I know this is going to sound crazy, but you can actually lose weight by eating and I am going to show you how. The one misconception is that “eating lots” makes you fat, but the reality of the situation is that eating the wrong types of foods will lead to you gain the extra weight around the belly and hips…the stuff we DO NOT want.
I want to walk you through the some of the misconceptions that people have about “eating” and I want to show you exactly how you can lose weight and still eat. It is easier than you think and I think you just need some direction.
First things first though…
A Calorie is Really a Calorie
Simple math is a strong indicator of how you gain or lose weight. You consume more calories than you burn in a given day, you are going to pack on weight.
Conversely, if you burn more calories than you consume, then you are going to lose weight. It really is that simple.
Let’s look at a hypothetical situation here.
Say on average, you burn around 1,500 calories per day as a woman, and a man 2,000 calories per day. Naturally, if you consumer 1,500 calories per day as a woman, you are going to “break even”….meaning, that you will net or lose any calories.
The FOODS That Are Destroying Lives
If you want to STACK on the calories very quickly, there are some foods that can really do this quickly. I am going to explain a few foods that I personally think should be banned (OK, maybe a bit harsh) and are the main culprits to weight gain.
Pop and Juice Drinks – Probably the sneakiest of all, pop and juice are the biggest culprit to gaining weight. A large pop has 271 calories in it (Cola) and guess what. These are simple sugars that are immediately turned into fat deposits if you don’t burn them off. Same with juice, they are very high in simple sugar calories and will lead to weight gain (and have very little health benefit, even the Not From Concentrate crap). If you drink a water a day instead of your juice or pop, you are going to lose 3lbs of fat per month. Sounds insane, but it is insanely TRUE!
Nachos – Your average plate of Nachos is 1,500 calories. That is an entire days calories for a woman and almost an entire days for a man.
Pizza – Same thing with pizza. A piece of Meat Lovers pizza from Pizza Hut has 320 calories in it and 18 grams of fat. If you are like me, you will demolish 3-4 pieces in a sitting totally 1,280 calories. Again, your entire daily intake is almost used up on one sitting.
Anything Deep Fried – If you are eating stuff cooked in grease, you are going to end up looking like your food does…full of grease. If you can avoid anything and for the sake of your heart health and weight gain, stay away from deep fried foods. Yes, they taste damn good but there are lots of tasty foods that are not deep fried. There is nothing worse than eating damn good food will feeling damn BAD about your body.
I undertsand that we all have “foodie” desires. I eat pizza once per week, but I treat it like a special meal. If you eat this stuff like it is a regular meal, then you are going to get fat… you are going to have a freakin’ nightmare of a time trying to lose weight.
Eat More of the Stuff that Makes You Full
OK, now that I have dropped the hammer on your pizza cravings (sorry about that), I want to tell you one secret to losing weight that bascially allows you the freedom to eat. There are two things that I recommend.
Recommendation #1: Eat High Fibre Foods
Vegetables, nuts and brans are all very high in fibre. If you are going to buy food out of a box or a can (it happens), make sure that you look at the fibre content. If it is under 3g per serving, then it is not going to fill you up and you are going to be hungry 10 minutes later. More fibre in your diet is good for your digestive tract, but in respect to your diet, it will lead you to eating much less food (as you will be more full, more often). Here is a full list of high fibre foods from the Mayo Clinic.
Recommendation $2: Eat when your hungry and until your full
We all fall into this sickening trap of thinking that we need to eat 5-6 times per day, small meals, blah blah blah. Sure, this can be fine, but only if you are hungry. I have a rule when I eat. I eat only when I am hungry and I eat until I am full (not beyond). Your body has an excellent way of telling you when it is hungry and when it is full (don’t eat too fast though or it will take your brain some time to catch up).
If you follow the way your body and brain naturally function, you are not going ot overeat and since you are going to be taking me up on recommendation #1, you are going to be filling up faster on the good stuff (high fibre foods).
Eat For Less Hours During the Day
We are not cows, yet we are told by many dieting programs to graze. If you behave like a “cow”, guess what you become (OK, that wasn’t nice)… But seriously, we don’t have four stomaches and it is not good for our digestive system to be working it’s butt of all day.
Not to offend anyone here, but our bodies were not created to digest food all day. If you look at our ancestors, they ate when they could access food. Sometimes once per day, sometimes a few times per day, sometimes once every couple of days. Not every hour.
Terrika
Kyle, this is great! It’s simple & straight to the point! I know so many people try to lose weight by exercising their butts of, but those that have accomplished a healthy lifestyle no this ain’t the way. It is probably the worst way because you dred putting on your running shoes and going to a bootcamp at the gym because you will be bustin your ass.
Kyle
I hear you Terrika, so many folks tend to make their goal for losing weight “I am going to start exercising” or “I am going to start eating this tomato soup every day”. More exercise and eating one type of diet food is not sustainable. You should be able to eat throughout the day and lose weight and this is completely possible just by making the right choices.
Food choices is 90% of your diet, exercise is a small fraction. Yes, it is important but more so for heart and physical health. Food is where the calories are consumed, absorbed and stored. That is what leads to us getting overweight and if we can control that, we can lose weight just as quickly.
patti schrimscher
Really good Kyle…I learned some things I didn’t know. I also know that exercise is good but when you are my age, walking is the best. My sister wears one of those calorie counters on her wrist and counts how many calories she has burnt since she does a lot of walking where she works so she keeps up with her intake and burning calories at the same time. But I also like the layout of your site with all kinds of different things but all in the same niche. Maybe one day I will get as good as you are.