We believe there is a lot of confusion out there when it comes to nutrition and weight loss.
There are many myths out there that we hope to debunk. Some of the misconception derives from out of date research, some from dubious marketing claims and some well we can only assume they are old wives tales!
The overarching principle we will hang this article of, and if you take one thing away, take this, is just because a food is 'nutritious' or 'healthy' it doesn't necessarily mean it is great for weight loss.
Take fruit. Fruit is healthy right? Yes. Yes because they are packed with various vitamins. Are they good for weight loss? No. To put it simply, fruits contain a lot of sugar (fructose). The sugar that isn't needed for energy gets stored as fat. Not good. We are not discouraging eating fruit. Far from it in fact, it's very good for your health, but eating several pieces a day or drinking lots of fruit smoothies, thinking you are being good and helping weight loss is simply wrong.
What about cereal? Everyone knows cereal is good for you. Except most of it isn't. The waters get a little murkier here. So called diet cereals are about as nutritious as eating a sock. But they are low calorie so good for dieting right? Sort of. Low calorie means you are not consuming high volumes of calories, however, they will not keep you full for very long. A much better alternative would be something containing protein, which keeps you feeling full for longer.
Losing weight is a delicate balance between giving your body enough energy (calories) to function, enough minerals and vitamins to keep it functioning correctly and not over consuming to achieve this.
We have found the best way to maintain health, achievable and long lasting weight loss is to:
- Eat five or six smaller meals per day (this stabilizes your blood sugar and insulin levels, keeps your body from getting stressed and will improve your mood immeasurably)
- Minimize simple carbs to once or twice per week (humans never used to eat this difficult to digest food source)
- To fill your plate, replace the simple carb with as many veggies as you like
- Include a protein source with all meals and make sure it's a decent quantity
- Supplement diet with Multivitamin, Chromium and Omega 3
Try to avoid:
- Solid fats like animal fat and lard
- Too much fruit (max 1 piece per day)
- Sodium (salt) - keep levels low
Thanks for reading - see our blog, search for "You Personal Training Crouch End" for more.
You Personal Training of North London number one skill, is motivation. We specialise in Weight loss, Muscle Building, Nutritional advice, Pre & Post natal exercise. http://www.youpersonaltraining.com
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