How To Read A Food Label
How to read a food label is going to be very important when you are trying to manage or lose weight. The best part is that it is super simple to learn. Food labels are required to be on everything you purchase with the exception of some fresh fruits, but with a little research we can figure out how many calories are in a cup of fresh melon for example or half a cup of blueberries. So having a food scale and a measuring cup are going to be 2 more tools you are going to need to build the body you wish to have. Food labels have been around for ever and display everything that you are putting in your body but most important they are also letting you know how many calories you are eating. Lets take a look at an example food label:
Starting from the top we see “Serving Size”. In this example the serving size is 1 slice of bread. The next section we see is “Servings per container”, this just tells us how many servings are in the container. So for this example we have 22 slices of bread. The “Amount per serving” section reflects back to the “Serving size” portion. So since the serving size is 1 slice in this example, we can see that there are 50 calories per 1 slice of bread. So if we were to eat 2 slices of this particular type of bread we would be consuming 100 calories. Please note all bread types are different, always read your food labels. We can also see that per serving which is 1 slice of bread, there are 10 grams of carbohydrate. and 1 gram of fat. Looks like this example is telling us that most of our calories are coming from carbohydrate. In order to stay full longer, we need a good balance of protein and carbohydrate. That is, if we choose to consume carbohydrates. So based off of the previous section where we covered how to lose weight and there was a mention to take a look at the calorie calculator, lets say we needed to consume less than 1,700 calories per day to lose weight based on our input. If we were going to make a sandwich and add 2 ounces of chicken to it we might want to do an internet search and see how many calories are in 2 ounces of chicken. I already did this search and can tell you that in 2 ox of chicken there are 15 grams of protein, 0 grams of carbohydrate and roughly 130 calories. So 2 slices of this type of bread plus the 2 ounces of chicken would total to about 230 calories. Remember, the protein found in the chicken for this example is going to keep you fuller, longer because it takes much longer for protein to convert and break down.
Eating Consistent
Your body is a machine, and this machine will adjust and adapt to environmental variables around you. You can fine tune this machine and make it run like a fine clock. Another important secret about weight loss is eating consistent. Set up a meal plan for yourself and if you find something is not working right, adjust it. If you eat around the same times every day and eat the same amount of food, your body is going to get use to this system. If you decide that when you wake up at 7am you are going to eat 200 calories, then 3 hours later you are going to eat 200 more, then stick to that. If you notice that at 10am, 3 hours from your first meal/snack you are not very hungry or do not feel like eating at all then maybe try eating 150 calories at your 7am meal for example. It might take a week or 2 but you will be able to create something that works. Lets take that 1,700 calorie per day example and create a mini eating schedule:
- 7am: 300 calories
- 10:30am: 400 calories
- 2pm: 400 calories
- 6pm: 200 calories
- 9:30pm 300 calories
This is only an example, it is up to you to find something that works for YOU. Buy you can see how easy this is to set up. If you take this type of approach and use food labels to count the calories you are consuming, use measuring cups or food scaled when needed and weigh yourself every week you can fine tune your weight loss diet and create something that works for you as well as keeps you feeling full. Starving yourself to lose weight is never the answer.
So with our mini food schedule example, lets pretend that we go to the gym every day at 6:30pm and that half way through our workout we are STARVING! We might want to eitehr get all of our 200 calories from protein before our workout (because this takes longer to digest) OR maybe remove 50 calories from our 2pm snack/meal and 50 calories from our 9:30pm snack/meal and add them to the one at 6pm. As you can see the adjustments are unlimited and it is all about finding what works for you. No weight loss program will be able to tell you what works for you, only you can do this.
Some people chose to get all of their calories from protein, while others use a 40%, 40%, 20% rule. 40% Carbohydrate, 40% Protein and 20% Fat. Never choose to get all of your calories from carbohydrate and fat only. Another important thing is to eat natural. Processed foods are full of nothing really. I can not emphasize the fact that a body being fed poor nutrition will be hungry more often because it is BEGGING you to provide it with some sort of nutrition. A lot of people get caught up in trying to replenish nutrients with junk and it ends up to be a never ending cycle. This is similar to filling the gas tank in your car with super cheap gasoline, it burns faster and you have to fill it more often.
