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No matter whether you are looking to lose weight, tone up or stick to a healthier regimen, eating the right combinations of food matters.
Would you put regular fuel in your diesel truck? Just like powering your car, the food you’re eating is fuel for your body. For many who feel sluggish, overweight or not quite up to your personal best, you’re likely using the wrong octane!
Food carries with it a set of directions for your body. Different foods work differently with your body’s road map.
All foods are not created equal even though they are all fuel. New Title
Just like in the way that unleaded and diesel fuel are different, each type of food burns differently in the engine that is your metabolism.
Understanding the unique set of directions each food carries with it will make or break your ability to change your body’s composition. Just like understanding which fuel is best for your car, it takes a little bit more to understand which fuel is right for your body. Only instead of the choices of leaded, unleaded and diesel, food has a lot more variety. That means it’s just not as simple as calories in, calories out.
Deciding which food is best for keeping your body running at its best.New Title
Macronutrients, also known as macros, are the basic categories of the foods we eat. Think of them like low, medium and high-octane fuel.
- Carbs, short for carbohydrates, are the quick burning fuel, the kindling. They originate from grains, fruits, veggies and the sugar in dairy.
- Protein is the middle ground; it breaks down faster than fat but not as quickly as carbs. It is primarily found in animal products, dark green veggies and some grains.
- Fats are the slow burning logs on the fire. They originate primarily from animal products, nuts, seeds, some fruit like avocado and coconut and other oils.
For the full explanation please read the blog I wrote about the basics of macros.
While the basic science of energy is correct, the devil is in the details.
When we move, breathe, think and exercise, our bodies burn fuel (measured in calories or little balls of energy).
It is challenging to correctly estimate exact calorie burn without serious scientific equipment, but there are 3 calorie hacks that can help you reduce the calorie load. They are:
- Engage in activities that increase heart rate
- Use larger muscle groups
- Put those muscles under enough load to create fatigue
Doing these things will lead to more calorie burn.
The various monitors available are a great ballpark idea of what you burn but should not be considered exact.
Learning how to fuel your body for fat loss is easy once you understand how it uses food for fuel. You can also use this knowlege to avoid emotional eating by choosing to eat to fuel your body not to feed your emotions.
The Impact of Fat Storage
We also know that if we consume more energy (a.k.a. calories) than we burn, our bodies will store the extra for later.
Usually the stored energy stays with us in the form of body fat.
While the entire process can seem a little complicated, the truth is that calories play a very small role in body composition.
The way that our bodies use and “burn” the different macros affects how they’re stored and whether they’re stored for long term or short term.
That’s part of the reason that it isn’t as simple as calories in, calories out.
Usually the stored energy stays with us in the form of body fat.
While the entire process can seem a little complicated, the truth is that calories play a very small role in body composition.
The way that our bodies use and “burn” the different macros affects how they’re stored and whether they’re stored for long term or short term.
That’s part of the reason that it isn’t as simple as calories in, calories out.
A Helpful Body Fuel Hack
How you’re planning to move your body provides useful insight into what type of fuel is best for you to use. It also gives us the framework for that helpful body hack.
But more than just the type of fuel to use, how you’re planning to move your body also reveals amount of fuel that is best for you to consume.
What you need to know is that your body works similarly to any other motor. It burns fuel as needed.
If you run it hard, it burns fuel more rapidly.
While calories are significant, they’re not the main story. The type of fuel you put into your body dictates how it reacts.
When your body demands high octane, give it what it demands.
If it’s out for a Sunday drive and you give it more than it needs, it’s going to put it on a shelf for later (ahem, love handles).
If you’re going to exercise vigorously, you’ll need very different fuel than if you’re settling in for a long day of work at your desk.
Fuel your body for the activity at hand in order to have it run at optimal speed!
- Vigorous activity requires immediate fuel. The body does not have time to break down anything in order to replenish your cells, so it needs access to glucose (sugar) immediately. It finds glucose already ready in your muscles and easily accessed in carbs.
- Sitting at your desk all day, your body doesn’t need a lot of quick fuel. Your body has lots of time to start to break down fat, which eventually turns into glucose, and turn it into fuel.
Shifting your mindset is a key ingredient to using healthier fuel.
Many don’t realize that the first step to shifting the fuels we use, as we head to creating our personal best, elite performing body, starts with our mindset.
When you shift to a mindset focused on fueling and providing for your healthy body over a mindset that is unconsciously snacking or emotionally eating, it can lead to incredible results. On top of that, it will make a huge difference in your ability to control your body weight and composition.
Eating should be a very conscious and deliberate action. But it’s not about will power or deprivation or even calorie budgeting.
It starts with seeing calories as fuel. It moves to looking for the right kind of fuel. And it demands that we shift our mindset into greater awareness of what … and when … we need the different types of fuel available.
I will be unpacking more on this in the upcoming weeks both here on this blog and on social media. Please feel free to share with us your stories of shifting your mindset and seeing food as fuel.
Together, let’s look at some hacks to get your body more powerfully revving up!
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