Weight Loss Made Simple - Prioritize Protein and Fiber!

 

Weight loss requires you to consume less calories than you use, but there are many factors that influence both calorie intake and calorie burn!  This complexity is why many weight loss interventions fail.     Regardless of how people lose weight most people regain all of it because they revert to old habits.

Another reason is that our fat cells have an epigenetic memory meaning that cells respond to dietary and movement patterns which activate specific genes (either good or bad depending on the patterns!).      In the case of poor eating and movement habits cells tend to be resistant to changing their genetic expression.     In other words, once you become overweight or obese you become more susceptible to regaining weight.

In order to lose weight and keep it off we need to make sustainable dietary and movement pattern changes.     According to a new study this change may be as simple as eating more protein and fiber!

Participants who ate more protein and fiber lost significantly more weight over 12 months compared to those with lower intake and this did not involve counting calories – just a focus on eating more protein and fiber rich foods.

Satiety = Protein and Fiber

Satiety refers to feeling satisfied and not hungry.    Protein and fiber both promote satiety through distinct mechanisms.    Fiber promotes healthy gut bacteria, improves bowel regularity, helps maintain blood sugar in the optimal range, and reduces cholesterol.     Consuming fiber rich foods such as vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds and whole grains are also linked to lower all cause mortality.     Fiber also promotes satiety after meals.

Protein also increase satiety compared to sugar and starch or fat.  Protein causes the release of specific peptides that interact with receptors in our gut to control appetite.  Protein also provides two other important benefits related to weight loss and maintaining weight loss:

Protein increases post-meal thermogenesis (technically called post-prandial thermogenesis) meaning that it takes more energy to digest protein so that you actually have to burn some calories to digest protein.  This means you get fewer usable calories from protein.    When you consistently prioritize protein this adds up to a lot of calories burned!

Protein also builds and preserves lean mass including muscle!   Muscle and other lean mass are the big calorie burners in your body so building more muscle and minimizing muscle loss during weight loss is key to successful weight loss that you maintain!   Studies suggest that high-protein diets cause almost twice as much fat loss as moderate-protein diets.   

Participants in this study were taught how to choose foods with high levels of protein and fiber.   Participants aimed for 7 – 11 grams of protein per 100 calories of food and 1.8 – 3.2 grams of fiber per 100 calories of food for weight loss.   For weight maintenance participants aimed for 4 – 8 grams of protein per 100 calories and 1.4 – 2.8 grams of fiber for 100 calories.   Participants did NOT count calories!   This equated to 140 – 210 grams of fiber per day and 28 – 56 grams of fiber daily.

An Easy Nutrition Program

To make this even easier shoot for a minimum of 1 gram of protein per lbs. of lean mass every day.     To measure your lean mass, ask a trainer about getting a complimentary Styku Scan which will measure your lean and fat mass.    To make it even simpler – you can focus on consuming 1 gram of protein per lbs of your bodyweight.   

Here is a link to a free downloadable list of high protein foods:  https://reallifenutritionist.com/high-protein-foods/

When it comes to fiber focus on getting at least 25 grams of fiber per day.   Here is a list of High Fiber Foods:  https://reallifenutritionist.com/high-fiber-foods-chart/