The “calories in, calories out” philosophy does work: if you burn more calories than you take in, it is a surefire way to lose weight. But this methodology isn’t always sustainable because not all calories aren’t created equal.
Following a 3 shakes & a sensible dinner plan is also a surefire way to slow down your metabolism. Why is this the case if those shakes equal the same number of calories as a meal?
You see, in terms of nutrition, our body can only work as well as the cells that we are comprised of. Your cells are the most basic functional unit of your body. Cells have 2 roles in our body: get nutrients from the food we eat & use those nutrients as fuel to keep us alive. How well your body does this depends on how well your cells work.
At the most basic level, your cells need to absorb & digest nutrients well in order to perform a cellular task known as metabolism.
If we want a good metabolism, we need the right nutrients in the right amounts. When we eat well, our cells function well, thereby increasing our metabolism. When we don’t eat well, problems happen.
So how does eating more real, whole food cause your metabolism to increase? It’s an amazing system God designed when He gave us the feeling of hunger.
When you feel that first hunger pang, your body has already begun the process of preparing to eat. This alerts your body to expect food & nutrients to arrive. Then when you smell the food you are about to eat, your mouth begins to salivate. This salivating process combined with chewing, is the crucial in the digestion process.
Digestion is what leads to your body’s ability to use the nutrients you just ate. If you are drinking every meal, your body begins to slow down digestion to self-preserve, which also means it slows down your metabolism.
This is just one example of how your metabolism slows down. There are many other factors throughout life that can slow it as well, such as, stress & anxiety, medications, over-eating, hormones, lack of sleep & yo-yo dieting.
No matter the cause of slow metabolism, the only way to get your body back on track is to begin with a foundation of a variety of minimally processed whole foods.
While it may sound sensible to just eat less food or eat less often if you want to lose weight, this isn’t the best way to do it.
If you’ve ever tried the “eat less” approach, you know it isn’t easy. That’s because living in a state of deprivation causes a domino effect of physical & emotional problems.
If you want to see significant, long term changes to your body & overall health, eating more whole foods, more often is the majority of the battle. It has been estimated that 80% of our body composition comes from what we eat.
Eating more frequent, whole foods-based meals will increase your metabolism. Three solid meals + 2 healthy snacks in during the day beats barely eating all day & then cramming down an enormous meal because you’re starving at night.
Eating smaller, yet more frequent meals, burns more energy, simply through digestion whereas eating a large meal can put a heavy strain on your digestive system. Only so much can be put to work for energy at one time, which means the rest of it likely takes up residence in your body as stored fat. Eating too much at one time will also cause a blood sugar spike, which will in turn make you feel like you have low energy shortly after eating.
Despite not asking you to reduce your caloric intake, I guarantee that eating a whole foods-based approach will result in lower caloric intake. This is because your body will level off & begin to realize you are feeding it well.
By sustaining this method of whole foods, for an extended time period, your body will in turn begin sending fewer messages that a late night ice cream run is necessary. Following this direction long term will increase your metabolism & decrease your cravings.
Because this way of eating is built on balance with a focus on your health, your mind & body will respond positively. And there will never be a need to cycle off, drastically change or deprive yourself of food.
Most nutrition clients I work with come to me wanting a diet that will give them immediate results. Unfortunately, this just isn’t sustainable. You will see results within a couple of weeks of eating a whole foods based approach, however, the foundation of long-term change is crucial.
It reminds me of the story Jesus told in the gospel of Matthew.
“Everyone who hears My teaching & applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his
house on an unshakeable foundation. When the rains fell & the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his
house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. But everyone who hears my teaching & does not
apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained & rained & the flood came, with wind & waves beating upon his house, it collapsed & was swept away.” {Matthew 7:24-27 TPT}
Just as we must build a lifetime of right living on the words of Jesus, so we must build lifelong habits of choosing whole foods in order to reap the benefits of health.
Here are some things we can keep in mind when building our life in Jesus & our life of health:
· We must lay the foundation first – It’s too late to think about weatherproofing our home once the storm hits. It’s the same with our eating habits. The night out with friends, the leftover cake & the extra-large popcorn at the movies will overcome you if you don’t have a foundation of choosing whole foods for the sake of health first.
· We need outside help – Having a friend, family member or nutrition coach who can keep you focused on your why & your path to achieve that goal. Deep, supportive relationships are crucial when it comes to protecting our house {aka our body}.
· We need to consider how much storm damage will cost – Making certain choices about what you will & won’t consume in regard to food may cost you something from day-to-day. However, the cost will be insignificant when compared to the cost of long term effects of choosing quick over quality, or momentary flavor over long-term satisfaction. You might have to make a hard decision not go out with friends because you know it is your pitfall for eating or drinking too much. You may have to sacrifice a couple of hours on the weekend for meal prep because you know that your weekday schedule is not going to allow you time to make a whole foods meal.
The sacrifice of choosing daily health is much less than the cost of collapse under the weight of guilt, shame, regret or long-term health problems.