Weight Loss Nutrition

I don’t like the word “diet” because it usually refers to fad diets, but anytime I happen to use the word I’m referring to the food you eat as part of your nutrition LIFESTYLE, that you maintain all throughout your life. If your goal is not to lose weight this article is still worth reading, to better understand the reasoning behind calorie sorting. Not necessarily the same thing as calorie counting but most calorie counters will sort them for you which makes it quite useful in other ways, not just for losing weight.

When your goal is weight loss what you need to focus on first is calories, not just fat or just carbs. Even if this is just semantics or a technicality (because fat and carbs have calories) please let this point sink in or you will end up like the low carb or low fat fanatics who think it’s all or nothing and if you just radically reduce or eliminate them there’s no need for calorie distinction. None of that is true, however, if you’re trying to lose weight it is vital that you consider not only how many calories you’re taking in but possibly even more importantly, what type they are.

There are 3 parts to a fat-burning and/or muscle-building meal:

1. Lean protein (meat and fish)

2. Fibrous carb (broccoli, spinach, green peas, etc)

3. Starchy carb (potatoes, beans, cereals, rice, grains, breads)

To lose weight, you need a calorie deficit so that means you have to reduce calories below maintenance level. In other words, whatever calories you’re consuming in a day right now, if you’re not happy with your fat percentage then you either need to burn more calories each day or lessen the amount you consume. I personally suggest a combination of both at once.

What I'm asking you to think about more specifically is where do you pull out those calories? You could cut calories across the board and yes, that absolutely will work. But the ideal way to create your calorie deficit is to drop down the starchy carbs.

Keeping protein high on a weight loss nutrition plan is important for retaining lean body mass, plus, protein controls appetite. Starches are calorie dense and starches are easy to overeat. Extreme carb restriction may have negative hormonal consequences so you need to keep the fiber up and you also need healthy fats.

So the obvious place to create a calorie deficit is by cutting back on starchy carbs. I personally try to maintain this type of diet as my usual nutrition lifestyle. If you were taking in a lot of simple carbs or sugars they should actually be the first to go BUT I'm hoping you're not eating a ton of sugar and simple carbs to begin with. So with that in mind here are a couple of meal strategy examples:

Breakfast

1. 1 whole egg, 5 egg whites scrambled (lean protein) and side of fruit like berries - FYI, strawberries are not only nutrient rich (loaded with Vit C, in case you’re sensitive to citrus) but they’re also a negative calorie food (fibrous carb), OR

2. Omelet (lean protein) with mushrooms, peppers, tomato (fibrous carb), AND

-Side of oatmeal (starchy carb)

Lunch or dinner

1. Baked fish (lean protein), OR

2. Baked Chicken, OR

3. Lean steak (such as sirloin), AND

- Asparagus, Cauliflower, Artichoke (fibrous carb, aka prebiotics)

-Side of brown rice (starchy carb)