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OK, let’s see, weight loss advice for people who don’t like math . . . let’s start with there are 3500 calories in a pound, and 9 calories per gram of fat and 4 calories per gram of protein or gram of carbohydrate and the can of soup I’m about to make says there are about 3.5 servings per can and each serving has 130 calories and 90 of those calories are from fat, but I’m only going to have half of the can and the average adult needs 15 calories per pound to maintain that weight, but I want to lose weight so. . . what am I doing again?
Many people don’t have time to dig around and have their calculator and food database handy when planning a meal or just going into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. And those ‘easy to read’ nutrition labels on food packages are trying to be helpful by having more and more information on them, are ending up being not very easy to use in the real world. Restaurants don’t have those handy labels on the menu when you order anyway. So what are you to do, carry your food scale with you and measure everything before you eat it? Track everything you eat by the ounce and look it up in a database for its caloric value? Despite the weight loss advice from the paid experts, the simple answer is no.
Here’s some weight loss advice. What you need to do is take a step back from the nutrition labels and packaging hype about being fat free or low this or zero that and look at what you are eating. Are you skirting past the fresh produce section of your favorite grocery store when you shop? Are you making most of your meals from a box or can? Think about what you eat and if it has been processed in some way, the odds are pretty good that the fat and sodium levels in the food are much higher than what you would find if you found that item in its natural state.
So what is the weight loss advice here? Where are the tips on losing weight? OK here they are (and none of them involve any kind of math at all!):
Tips on losing weight #1 – Buy fresh. Buy fresh fruits and vegetables, which may mean an extra trip to the store each week so you have a fresh supply on hand – it’s worth it, they taste better than canned or ‘prepared’ fruits and vegetables anyway and you can usually eat twice as much for the same caloric intake as the alternative. Even fresh meat is better than the prepared meats found in frozen meals and cans. But don’t buy a head of lettuce and then put half a bottle of fat free dressing on it. Lettuce = good, fat free dressing (very processed, very high in sugar) = bad. Now that’s some good weight loss advice!
Tips on losing weight #2 – When eating out, if the portion being served to you is larger than the palm of your hand – stop, cut or separate it until it is the size of your palm, then only eat that amount. You’ll be surprised at how much you leave on your plate. Probably enough to bring home and have an entire other meal from later that week.
Tips on losing weight #3 – Whether you are at home or eating out, take a look at what you are eating. Choose the foods that have been the least processed or cooked. You’ll end up with better tasting food that is much healthier for you and you’ll find yourself losing weight too.
You don’t need to measure everything, look up values for every item in a recipe or perform complicated math computations using food nutrition labels to lose weight. While those techniques may work for some people, it’s not easy to do in the real world. Simply eating better foods will help you lose weight more than you can imagine. Buy fresh. Limit portion size when eating out. Share these tips on losing weight you’re your friends and choose wisely!
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