03/01/21

#82 Why can’t I lose weight on a calorie-controlled diet like I used to?

Why can’t I lose weight on a calorie-controlled diet like I used to?

Because our bodies treat calories from different sources differently.

And for most women, this becomes more apparent as we age

A 300 calorie doughnut is not the same as a 300 calorie chicken breast or 300 calories worth of broccoli.

The energy provided by different macronutrients:

Carbohydrate 4 calories a gram

Protein 4 calories a gram

Fat 9 calories a gram

Alcohol 7 calories a gram (see blog #65 for more on alcohol)

Protein requires energy to be broken down. Uses up to 30% of its energy value.

Fat is high in calories but doesn’t elicit an insulin response- too much fat quickly gets you out of a calorie deficit for fat loss.

Carbohydrate is fine when it is high in fibre and releases slowly into the bloodstream.

But refined, processed carbohydrate is the problem because it is released fast and causes a blood sugar spike which causes you to release insulin which is your fat-storage hormone and locks your stored fat into the cell so that you cannot use it for energy.

Carbohydrates of which sugar:

Sugar (sucrose) is 50% glucose 50% fructose

Glucose is only slightly sweet and we don’t eat or drink it on its own. It is the natural fuel that travels around in our bloodstream and delivers energy to our cells. Fructose it the sweet part which is available naturally only in fruits.

Human beings are naturally hard-wired to seek out sweet fruits as a rapid energy and vitamin C source.

Historically we would have gorged on fruits in the summer to store energy for the winter (especially as women for pregnancy and lactation - is that why we have a 'sweeter tooth' than men?).

There would never have been an unlimited supply of sugar or honey all year round like we have now.

We still haven’t evolved out of our cavewomen bodies to cope.

Agave syrup, corn syrup, coconut sugar and added fruit sugar fructose is not healthy and is added to everything that is processed and packaged. Pureed fruit like banana and dates and concentrated fruit juices are another 'healthy' example.

Our tastes are changing and we want stuff to be sweeter and sweeter and saltier and saltier.

Food manufactures know that it is cheap and addictive. We were never meant to eat like this!

I want you to learn how to make an informed choice.

Read nutrition information panels (which by the way only have to be accurate to within 20%!!

Look at sugar per serve and divide by 4 to get the teaspoons of sugar per serve. look at the grams per 100gran to get the % sugar of every bite that you eat.

Choose high fibre, low Gi, slow-release options. Let your taste buds normalise things will taste bland for a little while, but it doesn't take long- believe me.

So it may be the insulin response to hidden sugars in processed foods that are within your calorie count that is stopping you from losing weight.