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Nutrition basics
What you eat drives what you get out of every workout. Here is the LCF guide to how metabolism works, what controls your appetite, why the scale only tells part of the story, and what really works for weight loss.
Weight loss: what works
You must be transparent, honest, and willing to investigate what drives you to eat. Start with the what, when, how, and why.
- What is your why for wanting to lose weight?
- What foods are you choosing?
- Why are you eating?
- How much are you eating?
- How do you feel before, during, and after eating?
- When are you eating?
Be in it for a lifetime
Go slow and steady. Small, gradual habit changes over time lead to permanent changes in weight and lifestyle.
Keep a food record
Research shows 2.5 times greater weight loss for people who write down what they eat, and why and when, compared to those who don’t.
Balance and moderation
Two words to live by. Balance is about the quality of the foods you choose. Moderation is about the quantity you eat.
Stay hydrated with water
Dehydration can slow the metabolic process and cause fatigue. Drink calorie free beverages, with caffeine and alcohol in moderation.
Eat smaller meals more often
Five to six small meals and snacks instead of two or three large meals. Long stretches between meals set you up to overeat and choose quantity over quality.
Watch the fat
One gram of fat has 9 calories, more than double what’s in a gram of carbohydrate or protein.
Make a plan
Keep healthy, easy meals and snacks on hand at all times. Plan your week, and meal prep in bulk to save time.
Always include fiber and lean protein
High fiber foods (fruits, veggies, beans, whole grains) and lean proteins (chicken, fish, turkey, lean beef, low fat dairy, eggs) keep you fuller, longer.
Sleep well and manage stress
Lack of sleep and high stress can raise ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates your appetite.
Move!
Aim for at least 30 minutes of purposeful exercise each day, with both resistance and aerobic training every week.
Understanding metabolism
Metabolism is the process your body uses to turn what you eat and drink into energy. Calories from food and drink combine with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function. It sets your calorie needs for the day, and it changes with your age, weight, height, and activity level.
Your metabolism has three parts
Resting energy expenditure
The energy needed just for survival. It fuels all of your organs (except digestion) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and never stops.
Physical activity
Highly variable. It covers all of your body’s movement, not just intentional exercise.
Thermic effect of food
The energy your body uses to digest and process the food you eat.
Where the energy goes
Muscle is about 3 times more metabolically active than fat. Adding a few pounds of muscle burns roughly 50 more calories a day.
Calories burned digesting food
Of the calories in each, this share is used up just digesting it.
Fuel strong all day long
Your body is naturally efficient. Fed infrequently, it slows its metabolic processes to conserve energy. Eat regularly and it doesn’t need to conserve. Eating every 2 to 3 hours also makes smaller portions easy, keeps cravings down, and makes it easier to pick a lean, healthy snack instead of overeating when you get too hungry.
Appetite hormones and how to manage them
Ghrelin
Triggers hunger, increases cravings for fatty and sweet foods, speeds up digestion, and encourages fat production.
Turns hunger upNPY
Neuropeptide YStimulates appetite.
Turns hunger upLeptin
Decreases food intake and regulates energy metabolism.
Turns hunger downCCK
CholecystokininSuppresses hunger, slows stomach emptying, and stimulates the gallbladder.
Turns hunger downGLP-1
Glucagon-like peptide 1Slows stomach emptying, promotes insulin release, blocks glucagon release, and suppresses appetite.
Turns hunger downInsulin
Lowers blood sugar and drives the body to store energy as glycogen and fat.
Stores energyNine ways to keep them in check
Eat on a schedule
Prevents wide swings in appetite hormones, so you don’t get overly hungry and overeat, especially in the evening.
Eat a high protein breakfast
Breakfast helps steady hunger for the whole day. Protein lowers ghrelin best and generally boosts leptin too.
Mix your macronutrients
Protein releases many fullness hormones, but carbs and fat trigger certain others. Include all three at meals and snacks.
Get your omega 3s
They can raise dopamine receptor levels, fight inflammation, and may improve insulin and leptin sensitivity.
Eat ghrelin suppressing foods
Quality proteins (skinless poultry, lean beef, fish, eggs, fat free Greek yogurt) and unprocessed carbs high in resistant starch (lentils, oats, veggies, sweet potatoes).
Build high volume plates
Choose meals with fewer calories per bite that look filling, which means more high fiber, non-starchy veggies.
Find pleasure elsewhere
An enjoyable activity that takes your mind off cravings raises dopamine without the calories.
Sleep 7 to 8 hours
Less sleep means higher ghrelin the next day, and it hurts leptin and insulin levels too.
Commit to regular exercise
Activity burns calories, can raise certain fullness hormones, and reduces stress.
Weight & body composition
Weight is often used as a measure of health, but a healthy weight looks different for everyone. Health issues can happen at low weights and at higher weights, so lower is not automatically healthier. Building healthy habits around nutritious food and physical activity is the best way to improve your health.
Weight vs. composition
- Body weight is made up of fat mass and non-fat mass.
- Fat mass is the fat under your skin, in muscle tissue, and around internal organs (visceral fat).
- Non-fat mass is blood, bone, muscle, organs, and tissue.
- Some fat is essential for hormones, energy stores, and protecting vital organs.
- Women need higher levels of body fat for fertility and reproductive hormones.
Why muscle matters
- It’s more dense than fat
- It increases metabolism
- It helps protect your bones
- It reduces your risk of injury
What body fat does
- Helps regulate body temperature and insulates
- Cushions and protects vital organs and helps prevent injury
- Protects and softens skin
- Regulates hormones
- Stores energy for long workouts and times of limited food
- Absorbs the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K
The scale: friend or foe?
Diet culture teaches us that our value is tied to the number on the scale. It isn’t.
Why the scale misleads
Your weight shifts throughout the day with hydration and digestion. Gaining muscle can keep your weight the same or push it up while your body gets smaller.
Weight is not health
There are health risks at lower, higher, and average weights. Risk is more closely tied to your ongoing habits.
The verdict
Stepping on the scale often is not the best way to tell if your health is improving. Weighing daily without seeing big changes can undercut your healthy habits and set the stage for overeating.
Fad diet red flags
Sounds too good to be true
If it were that easy, why would so many people struggle with their weight?
Promises fast results
Losing more than 1 to 2 pounds a week isn’t healthy and likely isn’t mostly fat. Rapid loss slows your metabolism because your body treats it as a threat, so it holds on to fat as a last resort.
Little or no exercise
Weight management takes nutrition and physical activity. Weight loss lasts longer when exercise is part of your routine.
Cuts out foods or food groups
All foods can fit into a healthy lifestyle. Balance and moderation are key.
Drastic calorie cuts
They slow your metabolism and feed an all or nothing mindset. Most fad diets are quick fixes, and when you stop, the weight comes back, often with more.
Expensive “miracle” supplements
There are no magic diet pills, meal replacements, or elixirs that keep weight off.
Celebrity endorsements
Paid endorsers with no credentials usually promote products that aren’t evidence based or clinically researched.
What works instead
Slow, steady habit changes, balance and moderation, and regular exercise. Back to what works ↑
Build a plan
around you
Start with a Personal Fitness Evaluation with owner Terry Bunker, PT. $125. Nutrition coaching is available with Dr. David Ball. General education only, not medical advice.
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