The little things preventing fat loss

Do you ever seem to just grab one little piece of candy here, a few grapes there, or a slice of cheese out of the fridge, even though you aren’t hungry?

At the end of the day, when you add up all the little things and see the calorie total, it might not be alarming. Only an extra 300 to 500 calories a day is no big deal, right?

What if I told you 500 calories a day for seven straight days leads to one pound of fat?

So if you go over by this much each day, you can gain weight very quickly.

A pound of fat is 3,500 extra calories, so those little nibbles don’t seem so little after all. If you only overeat by 100 calories a day, it would take a month to put on a pound, but when you add that up over a year, that’s an extra 12 pounds in a year just from eating slightly more than needed each week.

Maybe you aren’t a snacker but possibly could be eating a little extra at meals. A little dessert every day, extra pop, one more sweet tea at dinner, an extra helping of rice or pasta.

Does this sound familiar?

Often we eat even though we aren’t hungry. Besides the extra calories, it can cause your blood sugar to rise and alter your hormone levels in a way that accelerates aging.

How do you combat this problem?

Here are some quick solutions to help your mind shift its focus.

• Don’t snack between meals.

• Use mouthwash and tooth brushing between meals to tell your mind you’re done eating.

• Sugar-free gum or breath mints.

• Do five pushups every time you think about snacking between planned meals.

• Plan out your meals and follow that strictly.

• Measure out your food so you know the portion size needed.

• Don’t put food at easy access points, such as candy jars, bowls, etc., sitting in a place where you can see them.

• Drink water way more often and always have a water bottle close.

The tips above are ways to retrain your habit loop. Doing this trains your brain to start thinking about other things than eating when you’re full.

Use these tips and start monitoring how much extra food you intake for a good starting point.

Action Steps Moving Forward

• Find your basal metabolic rate (BMR). A simple close calculation is your weight times 100. This will tell you roughly how much food you should intake in a day. That way, when you are tracking, you know how much you have gone over.

• Do a three-day food log. You can either do it on Myfitnesspal or just on paper. You need to get a good idea of what you are taking in your diet currently.

• Eliminate easy-to-access food at home and at work. Get rid of all jars, bowls and snack areas.

• Chew gum while prepping food so you don’t snack and take in extra calories while cooking.

• Brush your teeth after breakfast and dinner as soon as you get done, so you don’t have that taste of food lingering that makes you hungry for more.

• Whenever you catch yourself reaching for some food when you aren’t really needing food, lean against the counter, do 20 incline pushups. This will work on the habit loop of positive enforcement.

• Always be present with food. Try to think about food whenever you are eating it. Mindless eating leads to extra calories.

At GCP, we put you in our accountability program to track these little details.

We know it’s hard to stay on top of things, and that’s what we are there for to help you out.

Trevor Warnke, a 2004 graduate of Jefferson-Scranton High School, is CEO of Game Changing Performance, 708 N. Cedar St.

He has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and is certified as a strength coach and personal trainer.

Contact Us

Jefferson Bee & Herald
Address: 200 N. Wilson St.
Jefferson, IA 50129

Phone:(515) 386-4161