Whether you are just getting started or you are burned out from tracking and measuring everything you eat all day, I have you covered. Today I am sharing a method of eating where you can lose weight, improve your health, and have more energy without weighing, measuring, and tracking all the livelong day.
- Learning to recognize and follow your hunger cues.
- Following consistent eating schedules.
- Sticking to specific foods most of the time.
- Hydration
- Avoid Alcohol
I’ve shared in previous posts that I have tried about every diet, fad, gimmick there is when it comes to weight loss. Through this I have come to find three different nutritional approaches that I am fond of, and which I cycle through myself. My journey through all the things over the pat 25 years has taught me a lot, primarily that if it is not sustainable for life, it will likely cause you more trouble than it’s worth in the long run. Some examples, include diets that require you to eliminate entire food groups, like keto or other low-carb diets. The same goes for diets that are overly emphatic on eliminating fat or drastically reducing the amount of fat allowable. This is also the case for diets in which you must stay in a large caloric deficit.
So why do these diets not meet the test of time? Well, there are a few reasons. First, I’d say is the psychology of it. As soon as we go on one of these types of diets, we’re in this mindset of restriction; these diets are like giant lists of what you cannot have, which is then what we focus on. Eventually, we crack, whether it’s after a few days or a few months. The problem is, the deprivation these diets create in us leads to either binges on the “off-limit” foods, or a single slip up, leads to more frequent “indulgences” in these forbidden foods, which then leads to rapid weight gain in short timeframes. This is particularly true with low-carb diets because your body essentially becomes incapable of processing carbohydrates. But it’s also true for extremely low-calorie approaches also.
The second reason is physiological. Being in a large calorie deficit for a long time, as is usually the case with many of these diets, will start to slow your metabolism down over time. It triggers the body to hold onto whatever food you do consume, and also to hold onto the fat you are trying to lose. These diets also throw your hormones and endocrine system off in other ways. For example, large calorie deficits keep you in a prolonged state of hunger, so that involves hormones like ghrelin and leptin, which are involved in the appetite, and other hormones the regulate things like energy levels, metabolism, and for processing food you eat. Depending on the specific diet, resulting deficit, and other factors like exercise and stress, you can end up with a situation in which your body is working against your efforts to lose weight.
At the end of the day, your body wants to keep you alive and healthy, which means it needs to be fueled properly. When we fuel the body properly, meaning we give it all the essentials it needs, which includes fat and carbohydrates, it will start to shed the excess body fat. Your body will start to transform if you fuel it properly. So let’s get into how you can do that without all the crazy calorie counting and tracking.
This eating approach is great if you are getting started with weight loss and are just plain tired of tracking and calorie counting. It’s also a great way to increase your energy and feel better. And a bonus is you will see improvements in your skin and hair as well.
- Learning to recognize and follow your hunger cues.
A key component to this approach is that you will be tuning into your body’s cues. The idea here is eating to satiation or satisfaction. Eating slower and paying attention to when you feel as though you have eaten enough to satisfy the feeling of hunger, but not eating to the point of feeling full or stuffed. This will happen organically over time, because of the types of foods you are eating with this approach. In addition, you will be eating smaller meals over the day, which we will go into next, but that will also help with the overall satiation, so you aren’t overeating, yet also eating enough. - Following consistent eating schedules.
With this approach, you want to be eating every 2-3 hours. So, breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner. Depending on hunger levels, you may also be having a post-dinner snack, but this is closely related to learning true hunger from things like boredom, emotional eating, etc. Like everything related to weight loss, this is a process of change, so this is something that will take time – the post dinner snack in particular. Many of us might like to have something sweet after dinner or tend to snack in front of the television in the evenings and such, so it takes some time and conscious effort to change that. - Sticking to specific foods most of the time.
This one is another really critical component for this to work. With this approach, you need to stick with whole, fresh foods as much as possible as follows:- Lean protein: turkey breast, chicken breast, fish or seafood, lean beef, lean pork, and some dairy sources like Greek yogurt, low fat cheeses, or other cheeses in moderation.
- Healthy fats: nut butters, nuts, and avocado are the best sources; though, realistically this can include others such as olive oil or butter. You can also use plant based butter.
- Complex carbohydrates: the main rule of thumb here is you want to get most of your carbohydrates from sources high in fiber. I use 3 grams as a minimum; if it has less than this, skip it. This is particularly applicable for brads and pastas. I also recommend brown rice over white and steel cut oatmeal over the others as much as possible, but that’s not to say that you must completely avoid white rice or regular oatmeal. The idea is really, again, getting more fiber, because this help fill you up as well as the other health benefits of high fiber in the diet.
- Fresh fruits and vegetables: I would prioritize these over other carbohydrate sources as much as possible. Swap out carbohydrates for fruit and vegetable where possible. For example, instead of chips with your turkey sandwich, have a salad, or some cherry tomatoes, or cucumber slices. Replace your granola bars with a piece of fruit. Over time, the goal is to reach for fruits and vegetables when you want a snack instead of what most of us usually go for. Again, it’s a process of change, so it’s consistent, conscious effort over time.
- Hydration.
You want to get in at least half a gallon of water a day, at the very minimum. Ideally you want to drink your weight in ounces of water every day. There are a couple reasons this is important. First, a lot of the things people drink instead of water contains extra calories and there is usually no value in drinking your calories. So, gradually replace the sodas or juices with water. If you need some help with this, because I know how hard a transition this can be, then check out Episode 27: How to Get Started Drinking Water when you don’t like Drinking Water. The second reason, is that water helps flush fat and cleanse the body; so it is your friend when you are trying to lose weight. - Avoid Alcohol.
So, just as water is your friend when you are trying to lose weight, alcohol is not. It stops you from burning fat while you are drinking. It contains a lot of calories per serving. It increases hunger. It can also interrupt your sleep. These are just a few of the reasons to avoid it. If you are going to drink, keep it in moderation so you don’t halt or counter your efforts.
So that is how you can eat to lose weight while properly fueling and loving your body on the way to your goal weight. I hope you have found this helpful and would love to hear how this helps you lose weight. Weight loss coaching is also something I offer and this will be a key component of my new coaching program, which I am very excited to announce will be coming in November 2023. Weight loss, and our overall health requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses nutrition, exercise, mindset, and our spiritual growth and health. My new program, Phoenix Rising Initiation includes all of this and more. So keep your eyes out for that, so you can get your spot in the program.
As always, I would love to hear from you, so please share your thoughts in the comments. If you find this helpful and want to continue the pursuit of faith, fitness, and joy with me, please like and subscribe. You can also find all things mind, body, and soul health on podcast. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you in the comments and on the socials!