Weight Loss 101

In this section I want to cut through a lot of the diet myths out there and give you the truth about food and weight loss. It’s actually not as complicated as everyone seems to make it. I’m going to make this short and to the point so you can remember this and make better lifestyle and eating decisions every day.

Are Carbs Making Me Fat?

I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say “I can’t have smoothies because they are too high in carbs”. Yes, fruits are a source of carbs and the sweeter they are, the more carbs they tend to have. BUT, carbs are not the problem. The problem is sugar, more specifically glucose. The reason carbs get such a bad rap is because in your body carbs are broken down into glucose which is partially released in the blood to be used as energy. Some of the glucose also gets stored directly in your muscles and a limited amount gets stored in your liver. Now the confusion lies in the fact that any excess glucose that is not used by the body is stored as fat. So people make the conclusion that eating too many carbs leads to gaining fat. What isn’t discussed however, is the TYPE of carbs and the SPEED at which they are broken down into glucose which directly influences fat storage.

Carbs come in two forms, simple and complex. Simple is just what it sounds like, they are broken down rapidly and poured right into your blood stream. This includes table sugar (sucrose), fructose (found in fruit - more on this in a minute!) and lactose found in milk.

Complex carbohydrates have sugar in them but are balanced out by a hefty does of fiber that slows down the absorption of the sugar in your body. So instead of that quick glucose spike, you get a slow release and your body has more time to use up the energy instead of storing it as fat. The problem is that a lot of complex

carbohydrates are refined which removes the fiber component and makes the

sugar hit your blood faster. This includes any products made with refined flour (white bread, snacks, cookies, etc) and white rice. Did you know white rice is just brown rice with the healthy part removed!? See, you’ve learned something already and we’re only on page 3!

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So the important thing is to stick to complex carbs that are broken down slowly by the body. These include brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, oats, beans, and lentils. The other great thing is that because they break down slower, they will keep you full for much longer than simple carbs will.

So What About Fruit Sugar?

So now you are probably wondering since fruit has sucrose which is a simple carb, won’t that cause excess fat storage? Well, the short answer is NO! The great thing about fruit is that it is also comes with a hefty dose of fiber which slows down the release of glucose in your blood stream. You would have to eat about 5 apples to match the sugar in one can of soda and it still wouldn’t be released into you blood as quickly. AND, fruits are packed with vitamins and nutrients your body uses to fight aging, prevent diseases, keep your organs healthy, and much more. Not to mention with smoothies, we are adding a lot of extra fiber (and nutrients) in the form of leafy greens and complex carbs.

Insulin And Diabetes

When glucose hits the blood stream, the body released insulin to help carry all that glucose to where it needs to go. The problem is that if you are pouring too much

glucose into your blood too fast, your body cannot release enough insulin to

keep up and eventually malfunctions. This is Diabetes. When your insulin stops working effectively, you end up with excess sugar floating in your blood stream and this causes all sorts of health complications which can lead to limb amputation and even death.

The truly scary thing is that more and more simple carbs are getting put on the grocery store shelves every day and most people don’t know any better. Sugar is being hidden in almost every packaged food. The incidences of diabetes is at an all-time high and it is directly related to the amount of sugar in all our food as well as the removal of all the nutrients due to over-processing.

While the easiest way is to avoid packaged foods altogether, if you must buy from the shelf, look at the ingredients. If SUGAR is one of the first few ingrediens on the label, put it back! Ideally you don’t want ANY added sugar in the products you buy.

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What About Fat?

You’ve probably heard by now that fat is actually good for you. This is also true to some degree. Unsaturated healthy fats are found in things like avocados, nuts, fish, olive oil, flax seeds, and eggs. Saturated fats used to be a sworn enemy but there is new research that in moderation they are also healthy for you. Coconut oil in particular is a saturated fat but has some amazing health benefits.

And then you have Trans-Fat which is 110% bad for you. Seriously, this will kill you. While this is slowly being taken out of foods, it is still found in a lot of packaged snacks and cookies. It’s also in a lot of fast food. I would hope if you are reading this book, you know to stay clear away from fast food.

So stick to a good dose of healthy fats and little unprocessed saturated fats here and there and you should reap all the health benefits. (See page 19 for a list of healthy fats)

How Much Protein Do I Need?

Protein is vital for muscle repair, brain function, and many other things. The amount of protein you need per day is based on how active you are. If you workout regularly and expend a lot of energy then you will need more protein than someone who is mostly sedentary. I tell most people to start at about 50 grams per day. If you are very active you can increase this by 10-20 grams. 4oz of chicken breast has about 35g of protein so including a little lean protein with each meal and snack should make it easy to get what you need. This also helps keeps you satisfied longer.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, it is a little harder to get that amount of protein. 1 cup of cooked beans has between 15-20 grams of protein. You can also look at adding a plant based protein powder to your smoothies. On that note, if you do eat meat but are still finding it hard to get enough protein in your day, you can also add a scoop of protein powder to your smoothie to up your daily protein.

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