The very night before this conversation, I was up until about 1am (I have a really busy day with teaching, so I don't get a lot of time during normal daylight hours) working on my own nutrition. I was going through a bunch of recipes that come with P90X and P90X2 in order to make a list that I could follow so I didn't have to constantly guess what my next meal should be.
When I finalized my plan while accounting for the fact that I'd like to lose about a pound or two per week, I figured that I needed to eat about 2100 calories per day (you can find resources online like caloriecounter.com in addition to using the P90X and P90X2 nutrition plans).
Really? Eating More is the Answer?
The whole notion of starving oneself in order to lose weight is completely wrong and outdated. Unfortunately, that notion still remains popular despite it being completely the wrong approach. On average, most people would need to eat about 1800 - 2100 calories in order to LOSE weight!
If you're eating 800 or 1000 calories a day, you're actually telling your body to hold on to the fat cells. Why? Well, it's a pretty simple concept. The less you eat, in general, the more your body thinks it needs to be prepared in case there suddenly isn't any more food available. If you think back to our ancestors who did not always have a steady supply of food around prior to farming, agriculture, etc., those who survived were those who could efficiently store energy in their body...in the form of fat cells. Eat less, and tell your body and hang onto fat cells.
So, eating more HEALTHY food, not less...and eating BEFORE you get hungry is key. This is why the five small meals plan works better than the three big meals plan. If you have a fairly steady stream of food coming into your body, you're not going to go into hunger mode. Once you're feeling the twinges and twangs of hunger in your belly, the body has already gone into "hold onto the fat cells" mode.
Eating a lot of HEALTHY Foods!
Clearly, eating 800 calories of donuts and drinking 1000 calories of soda isn't what I'm talking about doing. The food needs to be nutrient-rich. Think of it this way, Burger King is a horrible source of fuel mostly because it's only 15% meat and 85% filler...true story. However, a locally grown, organically fed bovine turned ground beef is a much better, higher "octane" fuel source. If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you know that you can't live on mac and cheese, either, and be slim and trim. You have to choose higher quality, higher nutrient-dense foods. My gorgeous bride just wrote a great deal about this in her blog (click here to see). Basically, food choice matters.
I have to talk about Shakeology for just a second. Shakeology is the reason why I am so much more actively involved with my own health today. It's probably the healthiest thing on the planet. Get it out of your mind that this is some kind of jock juice that someone takes after working out. It's not that. There are plenty of muscle shakes out there if that's what you're looking for. Shakeology is all about using nutrient dense foods like goji berries, maca, astragulus, pomegranate, sacha inchi, probiotics, lots of antioxidants, phytonutrients, and the list goes on in order to give you solid base of nutrition every day from all natural resources. I drink one amazingly delicious chocolate shake with natural peanut butter and banana every morning. I don't have cravings for junk food any more...true story. I eat much better throughout the rest of the day, too. It's really amazing, and I really believe that everyone should have it because there's just no way to get this quality of nutrition into your body for $3 or $4 per day. I would pay $20 a day for something that is this remarkably healthy. Seriously...for the all the money that I waste on things I don't need, this is quite a reasonable purchase. It makes me happy and healthy! Shakeology has really changed my life for the better. I don't say that about a lot of things, and I can't say that enough about Shakeology.
What Does 1800 Calories Look Like?
That said, what does my diet actually look like? I put together an 1800 calorie nutrition plan for myself to follow using the "Fat Shredder" model which has about 50% protein, 25% fat, and 25% carbohydrates as the guide. A normal diet is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrates. When I make that one up, I'll post that. In any case, here's what one week of eating looks like:
So a couple of things about my food choices that probably need clarification. "Results and Recovery" refers to the Results and Recovery Formula that I use when I am working out. It's made specifically for the muscles during the hour of recovery directly after working out. It's a 3:1 ratio of sugar to protein that accelerates muscle repair, which is a really good thing to do so working out the next day is not a drag. I also use P90X Bars as a snack. It's just a convenient for me to get that extra snack in. As I've said, my life is pretty busy during the day, so having a salad or 200+ calories of something that I'd have to make is time that I generally don't have. Now, I said that I need about 2100 calories, so why not just make a plan that does that. I can get a couple hundred extra calories with drinking milk and having some fruits or a salad with dinner, so I leave that open for me to figure out during the day, which is much easier than figuring out the remaining meals. The larger point is of course that I am eating more and losing weight. I'm more concerned with being able to eat that much than feeling like "I'm on a diet" where I starve myself.
Eating less, starving, and feeling low on energy are all not how to go about doing losing weight. Get that thought out of your head entirely!
As always, you can find more info at: http://lavabodywellness.com or http://beachbodycoach.com/drkurtlove. You can contact me at drkurtlove@gmail.com, too!
Let me know if this helps.
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