When it comes to looking at food, for whatever diet it is that you follow, whether it’s gaining weight or losing weight. There is a kinda hierarchy of aspects that you need to consider. Or even things that you should prioritise.
This will mainly be focusing on weight loss as when you’re trying to gain weight if you are trying to bulk up, you can kinda get away with eating almost anything. So these aspects should be your focus if you’re trying to lose weight.
So the first aspects that I’m gonna cover are the most important aspects and the ones that will make the biggest difference. As I go, the later parts will contribute to fat loss but only once you got the first parts down.
Flavour
A lot “hardcore” fitness addicts will have the approach that food is fuel and only fuel. But the reason we eat the food that we eat is because we like it. You’re not gonna eat something you don’t like. I’m sure there are a few people out there who eat things they don’t like because it’s good for them or great fuel.
Chefs will look at food and want to make it taste great. Nutritionists will look at food and see it as a source of fuel and nutrition.
Truth is, you need both.
You need to get the correct amount of vitamins, minerals and macros to be fit and healthy.
But the most successful eating strategy is how much you enjoy it which will help you stick to a meal plan.
No point in having a great meal plan on paper if you can’t stick to it.
Fuel
It is our natural instinct as humans to eat food for fuel to survive. Thankfully today getting food for fuel is incredibly easy and convenient. The issue is that it is too easy, which is why there is a problem with obesity.
This is why we need to understand our fuel. Understand a calorie deficit, calorie surplus and balancing calories. Once you get the hang of managing your fuel/calories you will be able to manage your weight better.
Function
There are not just calories in our food. Food has a function. We eat carbs and fats for energy and protein to help with recovery and growth. And that’s just the macros. There are also loads of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and other micronutrients that we get from food.
I’ll not get into that too much as I have covered these in other blogs. If you can’t seen them you can check them out at https://www.rmfitness.net/post/basics-of-nutrition-understanding-macros and https://www.rmfitness.net/post/basics-of-nutrition-understanding-micronutrients
Fitness
A lot of people think that to lose weight that you need to spend all day in the gym and run yourself into the ground.
The funny thing is, you can lose weight without doing any exercise. Now it’s certainly not the most effective way to lose weight. But it can be done. Teaming correct nutrition and the correct exercise program and you are on to a winner. If you can get this mastered, burning fat and building lean muscle will come.
Obviously you need the correct training program to match your diet to get the results you want. Make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Then plan the diet plan that suits your needs and get the training program that you need.
Fun
Now the final. or one of the final stages, having fun and enjoying your food. But again, this is at the end. You MUST have the other aspects mastered before you get to have fun with your food. Once you get to this stage you can introduce chocolate and alcohol etc.
Now I completely understand that isn’t the typical way of thinking but this is what makes fat loss fun and sustainable.
Again, this is one of the final stages. It’s so important that each stage is covered before moving onto the next stage.
If you can master each of these stages, you will be well on your way to achieving the weight loss goals that you want.