Nutrition Question of the Week: August 31, 2015

This week's Nutrition Spotlight

3 Reasons You should be eating Breakfast (with protein and carbs)

1) It gets your mind right for the rest of the day: 

Anecdotally I have noticed that people who tend to eat a nutrient dense and filling breakfast tend to make better food choices throughout the day. Your mindset is already on nourishment

2) It will help you to stop the mindless snacking and reaching for the sugary snacks for bursts of energy: 

Starting off the day with a breakfast that includes protein, fat and carbs will help you stay away from unnecessary nutrient poor snacks at work..especially the sugar filled ones. When you have no fuel, psychologically we like the sugary items to give us a boost.

3) Skipping meals does not help you lose body fat:

People who skip meals throughout the day tend to be big time night eaters where they consume large amounts of calories. It's not the eating at night that's the problem. It's HOW MUCH people are eating at night because they are ravenous from not eating throughout the day. This is not the right strategy for body fat loss

One of my fave breakfasts! Red Velvet Protein Bread (Recipe found on my facebook page under Recipes) Grapefruit and Coffee!

Nutrition Question of the Week, August 24, 2015: Should I eat __________________ to lose weight?

The Blank  space could include any of the following: Eat Gluten Free, Become a vegetarian, become a vegan, not eat wheat, drink this tea, take this supplement, do a detox, do a cleanse, go on a fast

What is the Motivation? 

I want to focus on the last part of the capitalized part of that sentence. LOSE WEIGHT. The answer is if your motivation is simply to lose weight, then NO you shouldn't do any of those things.

Will you lose weight if you do these things? Yes but not because of any magic property or because the food is evil, but because you're eating less calories. This has become another way for people to restrict foods and look for quick fixes to drop weight in a hurry.

LET ME BE CLEAR. I have no issue with people becoming vegetarians, vegans, or not eating wheat because they have decided this works best for their biofeedback, lifestyle and/or beliefs.  Some people feel strong moral and ethical convictions about eating animals and I support them 100%.  For some people wheat is hard to digest and if they find that it works better for them to NOT eat it, then more power to them.

My concern is more so with people who come up with food rules and restrictions because they want to lose weight in a hurry.  My first question would be:  How much fresh vegetables and fruit do you eat on a daily basis?  If you can't do that, then you don't need anymore rules.  You need to work on that.

There is NO POINT in doing these things if you can't sustain it.   Cutting out foods for a quick fix and then going back to eat them (plus some) defeats the whole purpose.

You need lifestyle change not another diet or more food rules.  A great way to begin losing  body fat?

Eat Fresh Food and not from a package.

We must stop focusing on food restrictions, rules, and magic supplements and instead focus on eating fresh food, being consistent, being patient, and realize that our ability or inability to lose body fat has to do with the sum of our whole lives.  if you are stressed, not sleeping, have dieted for too long, etc. you will have a harder time losing body fat. 

We have to pay attention to the WHOLE person.

Nutrition Questions Answered

   

Every week I will be answering a nutrition question so if you have a question, please feel free to message me on Facebook, send me an e-mail, or comment on the blog.  

Thanks and Let's live better together!