Just in case you've been living under a rock for the last decade or so, obesity and weight related illnesses are a growing epidemic.
Did you know that 65.4% of Marylanders are considered overweight or obese?!?!
The alarming increase in our collective waistline's has created an EXPLOSION in the health and fitness industry - especially in the area of exercise and weight loss.
Type the words 'weight loss' into Amazon and it produces over 125 THOUSAND books (with more titles being added every day)!!!
With so much content and opinions surrounding an important issue, it can be difficult to navigate, who to listen to, what's the right thing to do to eat healthy and most importantly what's the wrong thing to do.
IT'S SIMPLY CALORIES IN, CALORIES OUT FOR WEIGHT LOSS; RIGHT??
Driven by the weight of the obesity epidemic (pun intended ;-) ) counting calories became a routine and "reasonable' method of losing weight.
Sounds simple enough - I just need to either eat less or burn more at the gym. DONE!
::PAUSE::
Unfortunately, I wish it was that simple.What you are not being told is that this oversimplifies the concept of a calorie. ::WOMP WOMP::
You see, a calorie is simply a unit of measure similar to that of a mile, a gallon or a pound. Instead of measuring distance, volume or weight, a calorie is the measure of energy contained within a given food.
Question: Is there a difference between walking a mile on a flat round vs. a mile straight up a mountain?
ABSOLUTELY! (You can probably feel the burn already...holy quads!).
The distance (1 mile) is only one factor, but the quality of the mile (whether it is on flat ground vs. a hilly terrain) is a key part.
Coincidentally, the same holds true for calories...they are all not created equally.
See, calories come from macronutrients - you know carbohydrates, proteins and fats which are the building blocks of your food. (Alcohol is also now considered a unique source of calories - it stands in its own category because alcohol is devoid of vitamins and minerals. You may have hard these referred to as 'empty calories'.)
One would think that it is common sense that all calories are not equal. But according to our previously held though, the 500 calories consumed from a salad is the same as the 500 calories consumed from a fast food value meal. Alas, from personal experience, I can tell you that these two foods have a very different effect on the body.
AAAAAANNNNDDDD...a calorie's worth of protein has very different effects on the body when compared to a calorie's worth of fat, carbohydrate or alcohol. They are broken down and utilized by the body in different ways, and have different metabolic effects. Because of this, a high protein diet can have a very different health and fitness outcomes compared to a high carbohydrate diet, even when the number of calories consumed and burned is identical.
Stay with me for a bit longer, we are almost finished...The freshness and quality of your food source matters as well. Obviously, a freshly picked organic apple has a dramatically different effect on your body compared to a twinkie (both have about 130 calories and both are mostly carbohydrates). But you may not know that fresh, local fruits and vegetables are much better for us than frozen and imported produce. We know that the longer it takes to get get fresh food to us from the farm, the more the nutrients in the food decreases. So even if the calorie count remains similar, nutritionally these two groups can be worlds apart.
So now what??
Well, for starters, click HERE to sign up for the next Eat By Design Seminar to get a comprehensive breakdown of good foods, bad foods, as well as some myth busting info addressing misconceptions around cholesterol, fat and more.
Can't wait that long? Signup for the Eat By Design 30 Day Challenge (it's FREE!) to receive daily videos and resources walking you through the process one step at a time.