoy!! you can order the 'just ...' products that i mention in my video on this website: www.justtomatoes.com follow me ontwitter: twitter.com please check out MY ETSY PAGE!!: www.etsy.com ...
Video Length: 10:33
Uploaded By: grav3yardgirl
View Count: 35,307
|
|
|
Cooking Tips for Moms : How to Disguise Healthy Foods for Your Kids
A great way to disguise healthy foods is to grate a variety of vegetables into sauces, cheese and ground meat, which mixes into foods easily and remains undetected. Make sure your kids are getting the proper nutrients through their food with help ...
Video Length: 04:04
Uploaded By: ehow
View Count: 4,264
|
|
|
Give Yourself a Butt Lift - Lower Body Exercise: Diet.com Video
www.diet.com Lean out your lower body by adding some weight to your lower body strength training exercises. This video featured a side step squat with Stephen Cabral and Sarah Dussault. Visit Diet.com Today for healthy recipes! www.diet.com Follow ...
Video Length: 02:31
Uploaded By: diethealth
View Count: 15,358
|
Weight Loss Diet Articles
|
How to Walk Off the Weight
Walking may seem like a brainless activity that simply gets you from point A to point B. However, this low-impact activity can actually torch calories and burn fat, and may be your best tool for losing unwanted weight. Taking this most basic form of transportation to ...
|
The Journey to Health, Wealth and Happiness
Before beginning this exciting program of positive change, we need to talk about the "bricks of change." This is a simple concept but we believe an extremely critical one.Imagine building a pyramid out of bricks. You need to lay the first layer brick by brick before ...
|
Ninjutsu - The Safe Way To Lose Weight
Do you feel you need to lose weight or do you just want to build strength because you've been getting exhausted with the slightest exertion? Well, there are many ways to lose weight or get fit and a lot of them promise you the quickest ways to do it.
However, there ...
|
|
