I periodically check out Amazon to see what are the top selling books in the diets section, and the following caught my eye.
Now before you think this is a recommendation it is NOT!
200 recipes that are 200 calories or less…
I’ve always contended that the obsession with low calorie, low fat nutritional plans causes us more harm than good, but it is seems to be a tough nut to crack for some people.
Yes eating less calories is a good idea, especially if you are consuming a massive amount in the first place, however the 1000 calorie or less daily plans I regularly see will certainly damage your metabolism, making your LONG TERM fat loss efforts more difficult.
The belief perpetuated by many dieting books and magazines is that a calorie is a calorie and no matter what form you take it in you have to burn the equal amount in energy output (i.e. exercise), this kinda over simplifies the process in which the body takes in, converts and utilises an item of food.
To open a massive can of worms I am going to say that your body actually wants to burn fat all the time, however we never give it a chance as we are continually feeding it carbohydrates (of any form), making your body choose the easy energy option of utilising this source first… So even though you may thinking that consuming a diet of predominately fruit and vegetables (think vegetarians!) is really healthy because it is low fat, low calorie, in actual fact you are making it easy for your body to not bother burning fat because it is getting its energy source from the carbs you are consuming.
Now here is the twist… What happens is you start reducing the carbs (from any source) becoming a more pure carnivore, so the majority of your food is made up of animal fats and proteins, where is your body going to get its energy source from? FAT…
So by eating a higher proportion of fat and protein your body will want to burn more FAT…
Weird huh?
By the way this is NOT just Tim theorising this stuff, there is plenty of science to back this up…
Tell me what you think? I would really appreciate your comments on this BLOG posting.
About Tim
nice blog, makes sense! thank you!!
Yes, I know this to be true, for the past two years I have only been eating fruit and vegetables, and fish and chicken and I have gained weight. I keep saying to myself what the duce!!! is going on.
Help
Ross635
I totally agree, I’ve never believed in low fat and diet products. There are many 0 calorie products out there and I ask myself what the point is in eating things with no calories. We do need calories don’t we, I mean that is the purpose of eating – to fuel up. And I’ve also noticed that when you eat fat you don’t need to eat as much and you don’t get hungry again that fast.
So, do I understand you right, Tim, that you’re saying that when eating too many carbs we actually prevent the body from burning fat because it doesn’t have to as the energy from digesting carbs is more readily available (and probably quicker at that, too) than converting our stored fat to energy?
Thus, by eating more meats and fats we can “teach” our bodies to look for fat for energy?
Also, the idea with eating too few calories would send our body into starvation mode, which makes it cling even more to our fat as it “thinks” it might not get enough food to sustain us?
Very intriguing concept, Tim.
Rainer
You know Tim, maybe the advice to eat more protein and fat sounds reasonable for people who are already quite advanced on their way to getting fit…I mean those who do not need to loos loadws of weight and who are already doing regular trainings and whose eating habbits just need to be fine tuned to reach even better results..
However from what I have seen in practice ( while loosing 14 kilograms myslef and observing several of my colleagues following the same diet) is that is is practicaly impossible to stick to high protein/fat nutrition plan for people who need to loose 10-15-25 and more kilograms…It is just not sustainable in a long run for such cases…The method which worked for everyone without exception ( mee included) was low fat, minimum sugar diet…
I do not remember where I read it but one person said: “There is very simple test to see if your diet make sense – would you be comfortable to keep your children on the same diet? ” And if answer is no, you should not do it yourself.
I personally believe that high protein/ fat, low carb diet is not good for my son, so I would rather not do it myself…
So you did open a can of worms:)