We hear it over and over again eat less, lower calories substitutions, juice cleanses, etc. It seems like everywhere we turn people are saying less, less, less.
Now if your goal is strictly weight loss and nothing else, yes you need to eat fewer calories in order for the fat to melt off.
If your goals go beyond the bathroom scale (which I bet they do whether you believe it or not) sometimes less is not always the answer.
Today I want to share a story with you how more food actually helped one woman move a step closer to her goals.
If you meet Angela you will quickly realize that she has a great sense of humor, no shortage of words and is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.
Angela came in with some clear goals, she wanted to lose some weight, look and feel better and gain more energy.
Angela is one of those people who always put others before themselves and that became apparent as soon as she started coming to Core Principles.
I believe the very first week Angela was here she came in one morning saying she had not slept at all the night before, and I mean at all.
Angela is a nurse and was up all night with a patient. In my head I thought “wow how can someone do that and then get to the gym the next day, I would be exhausted.” Turns out this is somewhat normal for Angela as her job requires it.
After getting through her workout and letting her close her eyes for 10 minutes at the end, it was time for us to chat nutrition.
Just like I have everyone start out with our nutrition coaching I first had Angela record a few days of what her eating looks like so we could look for small windows for improvement.
Once we sat down to chat it was clear early on that Angela really was not eating enough. There would be days when she would not eat until dinner time, but even then it was still not a full and balanced meal.
Angela nailed it making sure she had her shake with her coffee every morning. She began to feel better simply from that.
The next step for Angela was to try to incorporate some real food at lunch. She started out by just making sure she had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Now while that may not seem like the best choice it is much better than grabbing a candy bar at the gas station while working.
From there Angela began incorporating some protein and vegetables into a few more of her meals.
She admitted that she did not feel that afternoon crash like she used too, she had more energy throughout the whole day and she actually started to fit better in her clothes.
Yes, you read that right that by eating more she actually fit better into her clothes.
Now while I will never argue against the idea that you need to take in fewer calories than you burn in order to lose weight, I do believe sometimes eating more will help you get there.
In this case, it is most likely Angela was not eating a large quantity of food but she was still eating more calories than she needed. After having Angela incorporate some better choice into her diet she was then eating a greater volume of food but fewer calories than before.
Remember volume and calories are not always equal. You might not be eating a lot of food, however, if you are not losing or gaining weight you are eating too many calories it’s plain and simple.
If you are struggling to try to figure out what you need to do in order to gain more energy, fit and feel better in your clothes, and watch that dial turn back on the scale I am here to help! Simply send an email to pat@coreprinciples-sc.com or give me a call @ 203-914-6396 to chat.
-Coach Pat
