What is the number 1 reason that is probably stopping you losing weight? Before I get into answering that lets cover the basics of weight loss.
If you over-eat you will gain weight. If you under-eat you will lose weight. If you neither over- or under-eat you will maintain your current weight.
How do you know if you are over eating? Well everything you eat has energy. How much energy? It will depend on what it is and how much of it you eat – whether it is fruit, vege, meat, junk food, or a drink. The only exception is water.
Energy is measure in kiloJoules (or Calories). We will stick with kiloJoules as that is the metric measurement, although a lot of magazines will work with the American/Imperial Calories. Of note is that a Calorie, is different from a calorie. The capital ‘C’ indicates that there are 1,000 calories. There are 4.2 kJs for a Calorie.
When you do something you burn energy. It doesn’t matter what you do – sleeping, running, swimming, walking, driving – you will burn energy. The more physical the activity is, the more energy you burn.
To lose weight you need to eat less energy than you expend. You can do this one of two ways: you can exercise more (therefore expending more energy); and/or you can eat less (therefore consuming less energy).
Now that we have the basics, lets look at what is the number 1 reason that is probably stopping you losing weight.
Products containing high amounts of sugar, especially processed sugar, rapidly add kiloJoules to what you consume. A 500mL can of V can contains nearly 1,000kJ !!!! That is nearly a whole meal worth of energy without providing any nutritional value!!
If you can remove sugary drinks from your diet, it will reduce the amount of kiloJoules that you consume and allow you to eat healthier, more nutritional products. Water is a great substitute for the sugary drinks such as V or Coke. Sugar-Free variants have significantly less kiloJoules in them than the sugary version, but they are full of chemicals and aren’t necessarily better for you in the long term.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact Coach Ray.
Coach Ray is the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
Coach Ray specialises in assisting first timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. He can be contacted at www.qwik.kiwi, ray@qwikkiwi.com and 021 348 729. Make sure you sign up to his monthly informative newsletter.