What if I told you, you could eat the food you like and still achieve results, would you do it?
Flexible Dieting:
Flexible dieting is the notion that your nutrition doesn’t have to be super strict. There are no good or bad foods, and whether you lose weight or gain weight comes down to energy balance, or how many calories you eat versus how many calories you burn. With flexible dieting, you can eat largely any food you want, and provided you hit your target calorie and/or macro nutrient intake for the day, you’ll still achieve your goal. What do most diets have in common? They restrict you in some way or another from eating foods you enjoy. Keto restricts carbs, clean eating cuts out all sugar and fasting cuts out time that we eat. The point is that most diets involve restriction. Flexible dieting, however, promotes moderation & an option free from restriction. By not actively cutting out anything, you ensure that you don’t get those cravings that you might with conventional dieting.
80:20 Rule
Woah woah woah are you saying I can eat junk all day and still achieve results. No that’s not what I’m saying. Nor would I recommend that at ALL! The point I’m trying to get across is that you don’t need to restrict yourself from any foods in particular just exercise moderation. Use an 80 : 20 rule. 80% of your nutrition comes from lean proteins, low GI carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, whole grains etc…) and healthy fats. 20% from foods you enjoy. Again the main thing to get results is to control and understand your energy balance made up of your calorie intake.
Calories and macro nutrients
What is a calorie? A calorie is simply a unit of energy used to measure our food. What are macro nutrients? Macro nutrients are the largest class of nutrients the human body requires and include protein, carbohydrates, and fats. If you’ve heard anyone talking about “macros,” they’re referring to these major nutrients. The amounts and ratio of calories and macro nutrients a person needs every day varies by age, activity levels (sedentary, active, or very active), gender, health status, and health goals.
How could I track my calorie or macro nutrient intake?
Fortunately these days we have these fancy things called smart phones. There is a great application called MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal allows you to enter foods you eat during the day and track your progress. Tip: For optimal results plan your day the night before or in the morning so you don’t run out of calories by dinner time! This sounds great but also a lot of work? It does take a little bit of time in the beginning, 5 maybe 10 mins of your day. But let me ask you this? How much time do you spend on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok per day? Wouldn’t it be nice to sacrifice just a portion of that time to achieving results?
What's most important calories or macros?
Progress is determined mostly by our energy intake versus our energy output. So in this case total daily calorie intake matters most. However we shouldn't rule out the role macros play in different aspects of health including results. If you are looking to take your results to the next level a focus on macro nutrients will help a lot. How do I know how many calories or macro nutrients to eat? Unfortunately initially there is a bit of trial and error involved. There are some great calculators for free online that can help set you up on the right path. You could try one like this here.
Final note:
You still need to eat adequate serves of fruit and vegetables every day (5 or more), lean proteins and healthy fats. But with flexible dieting you can include foods you like in moderation providing you hit your calorie and/or macro targets!
