Frustrating Weight Gain and You’re Eating Well? Find Out Why.
I recently wrote a blog on tackling obesity and wanted to highlight an area which may help a lot of people. Are you “watching what you eat” and still gaining weight? You are eating chicken, fish, salads and fruits and limiting your carbs – BUT – are still gaining weight? Most of my clients or friends who are overweight, often say the same thing, “I don’t understand why I’m gaining weight when I’m eating healthy”. A lot of people “blame” this on aging or on hormones but they are wrong – sort of. This is where it gets interesting. Most people don’t realize that weight gain is not necessarily dependent upon the kinds of food you eat but on how many calories you take in. You are gaining weight, because you are eating more calories than you are burning. As you age, your metabolism slows down and your body needs less calories to function. If you are 40, but eating like you’re 30 – yes, you will gain weight. But it’s not really due to your age! It’s how many calories you are taking in.
The problem is simple, and the solution is too. The problem is that most people don’t know how many calories their body needs on a daily basis. You need to understand what your daily calorie intake is as a baseline. The best calculator that I’ve found is on the National Association of Sports Medicine Website.
For many of you , it may seem like you’re “eating healthy” but in reality you are eating more than your body needs. It doesn’t take much to go over that either. Let’s say on average you are overeating by just 100 calories a day. That is not a lot.
- Average Granola Bar: 140 calories
- 1/2 cup low fat ice cream: 130 calories
- 1 Avocado: 320 calories
- 1 cup fruit salad: 125 calories
- 1 mango: 202 calories
- 1 watermelon wedge: 86 calories
- 1/2 cup raisins: 434 calories
If you are eating healthy, but go over your daily needs by just 100 calories a day, in 30 days, you’ll have taken in 3000 extra calories, enough to gain 1 lb of weight. Multiply that by 12 months and now you are 12 pounds overweight in one year. THAT is how most of you are gaining weight. You are eating possibly healthy foods, but just a little too much! The solution is simple. You don’t need to count calories, but you need to be aware of what your body actually needs and then try to stay at or under that limit. I don’t want to scare anyone into doing anything – but I can almost guarantee that if you don’t do this, in 10 years you will likely be 20 – 40 pounds heavier than you are now. Trust me – it is very hard to lose that weight as you get older and it leads to all kinds of health issues including diabetes, heart disease and joint pain.
Take the simple step now of knowing what your caloric needs are and staying at or below that number and you will be living a healthier life as you get older.
Remember – You Are Built For More!
JT