Positives: 1) I have been blessed this week to have
several wonderful things happen. I’ve
relocated my Dad to be closer to me. We’re still in the adjustment period but
being close means the world to me and I’m excited to have him here. 2) I’m finishing up a month long push-up challenge with a great
group of people who I hope have exceeded their own expectations (more in
another post) and 3) I’m helping kick off a step challenge with my colleagues
that I think will be a great way to get us all thinking about our health.
Negatives: So, what’s the negative? I was using this as an introduction to a
question that was posed to me earlier today re: negative calorie foods. I think the negative is that I have no magic
bullet for any of us when it comes to weight management.
A negative calorie food is a food product that is deemed to produce a
negative caloric balance in that the thermic effect of the food is greater than
its food energy content. In English? Negative calories foods are believed to take
more energy to digest than exist in the food product itself. Sounds great!
You might think that basing your nutrition plan around the many lists of
negative calorie foods that one can find online will help spur your weight
loss. Most of these foods SHOULD be in
your nutrition plan anyways: grapefruit,
lemon (in your water), lime, apple, lettuce, celery, broccoli. These dietary staples have good fiber, low
carbohydrates, vitamins, antioxidant properties and can help you feel
full. However, there is no scientific
evidence that I am aware of that any of these foods are true “negative calorie
foods”. Moreover, basing your nutrition
plan (I don’t like the word “diet”) on this food list alone will not provide
you with a balanced plan nor will it be something that you can sustain
long-term. Your goal should be to
develop habits and behaviors that contribute to your wellness and are
sustainable. Fad diets aren’t the
answer. They may kick start your weight loss
but you need to have a PLAN for sustaining and managing your weight and your
health.
I wish weight management were a simple mathematical equation of
negatives (energy expenditure) being greater than the positives (nutritional
intake). That is part of it, yes, don’t
get me wrong. However, there are many of
you who have been at this for some time know that it is a complex equation.
References
Image Credit: http://www.barbellsandbeakers.com/2012/07/04/negative-calorie-and-zero-calorie-foods-dont-exist/