My husband recently brought home a cookbook of sorts from the library titled 400 Calorie Fix by Liz Vaccariello. In it, she lists literally hundreds of meals and snacks that are right around 400 calories each. The premise of the book is that you can lose up to 11 pounds in 2 weeks by simply eating 4 or fewer meals per day under 400 calories. There are before and after photos of honest-to-goodness women who have done just this!
So why isn't this approach the one I would choose?
Because counting calories only gives you a small part of the picture. Calories tell you absolutely nothing about what macro- and micronutrients you are consuming. If you are interested in an in-depth, complete explanation of why calorie counting is not the way to go, please check out Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.
Can you lose weight by counting calories? Sure. This approach will definitely work if you are habitually overeating and consuming way more calories than you need. If you tend to eat a lot of junkfood, simply eating less of it will be a step in the right direction. But there are MANY low calorie foods and/or "meals" that do not make sense on a nutritional level. Here is an example of one "meal" listed in this book under 400 calories that is shocking to me: a glazed donut (220 claories) with a coffee coolatta (170 calories) from Dunkin' Donuts. This "meal" of only 390 calories actually has 60 grams of carbohydrates and only 7 grams of protein. As you know from my earlier posts, this "meal" is WAY out of balance in terms of Zone proportions, containing more than double the carbs needed for a 3 block meal and only one third of the protein. And the true test of any meal is how will you feel after you eat it? Will you be hungry again in one hour? Will you feel light-headed, dizzy, or sick? I can tell you for sure that if I ate this "meal" for breakfast, I would feel like crap! Not just from the guilt, but from the heavy load of sugar and the lack of protein. In addition, this much sugar will immediately spike insulin levels and cause those calories to be stored as fat. The only way this meal could be an improvement is if you normally eat 2-3 glazed donuts for breakfast.
The author seems to think that these issues can be ignored. As long as a person is consuming the correct number of calories per meal, then the nutritional values (which she has listed) are a secondary or inconsequential factor. This is ridiculous. I strongly believe that every time you put food into your mouth you are creating an outcome. You can create a strong, healthy body along with a positive mood, or you can create a headache and excess bellyfat. If you can predict the outcome of your upcoming meal, which the Zone diet can help you do, then it is easy to choose a combination of nutrients that will make you feel good, give you long-lasting energy, and even help you lose bodyfat if you have excess to burn.
Now, given that the author lists all the nutritional values under each menu and recipe, it is easy to pick and choose recipes that fit the Zone proportions. And there are some decent meals here, if you dig around and read carefully! So by all means, peruse through and perhaps find some inspiration for low calorie meals that are also well-balanced nutritionally. Let me know if you make any discoveries!
So why isn't this approach the one I would choose?
Because counting calories only gives you a small part of the picture. Calories tell you absolutely nothing about what macro- and micronutrients you are consuming. If you are interested in an in-depth, complete explanation of why calorie counting is not the way to go, please check out Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.
Can you lose weight by counting calories? Sure. This approach will definitely work if you are habitually overeating and consuming way more calories than you need. If you tend to eat a lot of junkfood, simply eating less of it will be a step in the right direction. But there are MANY low calorie foods and/or "meals" that do not make sense on a nutritional level. Here is an example of one "meal" listed in this book under 400 calories that is shocking to me: a glazed donut (220 claories) with a coffee coolatta (170 calories) from Dunkin' Donuts. This "meal" of only 390 calories actually has 60 grams of carbohydrates and only 7 grams of protein. As you know from my earlier posts, this "meal" is WAY out of balance in terms of Zone proportions, containing more than double the carbs needed for a 3 block meal and only one third of the protein. And the true test of any meal is how will you feel after you eat it? Will you be hungry again in one hour? Will you feel light-headed, dizzy, or sick? I can tell you for sure that if I ate this "meal" for breakfast, I would feel like crap! Not just from the guilt, but from the heavy load of sugar and the lack of protein. In addition, this much sugar will immediately spike insulin levels and cause those calories to be stored as fat. The only way this meal could be an improvement is if you normally eat 2-3 glazed donuts for breakfast.
The author seems to think that these issues can be ignored. As long as a person is consuming the correct number of calories per meal, then the nutritional values (which she has listed) are a secondary or inconsequential factor. This is ridiculous. I strongly believe that every time you put food into your mouth you are creating an outcome. You can create a strong, healthy body along with a positive mood, or you can create a headache and excess bellyfat. If you can predict the outcome of your upcoming meal, which the Zone diet can help you do, then it is easy to choose a combination of nutrients that will make you feel good, give you long-lasting energy, and even help you lose bodyfat if you have excess to burn.
Now, given that the author lists all the nutritional values under each menu and recipe, it is easy to pick and choose recipes that fit the Zone proportions. And there are some decent meals here, if you dig around and read carefully! So by all means, peruse through and perhaps find some inspiration for low calorie meals that are also well-balanced nutritionally. Let me know if you make any discoveries!
Comments
Post a Comment
Please share your helpful questions and comments here! Thanks for being part of this balanced community!