Dieting Should Not Be About Subtraction

It is becoming more apparent that the mass of dieting literature to flood hyperspace is leaning more towards the idea of 'subtraction' as a means of helping you reach your weight loss goals.

Subtract calories, subtract grains, subtract meat (if you are going vegan), and even subtracting macro-nutrients such as fat has been an idea given to the general public as a possible way to shed those unwanted pounds.

There is just one problem with that- subtracting from your plan of eating to lose weight does not always work.

When it comes to your diet the idea of 'subtraction' should be pretty straight forward. You can subtract colas and juices containing artificial additives, and you can subtract pizza, tacos, candy bars, and desserts from your plan and that will help you reach your weight loss goals.

The flip side of that coin, however, comes when you try subtracting things from your diet like calories and healthy fats.

Truth be told, your body can utilize fats just like it does carbohydrates but the difference is that fats are a much more sustainable energy source. If you look at a nutrition label you will find that carbohydrates and protein have 4-calories per gram whereas fat has 9-calories per gram, and since a 'calorie' is a measure of energy that tells us that fat has twice the energy that carbohydrates do.

Yes, but if I eat fat I will get fat will I not?

That is one of the biggest misconceptions in the health and wellness industry. If you were to take all of the carbohydrates out of your diet and replace them with healthy fats you would be surprised at what it does to your figure. When you make that type of a shift in your diet you are telling your body that 'fat' is going to be its primary energy source so it will start using your fat stores along with your fat intake to give you energy.

Even if you were to consume more protein instead your body would burn still more calories. Did you know that your body burns 5-times more calories breaking down proteins than it does turning carbohydrates into glucose?

That is a fact and that is why protein should be a staple in your diet along with those healthy fats because if you were to subtract calories from your diet that will also send you down the wrong path.

Removing calories from your diet will actually slow your metabolism, not speed it up. One thing you need to remember is that the more food you eat the more your body has to work to burn it off. If you keep eating your metabolism keeps running and if you throw a workout into that mix you will reach your goal in no time.

Next time you are thinking of 'subtracting' things from your diet maybe take a step back and make sure that is the right thing to do.

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