Aren’t you tired of always measuring what you eat to avoid getting fat or gaining weight?
But what If I told you that yes the quantity you eat it’s important but the QUALITY of what you are consuming is more important?
Let’s start by explaining what calories are…
Calories are the amount of energy our body releases digesting and absorbing the food we consume. The more calories we eat the more energy we can provide our body with. But, when we consume more calories than what our body requires, it is stored as body fat. So even if we eat food labeled as gluten-free, sugar-free, low-fat, paleo-friendly, keto-friendly, etc. the quantity we eat will be the one in charge of storing as fat or using as energy to perform our daily activities.
How many calories should we consume?
According to the NHS, the recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men. But if you are looking to lose some weight it’s recommended that you cut around 500 calories a day from your diet. All this varies depending on your body type, age, your weight, gender, activity level, and especially any hormonal imbalance.
Now the most important part…. THE QUALITY OF THE CALORIES…
No matter if you cut down 500 calories from your diet if you are consuming all those calories in processed food or food that lacks the sufficient vitamins and minerals our body requires at the end of the day you are giving your body so much junk that will turn into fat. Start by focusing on the important part of the calories which is the quality.
For example, people say eating a whole banana will make you gain weight. Now analyze the banana and a Fiber One 100 calories brownie. Both contain around 100 calories but both are very different when it comes to their nutritional value. Yes, they are both 100 calories but one has more vitamins and minerals than the other (brownie).
Do you think that our body will thank us for living a diet composed of 1,500 calories but from pre-packed food, chips, and ice cream? Would our body function properly? Giving us enough energy to perform our daily activities, our bowel movements will be on point and our metabolism would be working 24/7. No, it would not! Wouldn’t it be more simple to eat whole foods that give us those 1,500 calories our body requires and function properly? When we eat bad-quality calories our body creates chemical reactions like hormonal imbalance not giving us the chance to lose weight. Eating too much sugar and/or fat from processed food makes our body produce too much insulin which is the one in charge of not letting us lose weight.
So the quality of the food we eat will be the one in charge of releasing hormones that have an impact on our health and body weight.
But remember as much as diet has a huge impact on our lifestyle, the physical activity we do, balanced eating, and good-quality calories are what will make an impact on our health, helping us create long-term healthy habits. The portion we eat is a huge part of our diet but we should always remember that what will make an impact on our health is the quality of those calories.
Try to avoid or keep it to a minimum packed food even if it’s labeled as a healthier alternative and choose WHOLE FOODS!
Our body will use those calories in a good way instead of storing them in our body as something we don’t want.
Quantity and Quality are equally important when it comes to calories!
