Counting Calories? Check Your Food Sources

Counting Calories: Its Not What It Used to Be?

We have all heard the stories about counting calories and food quality over the last couple years.  Today, I am going to mathematically prove that you can count calories, stay on task, and still not meet your nutrition goals.

 Lets Do this.. For the sake of time, I am going to setup a fictitious person and their goals.

Female, 35, Very active lifestyle and works out 3-4 times a week.  Recommended number of calories per day 2400.  A little high based on the US Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid, but we are giving you some wiggle room based on your lifestyle.

Lets see…

Breakfast 400 calories

Starbucks Coffee 240 cal

Lunch  400 cal

Sports Drink 200 cal

Snack 250 cal

Supper 600 cal

Total calories 2290 cal, well below your goal for daily intake.

All looks well on paper, so what is the problem?

Not all tomatoes are created equal. For that matter, not all food is created equal.  Check out this study on the comparison of food products at the genetic-level. The study shows that in some cases,  the food may be almost 10 times less nutritious. 

For the sake of argument, we will run with only two times less nutrients that it could or should have.  You now need to consume 4580 cal, not 2290 cal to gain the benefit you need for your body to operate properly and recover.

You are literally going in a deficit every day if you do not choose your food sources wisely.  You are eating the right foods, but your body is starving.

Solution:

Move over natural foods i.e. organic foods and control the sources of those non-gmo items. 

Follow this simple rule and you will meet your nutritional goals, train at a higher level and recover quicker from your workouts without even changing what you are eating.

For more detailed information on this subject, visit The McCarthy Project