Eating Calories

You need to eat. You are not a failure because you feel like you need to eat. Humans need to eat. And to perform well, mentally, emotionally, and physically, you need fuel. That means more eating. Just to exist you need fuel. So, again, that means eating. 

A word of encouragement? If you workout semi-consistently, and certainly if you workout here at Black Wolf, you probably need 1500 or more calories a day just to exist in a vegetative state. 

That’s how much energy your body needs to let your heart beat, let your lungs work, let all of the millions of involuntary systems in your body do what they do to keep you just alive. 

If you need 1500 calories just to be alive, then you probably should stop telling yourself you need to starve yourself to lose weight. 

So we can agree that we need to eat. And that we don’t need to feel bad about that. 

What do we eat then? And how much? 

1) Lean meat at every meal (chicken breast is the gold standard, tuna is nearly fat free, and turkey can work well. Checkout the Lean Protein Guide when you get the chance). 

2) Fruits & Vegetables - Find ways to enjoy them. Apples, bananas, and berries are at the top of our list of favorite fruits. Green leafy vegetables sit atop the vegetable pile but variety in your veggies is awesome. 

Fruits and vegetables are great sources to satisfy our micro-nutrient needs (vitamins and minerals), and they usually deliver a good amount of fiber as well (aiming for 25g a day). They also do not have any dietary fat, and are calorically light while being nutrient dense. You would have to eat way way way too much kale to eat too many calories. 

But that’s the trick. Space that vegetables take up is space you will not try to fill with snacks and junk.  When you finish your plate and want to go back for seconds you can, but you have to start with the vegetables first and then the meat or whatever it is that you might be wanting a bit more. 

3) Intentional Use of Carb Dense Foods - Carbs are not evil. The problem with carbs is our tendency to mindlessly consume carb dense food choices. Bread, pasta, and rice are great but if you eat more than you need your calories for the day explode. 

Yes, I do suppose if you were like give me a short list of carb sources that would maybe actually be best for weight loss then I would lean toward potatoes (all types) and squashes. These are slower to digest than a simple pasta, bread or bowl of white rice which means your insulin spikes less. 

But having reasonable amounts of pasta or rice especially with a fat source is fine. Be aware of the amount. And if a certain food choice is hard to control then maybe it sits on the shelf until we get you to where you want to be. 

4) Eat 4-5 meals a day (maybe 5-6 if that works better) and eat before you are hungry. If you are hungry you are wrong (not because you are not allowed to be hungry but because it means you waited too long to eat and now you are susceptible to cravings and whims. You’ll sell your soul when you’re hungry). 

Remember, the biggest impact on your weight loss journey comes from your nutrition. Small changes here will have a big impact so find one or two things at a time you know you could stick to and build from there. As you stick to that first new habit, you’ll build momentum as you finally see the changes you have been wanting for so long.

But there is a second part of the equation.