Lately I have been asked by many of my clients how many calories they should eat. This is the reason why I am writing this article. It is true that the amount of calories is an important consideration in weight loss, but it isn’t more important than the type of calories eaten. So my answer is, “The best thing you can do is eat a healthy diet high in organic vegetables, fruits and whole grains and low in meat, eat on schedule and drink only water. Once you are eating healthily, worry about the calories. I bet when you are there, calories won’t matter to you anymore.”
Sometimes people try to lose weight without knowing what they really want...
They usually want to get a toned body, to avoid diseases, to have an attractive body, to feel better, fit in their old cloth and so on. When people focus only on losing weight many times they opt for poor approaches, such as dieting, pills and surgeries. This may lead to weight loss but not to the real results that the client is looking for, such as an attractive body or avoiding diseases. For many they don't know what they are really looking for. When people determine what they really want they can find the right process to get there. For example, if people are looking for a toned body, dieting or eating healthily alone will not get them to their goal, although they might lose weight. Or if they really want to avoid disease, maybe exercising alone is not what they need.
They need to improve their eating habits as well. Anyway, cutting calories is not the right path to achieve your desires. Cutting calories may not tone the body, may not get rid of fat, may not avoid disease and may not help to achieve an attractive body. The biggest reason we eat is because we need nutrients in our body.
Real foods have calories, but they also have nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats and protein.
Some products have calories but no nutrients, hence the term “empty calories.” Therefore, it’s not the same eating or drinking 1,000 calories from foods rich in nutrients than from foods deficient in nutrients. Can you get the same benefit by replacing 500 calories of vegetables with 300 calories of alcohol? Is your body getting the nutrients it needs to avoid disease, tone your body or make your metabolism more efficient?
How about if you replace 500 calories of organic, homemade food with 300 calories of ultra processed foods that have all nutrients removed and chemicals added so they last longer? Will you be healthy? Will you have more energy? Will your organs work properly? Are you going to lose fat?
There is a research done in Brazil were people ate the same amount of calories. A group of people ate ultra processed foods and the other group whole foods. Interesting enough, people who ate the processed food became obese. While the other group kept the same wait.
You may read my article about the research here:
Focusing on your real goal instead of losing weight for the sake of losing weight will help you find the path to get there.
How many calories should I eat...?
To answer the question mentioned in the first paragraph, the calories that a person needs depends on the level of activity, body type, weight, height, lifestyle and metabolic rate.
Custom Body Fitness is located in Glenwood Springs CO and Carbondale CO
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