This document walks through the core concepts of nutrition that we incorporate into our program at getpresent.fit.
What is a calorie?
Think of calories as units of energy for your body. Just like fuel powers a car, calories power your body. When you eat or drink something, you're taking in calories. These calories provide your body with the energy it needs to function properly, whether it's to walk, talk, breathe, or even just think!
Every item of food you consume has a certain amount of calories in it, which is used by our body as fuel.
How does food affect weight?
If calories are the units of energy in your body, then consumption of food will put your body into either of these three modes:
Calorie Maintenance: this is the number of calories you need to consume each day to maintain your current weight without losing or gaining. This number is influenced by various factors, including age, sex, weight, height, and activity level.
Calorie Surplus: This occurs when you consume more calories than your body needs for energy. When you're in a surplus, your body has extra energy available, which it stores as fat for future use. Over time, consistently consuming more calories than you burn will lead to weight gain, as the excess calories get stored as body fat.
Calorie Deficit: This happens when you consume fewer calories than your body needs for energy. When you're in a deficit, your body needs to make up for the shortfall in energy from your diet by using its stored energy reserves, primarily fat. As a result, you start burning fat for fuel, leading to weight loss.
How do changes in calories affect body weight?
Now that you know the basics, the changes in total calories in your system is directly correlated to your body weight. There is no magic formula, just simple math!
Surplus for Weight Gain: If your goal is to gain weight, such as building muscle mass, you need to consume more calories than your body burns. This surplus provides your body with the extra energy needed to fuel muscle growth and repair.
Deficit for Weight Loss: If your goal is to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit by consuming fewer calories than your body burns. This forces your body to tap into its stored fat reserves for energy, leading to weight loss over time.
Note: every diet system in the world works by putting your body into a caloric deficit! The only difference is the choice of food items and timing of meals.
What are macros and why are they important?
The core macros, short for macronutrients, are the three main types of nutrients that provide energy to the body and are essential for its functioning. They are:
Carbohydrates: Carbs are the body's primary source of energy. They are found in foods like grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, which is used by the body for immediate energy or stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen for future use.
Proteins: Proteins are crucial for building and repairing tissues in the body, such as muscles, organs, skin, and hair. They are made up of amino acids, some of which are essential, meaning they must be obtained from the diet. Good sources of protein include meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, tofu, legumes, and nuts.
Fats: Fats serve as a concentrated source of energy and are important for various bodily functions, including hormone production, cell membrane structure, and nutrient absorption. Healthy fats, such as those found in avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and fatty fish, are essential for overall health.
These core macros are essential because:
Energy: Carbohydrates and fats provide the body with the energy it needs to carry out daily activities, exercise, and maintain vital functions.
Tissue Repair and Growth: Proteins are the building blocks of tissues and are essential for repairing and building new cells, particularly important for muscle growth and recovery after exercise.
Hormone Regulation: Fats play a crucial role in hormone production and regulation, which influences metabolism, mood, and overall health.
Nutrient Absorption: Fats help the body absorb fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) and other nutrients.
Food Tips For Good Health
Vegetarian
Include a variety of plant-based foods: Base your meals around vegetables, fruits, legumes (such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas), whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
Ensure protein intake: Incorporate protein-rich foods such as tofu, tempeh, seitan, edamame, quinoa, eggs, dairy products (if lacto-vegetarian), and plant-based protein sources like legumes and nuts.
Include sources of Calcium and Vitamin D: Consume dairy products (if lacto-vegetarian), fortified plant-based milk alternatives, fortified tofu, leafy greens, and almonds.
Omega-3 fatty acids: Include sources like flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, and algae-based supplements to ensure an adequate intake.
Iron-rich foods: Consume foods such as lentils, chickpeas, spinach, tofu, quinoa, fortified cereals, and pumpkin seeds to maintain adequate iron levels.
Non-Vegetarian
Include lean protein sources: Incorporate poultry, fish, seafood, lean cuts of red meat, and eggs as primary protein sources.
Balanced intake of nutrients: Include a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats along with animal-based proteins to ensure a balanced diet.
Limit processed meats: Reduce consumption of processed meats like sausages, bacon, and deli meats, which are linked to health risks.
Mindful cooking methods: Opt for healthier cooking methods such as grilling, baking, steaming, or sautéing rather than frying.
Moderation: Practice portion control and moderation, especially with higher-fat cuts of meat and processed meat products.
Portion control
Portion control means choosing a healthy amount of a certain food. Portion control helps you get the benefits of the nutrients in the food without overeating.
Tips for portion control
Use Your Plate as a Portion Guide
A rough guide for each meal is:
High-protein foods: A palm-sized serving for women and two palm-sized portions for men — such as meat, fish, poultry and beans.
Vegetables and salads: A fist-sized portion for women and two fist-sized portions for men
High-carb foods: One cupped-hand portion for women and two for men — such as whole grains and starchy vegetables.
High-fat foods: One thumb-sized portion for women and two for men — such as butter, oils and nuts
Vegetables and salad are naturally low in calories but high in fiber and other nutrients, filling up on these may help you avoid overeating calorie-dense foods.
For example, using large plates can make food appear smaller — often leading to overeating.
Ask for a Half Portion When Eating Out
You could share a meal with someone or order a starter and side instead of a main dish.
Other tips include ordering a side salad or vegetables, asking for sauces and dressings to be served separately and avoiding buffet-style, all-you-can-eat restaurants where it’s very easy to overindulge.
Restaurant portions tend to be at least twice the size of a regular portion. Prevent
overeating by asking for a half portion, ordering a starter instead of a main
dish and avoiding buffet-style restaurants.
Start All Meals With a Glass of Water
Drinking a glass of water up to 30 minutes before a meal will naturally aid portion control.
Filling up on water will make you feel less hungry. Being well-hydrated also helps you distinguish between hunger and thirst.
One study in middle-aged and older adults observed that drinking 17 ounces (500 ml) of water before each meal resulted in a 44% greater decline in weight over 12 weeks, most likely due to reduced food intake.
Take It Slowly
Eating quickly makes you less aware of getting full — and therefore increases your likelihood of overeating.
As your brain can take around 20 minutes to register that you are full after eating, slowing down can reduce your total intake.
For example, one study in healthy women noted that eating slowly led to greater feelings of fullness and a decrease in food intake compared to eating quickly
Therefore, focusing on your meal and refusing to rush increases the chances you’ll enjoy it and control your portion sizes.
Health experts recommend taking smaller bites and chewing every mouthful at least five or six times before swallowing
Sitting down to meals with no other distractions and eating slowly will regulate portion control and reduce your likelihood of overeating.
Don’t Eat Straight From the Container
Jumbo-size packages or food served from large containers encourages overeating and less awareness of appropriate portion sizes.
This is especially true for snacks.
Evidence suggests that people tend to eat more out of large packages than small ones — regardless of food taste or quality.
Be Aware of Suitable Serving Size
Research indicates that we can’t always rely on our own judgement of appropriate portion size.
This is because many factors affect portion control.
However, it may help to invest in a scale or measuring cup to weigh food and correctly assess your intake.
Reading food labels also increases awareness of proper portions.
Quantity
In our nutrition plans, we refer to the following types of vessels with approximate quantities. Please understand this approximation to make best use of our plans!
Cup: It's about the size of a typical drinking cup or mug that you might use for coffee or tea. A cup is a unit of volume equal to 8 fluid ounces or approximately 240 mL.
Big bowl: this is about the size of a standard serving bowl. It can hold a regular meal, typically 400 mL.
Small bowl: A small bowl is typically smaller than a regular cereal bowl or soup bowl. It's often used for serving snacks, side dishes, or small portions of food. It can hold approx 150 mL.
Helpful Tools
Food Weighing Scale
A food weighing scale will help you take the correct quantity of food as prescribed in the nutrition plan.
Use a Food Logging App
Research suggests that people are often surprised at how much food they eat.
For example, one study found that 21% of people who ate more due to having larger serving bowls denied having eaten more.
Writing down all food and drink intake can increase awareness of the type and amount of foods you’re consuming.
In weight-loss studies, those who kept a food diary tended to lose more weight overall.
This likely occurred because they became more aware of what they ate — including their unhealthy choices — and adjusted their diet accordingly.
For Indians, the best food logging app is Healthifyme. You can also use MyFitnessPal since it has fewer ads. 😊
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