just by including them in your diet! However,
I believe that in order for you to believe me,
you’ll want a more detailed explanation. Yes,
we’re going to get science-y on this one. Don’t
worry, there are no calculations (I was never
too fond of maths, anyway).
HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY
GAIN FAT?
Before we talk about calories and gaining
fat, let’s briefly explain what keeps our
bodies ticking over every day. Your body
requires energy to perform its daily tasks
such as breathing, walking, talking and even
concentrating. The more work you do, the more
energy (calories) your body requires. This is
referred to as the ‘energy balance’ and basically
means you need to provide your body with the
same amount of calories that you burn in order
to just maintain your weight.
This energy (aka. calories) is obtained from
the food we eat and is used to provide the
energy for all the work the body carries out.
Calories are to your body as petrol is to a car. If
you don’t give it the fuel that it needs – it just
won’t move!
The first law of thermodynamics states that
‘energy can neither be created nor destroyed’ –
and this holds true for your body’s energy, too!
If you consume more calories than your body
needs, the energy contained within it must go
somewhere! Simply put, if we consume more
calories than we burn, we store the excess
energy as either fat or muscle. The first law of
thermodynamics has been obeyed.YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU EAT
Calories in versus calories out; this is what
dictates fat gain. Not by eating fat, sugar or the
media’s new favourite enemy: gluten. Gluten
doesn’t promote fat gain any more than rice or
any other grain (gluten free or not). The issue
with gluten is that it’s usually found in foods
higher in calories such as cakes, biscuits and
easily overconsumed food items. Remember,
it’s calories that cause fat gain, not the food
itself. Eating protein-rich foods won’t put pure
protein into your body (someone please tell the
bros at the gym this fact) and the same rule
applies for fat. The human body is far more
complex than that.WHY DO WE BLAME THE
DOUGHNUTS THEN?
Certain foods or food groups are mistakenly
labelled as so called ‘fattening foods’ not
because they have this magical ability to add
some more to those love handles, but because
they are so easy to consume in high quantities.
Needless to say, higher quantities of food
equals higher calories and we know now
that it’s calories that cause fat gain – not the
delicious tub of ice cream. It’s just a hell of a
lot easier to eat 2000 calories worth of cookie
dough ice cream than it is to eat 2000 calories
worth of spinach. That’s a lot of spinach, even
for Popeye.DO ANY FOODS PROMOTE FAT
GAIN, OR PREVENT IT?
There are studies showing that those that
consume high quantities of sugar are more
likely to store excess calories as fat as opposed
to lean muscle tissue, although this may be due
to underlying issues such as diabetes and other
metabolic disorders, not the sugar itself. As
for fat-burning foods, don’t believe the hype;
because that’s all it is. I hate to be the bearer
of bad news, but there isn’t a green tea in the
world that will shed the pounds and boost your
metabolism. This is a myth that the media and
unfortunately many businesses have exploited,
costing you not only your time but also your
money ($50 for a box of ‘slimming tea’ – are you
kidding me?!)TAKE HOME MESSAGE
If every food was classified as fattening based
purely on its ability to cause you to gain weight,
then technically anything can be fattening. A
tablespoon of oil contains 135 calories and two
bananas contains 200 calories. Does this mean
that a banana is fattening? Think about this.
It’s important, because once you understand
how your body actually gains fat you’ll find
that you’ll never have to diet again. Remember,
it’s all about those calories, not the food from
which they came from.
So yes, you can have your cake and eat it too...Fact File
- Calories count! – If you define fattening
foods as those that cause weight gain, any
food can be fattening! Two bananas contain
more calories than a large chocolate bar,
so by that definition, is a banana fattening? - Fat gain cannot be attributed to a
particular food. An excess of calories in
the diet encourages weight gain; not the
food group itself. - No foo d groups ‘promote’ fat gain or
prevent it. Trust me, if there actually was a
fat burning food, we would all be runway
models by now.
If we consume more calories t han we burn, we store
t he excess energy as eit her fat or muscle...