The word calorie is defined Calorie as: the heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water from 0 to 1°C. In 1887 the word was used to describe food energy from a popular article published in Century magazine, at the time a mainstream publication. This went on to be listed in the Farmers Bulletin 23 in 1894, which is where the idea of every food being attached to a measure called calories. To put this into perspective, during this time Heroic medicine was still a part of the health care system, which included bloodletting and numerous other now outlawed practices.
Today, it is required that every packaged food contains a label indicating the calories, fat, protein, sugar and other pieces of information about the food. While this is helpful to consumers to teach about food density, and give them an informed choice about food, its most valuable attribute is the ability for consumers to see the ingredients in the product. Therein lies the most important factor for human health. Food quality, not quantity.
As we try to battle the obesity epidemic in the U.S. we continue to be defeated as the low fat, low-carb, calorie counting, and other useless strategies fail people. It’s time to take a real look at food quality, and be more demanding with our government and manufacturers about what is in our food. Or better yet, bypass the manufacturers entirely and eliminate all processed foods from our diets completely.
But wait, how would we then know what is healthy and what is not if that whole food did not have a label on it???? It's really simple. We teach people the value of foods, not how to count calories. For more on eating healthy Watch the Interview On Nutrition Here!
If calories were only thing that mattered to stay healthy we could be each given a budget of calories each day to maintain. If we go beyond the budget, we gain weight, and if we go below we loose weight. It is true that 3500 calories equals a pound, but then why are people not loosing fat on a 1200-calorie diet? We have to move more and eat less. However if you have even been on a calorie-restricted diet you know how hard it is to battle the appetite! Eating less is difficult when the foods you choose are of poor quality.
We must be able to eat more quantity, yet take in fewer calories if we want to feel full and loose weight.
Here are 2 very basic ways to focus on quality and stop counting calories and STILL loose weight.
1. Every time you eat, at least ¾ of your plate should be low glycemic vegetables. This means non- starchy veggies. The rest of your plate should contain lean protein, and a bit of plant based fat (avocado, nuts, seeds, eggs)
2. We eat when we are hungry, but never overfill ourselves. Stop eating when you feel satisfied, don't wait until your stuffed!
Get more help with weight loss and getting healthy visitwww.mywellnessexperience.org
Nicole Carter
The Wellness Experience
No comments:
Post a Comment