Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat for Correct Weight Loss

Carbohydrates, protein and fat are known as macro-nutrients. Macro-nutrients make up the bulk of our everyday calorie intake. Not all carbohydrates and fats are created equally. Choosing macro-nutrients wisely could help one’s weight loss efforts tremendously. It also allows one to sustain a healthy lifestyle without deprivation.

Carbohydrates for Correct Weight Loss
The bulk of our calories come from carbohydrates. Eat carbohydrates wisely. Understand the concept of glycemic index and glycemic load. Choose low glycemic carbohydrates. Understand the difference between complex and refined carbohydrates.
Ensure that there is minimum refined carbohydrates in your daily diet. Taper the amount of carbohydrates that you eat in the day. Breakfast should have the largest amount of carbohydrates and dinner the smallest.

While a low or totally “no” carbohydrate diet could produce faster weight loss, the results are not sustainable unless you exercise. Very few people are able to sustain a low carbohydrate diet for long. The weight comes back with a vengeance when one starts consuming carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates equals to refined carbohydrates.This especially so if one starts indulging in refined carbohydrates.






Avoid going on diets that you cannot sustain for a lifetime. Educate yourself instead. Learn to identify and eat complex carbohydrates. Totally eradicate refined carbohydrates from your diet. This is the secret to sustainable weight loss without a self deprivation low carbohydrate diet.

Protein for Correct Weight Loss
The digestion of protein requires the most amount of energy. When 100 calories of protein are consumed, 30% of it is used to process the food. This is the energy required to bite, chew, swallow, digest, transport, metabolize and store the food that is consumed. As such, the conversion efficiency of protein is approximately 70%. C0mpare this in contrast to the 93% conversion efficiency of carbohydrates and 97% conversion efficiency of fat.

Most people do not eat enough protein. Anyone trying to lose weight should try to consume protein in every meal. It is highly advisable to consume protein for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Protein often comes packaged together with fat. For this reason, choose lean meat as your main protein source. Eggs are an excellent source of protein. To reduce the amount of saturated fat from eggs, consume egg whites. Whenever consuming eggs, use 1 whole egg with 1 egg white as a general rule.

Fat for Correct Weight Loss
Most people are terrified of eating fat. This is understandable as people relate fat to the blubber that they carry in their bodies. This unconscious programming causes people to misunderstand fat. One should be able to differentiate between healthy fats and unhealthy fats. Unhealthy fats are essentially trans fatty acids, hydrogenated oils and margarine. Saturated fats should also be avoided.

People should instead eat healthy fats such as olive oil and grape seed oil. Omega fats available from cold water fish also have tremendous health benefits. These fats benefit the process of weight loss. Ensure that you use extra virgin olive oil. This is they healthiest type of olive oil.

Olive oil is unsuitable for Asian style high heat cooking. Grape seed oil is the best choice for use in high heat cooking. Olive oil should be eaten unheated.

Understand Your Macro-nutrients
Understanding macro-nutrients is the secret to healthy, sustainable and correct weight loss. Ultimately, weight loss is a journey and not a destination. Forget about diets. Learn healthy eating habits that you can sustain as a lifestyle. Choose a diet that you can live with for the rest of your life. The side effect of such a diet would be permanent weight loss.

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