davidual-
Rest (i.e. hours of sleep you get each night) in my view is another important (third) factor in the equation after Diet/Lifestyle and Activity Level.
-
For losing weight or for general health?
I think the ‘what you eat’ part is not the most important thing in weight loss and frankly over complicates things.
I’ve read articles which suggest that foods which contain both sugar and fat are not recommended because your body burns the sugar as a priority and tends to store the fat. Maybe that is true when you’re combating weight gain, eating a surplus or bulking, but if you’re body is in a calorie deficit, that fat gets burned throughout the day anyway.For example, you would 100% lose lots of weight if you ate only the following:
500 calories of chocolate a day
Or
500 calories of mayonnaise a day
Or
500 calories of almonds a day
Or
500 calories of steak a day
Or
500 calories of pasta a day
Or
500 calories of cabbage a dayAll of those would have hugely different volumes, some of them would have more metabolic cost in digesting and some would put you into ketosis, some would retain more water. some of them would be more damaging to your body and muscle mass and all of them would drive you insane.
However, you would still end up losing a similar level of weight, because thermodynamics.
Obviously any of the above is not recommended for your health, and good quality food and a balanced diet is better for your body.
The biggest challenge to losing weight is willpower and changing eating, drinking and snacking habits. If you’re struggling with that, then adding extra layers of complexity by adding nutrient timing and food combinations, you’re less likely to stick to the diet. And consistency is king.
You are reading a single comment by @davidual and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
EagleEyez
Acliff
Possibly an argument that’s been had in this thread (or last years) but I’ve been listening to an excellent book called the glucose revolution which asserts that calories are pretty irrelevant. The combinations of fibre, fats, proteins and starchy/ sugary carbs and the order in which you eat them has a much greater impact on bloody sugar, insulin and fat use/ storage and therefore weight gain and loss. I’d highly recommend it.