Sunday, October 5, 2014

Overeating while supplementing for fat loss

You start this awesome new way of organizing your food, and you begin making fabulous progress on your fat loss goals. You're exercising hard, you're looking great, and even though you began with some great strides, you feel a touch fatigued because you're in a caloric deficit.

You start to satisfy the extra fat burn with calories after some time. It's easy to do, especially if you aren't being neurotic about food intake. So very slowly you begin sneaking in way more calories than you expect, because your food volume seems exactly the same.

That's where most of us get lost in an eating plan. We start to see the advances and then we want more. We supplement until we can no longer tell which supplement is doing what. This vexes our chances to be the epitome of all we wish to become, which is fitter.

We must at this point, become comfortable with discomfort...with what a mild deficit feels like, and understand that there is no change without struggle. Ask any fitness competitor or bodybuilder, how they feel on a regular day of restrictions, and how great they feel on their typical "cheat meal." It's the difference between staying on diet and completely blowing it. Here is a nice moment to consider that success lies somewhere between the extremes, though it still might be uncomfortable. I know. I've experienced it.

The Annoying part of dieting.

Ugh!! So many annoying points to make about dieting!! Yes I'm plenty done with the dang thing. But really, when it comes down to it, I'm more annoyed with my thought process when it comes to the extra fats I want when I take my carbs low. Truth is, maybe my carbs were too low for too long. I have been warned against it in studies and continuing research on low carb and primal eating plans.
But the extra fat is customary to a diet with carbohydrate restrictions. Something has to give, and the truth is that everything so far, seems to still boil down to calorie totals, to a large degree. Calories are still the measurement upon which we determine our food wonderland of choices. 

We can choose low to no starch, green and watery vegetables, but we have to make strong choices with them. For example, if we choose to mash parsnips, which come in at 24 carbs per cup and have a naturally sweet taste that stifles sugar cravings, then we have to monitor our butter and cream usage and let me tell you how much cream and butter I want to use! Parsnips satisfy like a potato, but with less calories and starch.

So I'm annoyed because I love fats and I want to intensely indulge in them if I can't eat too many carbs. Anyway I gave up and made the most satisfying mashed sweet potatoes. It tastes like pie, it's so amazing! Now I have to make sure I eat lighter meats like chicken and fish, something I've naturally migrated to, as I increase my healthy carb sources.

Maybe I'll divulge my fat grams and carb totals in this next post.