How did we get to the place where we believe that if we only eat 100 calories of anything that we will be able to lose weight and not be unhealthy? A calorie is a unit of energy. If we use that as the basic premise of why we eat – to gain energy, why would we eat foods that don’t provide good sources of energy?
I don’t think anyone would argue that eating a bag of 100 calorie chips will not provide the same energy as an apple. The apple is a natural source of fiber and is a good source of vitamin C and about 100 calories. The chips are a source of unhealthy fats. There is no comparison in the amount of energy that your body can convert from the difference in the 100 calories consumed.
Why do we continue to perpetuate the myth that if we only eat less and exercise more we can lose weight, feel better and live a better quality of life? In order to provide nourishment for our bodies we need to supply the energy (calories) that can convert into nutrients our bodies can use. It’s time to dispel that notion. Not all calories are equal.
Most people have been led to believe that the only way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more but how can that be? If we eat less nutrient-rich food our bodies don’t have the fuel to do the work it needs to do to keep us healthy. If we exercise to excess, especially if we are eating poorly, then we deplete our bodies. Instead of feeling better, we feel worse.
The goal is to eat more nutrient-dense foods and exercise moderately to keep your body in shape. The same way you wouldn’t put diesel gas in your natural gas car. And you wouldn’t take that car out and run it at top speed without making sure it was tuned for optimal performance. The same is true for our bodies. We need to feed our bodies the foods that we were meant to eat – whole foods, not processed foods. We need to tune our bodies by incrementally increasing our movement to our natural abilities.
My suggestion is to eat more whole foods, have regular movement and go outside. Bring yourself back to basics. Good nutrition, healthy exercise and get in touch with nature. You will feel better without much extra effort.
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