The new eat whatever the f@#! you want diet.

As a trainer I get asked about food alot but I don't really like talking to clients and friends about nutrition, simply because I'm not really an expert about anything to do with the topic. I know the basics to get me by and I definitely read up on the topic on a regular basis. How ever, I have been rolling around some ideas lately that I thought would be interesting.

I want to share a little revelation I had after reading two very important articles.

ARTICLE ONE: Was about a food nutritionist that did a study (on himself) to prove that when it came to weight loss it really didn't matter what you ate or when but simply how many calories a day. I already wrote a blog about this one if you didn't read about it take some time to catch up at http://utcsc.blogspot.com/2010/12/twinkie-diet-just-in-time-for-christmas.html
The coles notes on this one is simply he ate junk food but kept his calories in check and lost weight.

ARTICLE TWO: This article was renowned author on nutrition Dr. Berardi of Precision Nutrition. It was a very large article explaining his research on fasting. You can read an overview about it at http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-intermittent-fasting TJ's short take away notes about this is that going periods without food isn't really a big problem for weight loss and health as long as your calorie calorie consumption is on target.

These two articles together got me really thinking about food. I have always struggled with a lot of guilt around what I eat and when I eat it. The main people I like to take advice from in the fitness world have been saying that the only way to be successful is to eat 5-6 small meals a day and try to make them full of fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meat, trying to avoid anything else. This is really hard for me owning a business, being a dad and having a full time job as a firefighter. Plus I really enjoy eating the comfort food I was brought up on.

So lately I have been using a calorie counter that I downloaded to my phone from http://www.fatsecret.com/ and I am in the first couple of weeks of recording my calorie consumption every day without stressing to much about what I am eating and when.

A few things I have noticed from my personal experiment so far

1. When I record what I eat it really takes the guilt level down about my eating habits and it really doesn't take much time to do
2. It is really easy to go way over my daily caloric goal especially when I have a big dinner or eat comfort food
3. If I need to eat to make me feel full without having a lot of calories green vegetables seems to be the only thing that helps
4. I love not feeling required to eat at a particular time and that I can eat fun foods as long as I plan for them
5. I'm a lot hungrier when I don't take a fiber supplement

I would say after noticing these things about a calorie aware diet it seems to me that the reason that eating more regular meals with lean meat and vegetables works for weight loss is because it is a lot harder to go over in your calories per day. Plus your body has to work harder and burn more calories to metabolise a clean diet. I know that this seems like common sense to you but it is important to me because this latest research allows you to explore the possibility of having some easy food and not worrying about skipping a meal or two as long as your caloric numbers equal out over the week.

I still try to eat healthy but I don't stress out when I don't. To date I have lost three pounds, my goal is 10 pounds in total.  We will wait & count and see how it goes.

To be continued......