NutritionPlanz

Why we can't lose weight.

Lets talk about obessty

The definition of obesity varies depending on what one reads. In general, overweight and obesity indicates excess body fat and a weight greater than what is healthy.  

The rates of obesity are growing at an alarming rate! There are many factors that can contribute to obesity, and these can include, but are not limited to genetics, hormones, environmental factors and you guessed it -  diet!

Diet is the number one leading cause associated with obesity, but what most people don't know is that obesity is most often caused by consuming more calories than you burn, particularly those high in refined carbohyrdrates and sugar. 

People are eating more calories on average than they did in the 1970s. Between 1971 and 2000, the average man added 168 calories to his daily fare, while the average woman added 335 calories a day!. What's driving this trend? A combination of increased availability, bigger portions, and more high-calorie foods.

Practically everywhere we go — shopping centres, sports stadiums, movie theatres — food is readily available. You can buy snacks or meals at roadside rest stops, 24-hour convenience stores, even gyms and health clubs and the common denominator in these foods is that they're typically high in carbs.

We were told that fat is evil

Do you remember the food pyramids that we were shown when we grew up?  Carbs at the bottom and fats near the top?

We were literally taught that we should eat more carbs than anything else and unfortunately for all of us, this was based on unproven science.

The latest studies have shown that our body is extremely effiicient in burning fat as a fuel source as long as there is not an abundance of other fuels in our system.

So by eating lots of carbs all day - we are simply adding fuel that our body will choose to use first and it will ignore our stored body fat.

Worse yet, because we eat more carbs than we need to - our bodies then convert this energy into...... you guessed it, even more body fat.

What happens when we reduce our carbs.

When we adjust what we eat to being lower in carbs and higher in healthy fats, we are acheiving two crucial things;

We train our bodies to burn fat first

Our bodies are extremely adaptive and are always seeking a source of energy so when you reduce the carb energy, your body 'goes looking' for other sources.

That source is your body fat.

It might sound super simple - and thats because it is.  In fact, when we take clients through a low-carb challenge, it comes down to simple maths.

Lower Cab Energy = High Bodyfat Burn

"But isn't fat bad for me?"

Research shows that the fat content of our diet has actually gone down since the early 1980s but the trend line of obessity has increased.

The real issue is not with fat in your food, it is in knowing which types of fat you can include and still stay healthy.

Keeping the weight off.

The main problem with crash diets and extreme exercise programs is compromise and depravation.  You might lose a bit of weight but you remove the enjoyment of food, deprive yourself of treats and wake up each day dreading your next cardio session.

We make sure that this does not happen with our 6 Week Low Carb Challenge by including;

• Regular healthy and delicious treats
• Portion sizes of our recipes are designed to make sure that you finish your meals feeling satisfied and full
• You can have pudding!

 So you can eat well and enjoy your food and still burn body fat.