I don’t know whether it comes from my Italian background where we had course after course, plate of pasta after plate of pasta…
But I like to ‘feel full up’ when I leave the dinner table…or eat for that matter.
And hunger…Or perhaps what we ‘think’ is hunger…
Can stop us from sticking to a diet. Or worse, stick to a diet but not see results because we end up eating too many ‘free’ foods…
You see, this may surprise you, but you actually burn calories through digesting food. It’s actually 5-10% of your overall calories that you burn every, single day!
Here’s how you could burn more calories by…eating:
* You’ll burn more calories (20-30% of the calories in the food) by digesting and absorbing protein-rich foods (meats, fish, eggs, dairy etc.)
* Digesting and absorbing carbs burns 5-6% of the energy in the food you’re eating
* Digesting and absorbing fat burns just 3% of the energy from the food.
So, I guess you could say that the old wives tale of the ‘meat sweats’ is pretty real?
What does this mean for you? Well, if your diet is lacking in protein-rich foods, making some simple swaps slowly but surely could help.
And – of course- this doesn’t mean eating until you hit the ‘meat sweat’ threshold…
After all, no food is ‘free’. They all contain calories…
But making some simple swaps to increase your protein intake could help you to:
* Feel full up for longer so you’re not constantly thinking about food and can be more productive with your day (Which could you take back control of your ‘hunger’ <<< which I’ll come on to another day)
* Help with your skin, hair and split nails
* Promote more muscle tone so you fit your clothes better and make everyday tasks, like climbing stairs and getting up and down from a chair, easier.
* Improve your health, by helping to promote fat loss by making it easier to hit a calorie deficit (the key to losing FAT)
The take home:
Calories are king.
But, it might be a good idea to make slightly more of the calories comes from protein to help you stick to your diet .
This does NOT mean carbs or avocado are bad. They all have their place 🙂
Matt
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