As of January 2020, large companies have been required to update their nutrition facts labels. By January 2021, smaller companies will have to do the same thing. There are some exceptions but by July 2021 all labels should reflect these changes.
I’ll explain those changes here and review how to use a nutrition label to your advantage.
So last time I talked about calorie intake I said you need to make sure you’re eating enough, now I’m telling you that you may need to eat less?! I swear I’m not trying to confuse you, just hear me out on this one and why I’m bringing it up. I’ll explain a bit about why your calorie needs decrease and how that plays into yo-yo dieting and weight loss struggles.
Calories In vs. Calories Out
The basic idea of weight loss is that in order to lose weight you must consume less calories than you expend. For those of you that are not familiar with this, calories are the energy that we get from food as well as the energy our body uses to live. So, we need to be giving our body energy as we use it. However, if we want to lose weight, we can eat a few less calories and/or burn a few more with activity, forcing our body to use what it already has stored (usually fat).
Most of the time, this basic equation works for weight loss. But, sometimes, it doesn’t…