It is freezing outside (in NY) 32 degrees F and we are surrounded by snow and ice. Today is February 2nd. It’s the day after the Super Bowl, big deal, it’s not a major holiday, not a significant day in history but it is a mark of the 139th day until the first day of summer, June 21! Yes, that’s right about 4.5 quick months that will fly by as quick as a blink of an eye.
Don’t wait ’till it’s too late, whether your “beach body” goal is to build muscle, lose a couple of pounds or drop a few dress sizes get the ball rolling now.
There is so much information out there on how and what to eat coming from experts, well-meaning people who share what they have done to reach their own goals, companies touting the value of their “magic bullet” product and research that swings back and forth like a pendulum so we really have no clue how to interpret what is useful information or not. I must admit I try to stick with the diet I created, “The Stubborn Fat Fix” and even then, there is always a little wiggle room to meet individual goals and preferences.
I wanted to share my thoughts with you to help you make better choices as you embark on getting to your goals for the summer.
One of the best pieces of information I have read in a long time is an article written by Dr. Jade Teta about a year ago. It is powerful and underscores the importance of individuality when considering what to eat.
Dr. Teta discusses what really matters in his article “A Calorie Is Sometimes Not A Calorie”. You can find it here at T Nation, http://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/a-calorie-is-sometimes-not-a-calorie.” What really matters and is most important to each of you who read this is that it incorporates personal factors (Hunger, Energy, Cravings, HEC) that should be considered higher priorities than a general “scientific” formula (fewer calories consumed = weight loss) which may or may not work for many individuals.
I have always questioned the calorie theory. Nutrition sessions with my clients center on these same personal factors. Focus is always on getting more in tune with what I call your body’s communication signals (BCS) or ACE (appetite, cravings, energy levels) that should dictate your WOE (way of eating). Using general “blanket” calorie formulas, like eat more calories to gain weight, eat less to lose weight, is not a standard that people “need” to “stick” to because factors that influence individual BCS are much more important. As Dr. Teta says, “balance metabolism first”.
In a previous blog, I outline the consequences of metabolic overdrive, https://valeriegoldstein.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/what-is-metabolic-overdrive/ , if you need to repair your metabolism and have a metabolic disadvantage due to issues with blood sugar. thyroid, the gut, adrenals etc…following a formula that looks good and makes sense on paper does not work in a complex body system. You may want to check this out, http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2014/06/the-calorie-theory-prove-it-or-lose-it/.
Here are my favorite key points from Jade Teta’s article:
- The combo of sugar, fat, and salt will short-circuit your appetite centers, turning that “cheat meal” into a cheat week, or worse.
- The standard “eat less, exercise more” approach to dieting leads to about 20-50% loss of lean tissue.
- The quality of food you eat can directly affect the future efficiency of your metabolism.
139 days and counting, as you prepare for the summer and get your beach body on, my suggestion for the calorie theory is “Drop It Like It’s Hot”! Focus on what makes you tick; good quality food, stable and consistent energy and a naturally controlled appetite.
Good advice. I would add that it is important to make certain omega-6 linoleic acid (LA) intake is not excessive. In a 2013 interview entitled More “Vegetable” Oil? MORE Heart Deaths, NIH scientist Joseph Hibbeln said, “Just as all polyunsaturates are not created equal, all high fat diets are not created equal. A good example of this is an animal study we did where we compared three high fat diets. All with 60% of calories from fat, in mice. We compared high fat diets that resembled the linoleic acid, Omega 6 intakes, comparable to the levels at the beginning of the century, which was about 1 percent of calories, and those high fat diets with 8 percent of calories, more similar to the amount of Omega 6 in the diet simply from soy oil in the U-S diet, today. Moving from 1% to 8% linoleic acid in the mouse diets, not only tripled the levels of arachidonic acids, but also tripled the levels of a critical derivative of arachidonic acids, which is an endogenous cannabinoid, which creates a similar affect to marijuana. So it’s the brains own marijuana like molecules, and we were able to triple the body’s marijuana like hormones, three times higher in the liver and about 20% higher in the brains just by altering the linoleic acid in those two high-fat diets. Normally those high fat diets used for mice in studies are composed of high linoleic acid, found in soybean oil. When we deleted that one single molecule, the Omega 6 fatty acid, we were able to obliterate the ability of a 60% high fat diet to induce obesity in the mice…And we did it also in diets that were 35% of calories from fat, and also diets that were 12% of calories from fat. We were able to induce obesity in low fat diets, in the mice, by changing the bioactive properties of the fat, not just that it was high fat and more calories.” http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2013/03/10/vegetable-oil-associated-with-more-heart-deaths-nih-scientist-joe-hibbeln/
When LA intake is excessive, no amount of exercise and no amount of supplementation will suffice to neutralize its deleterious effects.