Did you know?

I decided to remove my week long losing weight campaign. Maybe I’ll turn it into more of a “did you know” series. Did you know 1 gram of protein or carbs has 4 calories, but 1 gram of fat has 9 calories? That means you can eat twice as much protein for the same amount of calories as something high in fat. Or, did you know the average man burns 2000 to 2200 calories per day and the average woman burns 1700 to 1900? So if you are a woman and eat about 1500 calories a day (or 200 less than you burn) you will lose 1 pound every 2 and a half weeks from your eating habit alone. Did you know you really need to eat in order to lose weight? Or did you know that if you exercise at a lower heart rate it burns fat, but if you exercise at a higher rate it uses other “fuels” in your body? That’s just some of the information I learned on my year and a half eating/exercise journey.

If I could give just one piece of advice it would be start your day with breakfast and eat about 6 times a day. You’ll only need to eat small amounts throughout the day and your tank will be full so you will have energy all day long and you won’t eat as much at the main meals. If you know how many calories you are eating, you will know if you are going to lose weight. Oh, and try to eat more protein. Fats and carbs are easy to eat, it’s the items higher in protein that are trickier to find and that is likely where you are under-nourishing your body. And, make time to exercise at least 20 minutes 3 times a week. Oh, don’t forget to read labels at the grocery store…”low fat” is not always the better choice. Don’t ever start a diet…if you use the “D” word you’re just setting yourself up for a short-term program to eventually fall away from and return to your old self.

I could go on and on because it gets me excited showing people what I have been taught and how simple nutrition can be and how important exercise is to your appearance and energy levels. Keep an eye out for my “did you know” list…maybe you will find a tip that helps you.

“Do or do not…there is no try.” - YODA