Welcome to part 5 of the BIG FAT LIES mini-course.
In this lesson: Discover the "hidden agenda" behind
one of the biggest nutrition and fat loss lies of all... "calories don't count."
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto, Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com
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Fat Loss Lie #5: "Calories Don't Count"
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In many popular diet books, especially low carb programs, “Calories don’t count” is a frequently
repeated theme and "you can eat as much as you like" is an often repeated promise.
Other programs stress the importance of energy in versus energy out, but recommend that you count “portions” rather
than calories. Still others say that you must keep a strict accounting of everything you eat. Who is right?
Well, trying to count every single calorie - in the literal sense - is probably not realistic or necessary as a lifestyle for the long term (all the number crunching can drive you crazy, for one thing!)
However, that doesn't mean that calories don't count. Any diet program that says you can "eat all you want and still lose weight" is one you should avoid because that is one of the biggest lies in the business.
The truth is, that line is a bunch of baloney designed to
make a diet sound easier to follow. Anything that sounds like work – such as counting calories,
eating less or exercising, tends to scare away potential
customers. (Which is why "no calorie counting necessary," "eat all you like" and "no exercise necessary" are ubiquitous and notorious diet industry claims)
The law of calorie balance is an unbreakable law of physics:
Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain,
lose or maintain your weight. There's more to good overall nutrition than just calories, of course, but the calorie deficit must be there for fat loss to occur.
It's very important to develop an understanding of the law of calorie balance and a respect for portion control.
It's also an important part of nutrition education to
learn how many calories are in the foods you eat on a regular
basis – including (and perhaps, especially) how many calories
are in the foods you eat when you dine at restaurants.
The law of calorie balance says:
To maintain your weight, you must consume the same number of
calories you burn. To gain weight, you must consume more calories
than you burn. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories
than you burn.
If you only count portions or if you haven't the slightest idea
how many calories you're eating, you're much more likely to eat more than you realize.
So how do you balance practicality and realistic expectations
with a nutrition program that gets results? Here's a solution
that’s a happy medium between strict calorie counting and just
guessing:
Create a menu using an EXCEL spreadsheet or your favorite
nutrition software. Crunch all the numbers including calories,
protein, carbs and fats. Once you have your daily menu, print
it, stick it on your refrigerator (and/or in your daily planner)
and you now have an eating "goal" for the day, including a
caloric target.
Rather than writing down every calorie one by one from every
morsel of food you eat for the rest of your life, your menu plan
serves as a daily goal and guideline.
If you’re really ambitious, keeping a nutrition journal at
least one time in your life for at least 4-12 weeks is a great
idea and an incredible learning experience, but all you really
need to get started on the road to a better body is one good
menu on paper.
If you get bored eating the same thing every day, you can
create multiple menus, or just exchange foods using your
primary menu as a template.
Using this meal planning method, you really only need to “count
calories” ONCE when you create your menus, not every day.
After you've got a knack for calories from this initial discipline
of menu planning, then you can estimate portions in the future
and get a pretty good (and more educated) ballpark figure.
So what’s the bottom line? Is it really necessary to count
every calorie to lose weight?
No, it's not.
But it IS necessary to eat fewer calories then you burn.
Whether you count calories and eat less than you burn, or
you don’t count calories (guess) and eat less than you burn, the
end result is the same – you lose weight.
But which would you rather do: Take a wild guess, cross your fingers and hope for the best, or increase your
chance for success with some simple menu planning? I think the
right choice is obvious.
In the next installment, you'll learn about two diseases that you
might be affected with and not even know it... they are deadly
to your fat loss progress and you've probably never even heard of
them before!
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto, Fat Loss Coach
Author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
www.BurnTheFat.com
Founder and CEO of the Burn the Fat Inner Circle
www.BurnTheFat.com/InnerCircle
CLICK HERE to send us your comments about this lesson.
CLICK HERE to find out more about the Burn The Fat program.
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BURN THE FAT READER FEEDBACK
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I just wanted to let you know how thrilled and relieved I am now that I've read your book. I've been on [program deleted] for the past 6 years and came to the realization late last year that it totally ruined my metabolism. I was maintaining my weight on a mere 1200 calories, forcing my body to lose weight only if I slashed my calories to somewhere between 950 and 1100 calories a day. I am what you would consider a skinny fat person. When I weighed 122 lbs last year, I had my body fat measured and was shocked when I was told that my body fat was 31% !
I've barely been on your program for 6 days and already lost 2lbs and 1" off of my waist and another inch off of my hips. I cried because I was so relieved and knew that this was the answer. This time, I'm going all the way. I know that I'll be able to reach my goal of having a lean body for the first time in my life. Thank you so much!
Shantel Maratea
Valley Stream, NY
CLICK HERE if you'd like to see more Burn The Fat success stories, case studies, testimonials and reader comments.
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DID YOU MISS ANY LESSONS?
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Big Fat Lies: Welcome And Introduction
http://www.burnthefat.com/BIG_FAT_LIES_Introduction.html
Big Fat Lies Part 1: You have to starve yourself
http://www.burnthefat.com/BIG_FAT_LIES_1_starvation_diet_lie.html
Big Fat Lies Part 2: You need "Fat burner supplements to lose weight"
http://www.burnthefat.com/BIG_FAT_LIES_2_fat_burners_lie.html
Big Fat Lies Part 3: You can believe everything you read in the magazines
http://www.burnthefat.com/BIG_FAT_LIES_3_the_magazine_lie.html
Big Fat Lies Part 4: "Diet shakes help you burn fat"
http://www.burnthefat.com/BIG_FAT_LIES_4_the_liquid_diet_lie.html
Burn The Fat Home Page
Click here to return to the Burn The fat home page
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