The first thing that probably comes to mind when you think about asking someone for help related to nutrition is weight loss. That is true, I can definitely help if you need to shed some extra pounds, however, my skill set expands much further than that. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those that wish to GAIN weight and have trouble doing so. I’m going to assume that when it comes to weight gain, most of us would like to gain muscle over anything, and there are specific strategies to do just that.
The most obvious way to promote weight gain is to simply eat continuously. Unfortunately, that has the potential to make us feel incredibly uncomfortable and probably leads to more fat than muscle gain. We should be shooting for at least 500 calories more than we’re burning each day. This can provide a modest calorie increase without making us feel too miserable.
Do you blame your plateaus and lack of further weight loss on your slow metabolism?
That has to be it, right? Maybe you just aren’t gifted with the fast metabolism that others have…
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…
High in calories and high in fat, tree nuts can’t be good for you, right?! Source WRONG! One of my assignments for Careers in Nutrition and Dietetics class was to find a professional meeting to attend or watch a webinar online that was presented by a Registered Dietitian. Because of...
