Food and Nutrition and Weight Loss

Everyone thinks about food, whether it is to plan a meal or what you are having a craving for, food is part of our daily thought process. Nutrition, on the other hand, is not always part of it. We recognize that there are foods out there that would be better for you then the fast food you had for lunch but many people still think of nutrition as the food pyramid and its daily servings. Nutrition is important in every life and should not just be a factor in those who are trying to lose weight or are battling obesity. Every food item consumed by the body has the potential to provide energy and vitamins or can be converted to fat, the difference between the two food choices can result in weight loss or weight gain. Nutritional facts are offered for almost every type of food out there, including fast food. As a society, we label the nutritional value of everything on the market, not just the calories and grams of fat but also vitamins, and the breakdown of trans fat and saturated fat. With so much information thrown at us about our food choices, the true problem is incorporating this information into our lives and making healthier choices.

            The math behind losing weight and nutrition is surprisingly simple; if you burn more calories than you consume then you will lose weight. For an average female, the recommended daily caloric intake can vary from 1,500 to 2,000 calories and for males, it increases to 2,400 to 2,800 calories. However, if you are trying to lose weight, most diets and experts recommend that you decrease your calories to 1,000-1,500 per day. Most experts do not recommend dropping below a thousand calories a day because the human body needs the nutrition and a lower calorie diet does not always provide that. Along with reducing your caloric intake, experts also recommend increasing physical activity to at least a half hour a day in order to maximize weight loss and increase the health benefits of losing weight. A healthier diet is often recommended for those who are tying to lose weight. While technically you could stay under the daily caloric intake value and continue to eat unhealthy choices, it is recommended that you make choices that have a better nutritional value and that you follow the recommended serving size. The newly revamped food pyramid also offers guidelines that are much more interactive than the old food pyramid. It gives you guidelines and specifications on how much of each food group you should be consuming daily and leaves room for you to lower your caloric intake to maximize weight loss.

            Diets are prevalent in our society, some are considered ‘crash diets’ designed to help you lose as much weight as quickly as possible, while others are long terms plans that help you lose weight and change your eating habits. Many experts recommend staying away from crash diets, as they are considered unhealthy and more than likely you will gain the weight back almost immediately. For some of the more popular diets out there, these are plans that change the way a person eats and can help promote healthier choices even after you stop dieting. Weight Watchers™ and Jenny Craig™ promote healthier choices along with the freedom to choose what you want to eat. They offer food choices that are more closely associated with food that everyone eats and give more freedom and flexibility in their diets. The main focuses of both these diets is to change your eating habits, smaller portions, smaller meals and snacks. They do not focus on depriving yourself of food but rather teach you to make better nutritional choices. The Atkins Diet™ and South Beach Diet™ both focus on cutting out carbohydrates from ones diet. The Atkins Diet™ is especially strict on cutting out most forms of carbohydrates and replacing them with protein. This diet works very well for some people but does take dedication to resisting carbohydrates. More importantly, long term studies have shown that the replacement of carbohydrates with proteins and certain fats does not increase bad cholesterol or have any negative impact on health. Nutritionally, dieters still consume reduced calories but just in a different variety than standard diets. The South Beach Diet™ focuses on replacing carbohydrates with healthier whole grain carbohydrates and promoting better choices nutritionally. While both diets focus on the decrease in carbohydrates, they take two very different paths. The secret of finding a diet that works for you, is finding a diet that you can stay on and still see weight loss results in the long term.

            Most people choose to lose weight for physical reasons rather than health reasons. While it is important to look good and feel good, it is also important to recognize that the more you know about what you’re consuming and how you’re losing weight, the easier it will become to make healthier choices. Weight loss is never about just one avenue, it is about combining a variety of things and maximizing your weight loss and then maintaining it. Diets often work well but staying on one and staying motivated can be difficult. By combining a variety of weight loss techniques, it becomes easier to lose the weight. Diet and exercise are often the most common combination but by adding in healthy herbal supplement, you can often achieve better results and stay motivated to continue to lose weight. It is easy to get into a routine for exercise, and you will probably take your vitamins and supplements everyday at a specific time, but changing your eating habits and choices can be extremely difficult. It is once you make healthier eating a habit that dieting and nutrition will become easier because it will not be a choice anymore. This does not mean that everything that is considered high in fat, high in carbohydrates, or overly processed is bad for you. It is okay to spurge occasionally of foods that you might not normally eat, and it will not ruin your health or your diet.