The biggest difference I've noticed in my general level of health was when I cut out all refined sugars from my diet. It was a difficult thing to do, but was well worth it.
When I say all forms of refined sugar, I mean all forms. Sugar, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, etc, etc. There are a lot of names for sugar, and lately a lot of "health food" items have been sneaking in sugar by calling it something else.
Read all labels carefully. Avoid anything that is not sweetened exclusively by fruit. Once you do this, you'll find that 80% of food at the grocery store (yes, even health food stores) is out of the question. You'll be forced to eat things like fresh fruits and vegetables, and only the best breads.
It's easiest to make this switch in the summer when there is a lot of access to fruit. I first tried in the winter and only lasted a week. I tried again that summer and have been 100% sugar-free for 3+ years. The only thing I changed about my diet was the simple rule of no refined sugar, and my weight dropped 30 pounds over the course of the next year, and I stopped getting drowsy during the day.
If there is any single change in diet I recommend, it's cutting out all refined sugars. It's not easy but it's worth it.
To make it easier, and what I did, is to cut out all liquid sugars. No soda, fruit juice, energy drinks, or anything sweeter than water. Took me a few weeks to lose 30 pounds when I drank nothing but water.
Fruit juice is probably one of the worst offenders when it comes to bulking people up. People assume it's better because it's natural, but it's pretty loaded with sugar. (though fruit juice does contain other things that are good for you, so moderation is probably best)
Noone would argue that energy in = energy out is false. The problem is it's not an explanation. All you're doing is stating a fact.
What's important to here is that the composition of diet is going to affect those two numbers. Isocaloric diets (same energy in) with different composition will result in different changes in body composition, because they will have effects on energy out. (add: Even this is horribly oversimplified. Even diets with the same energy in AND out will have different results, because they affect which form of stored energy in the body that energy out number comes from)
No matter how much sheer force of will you put into wanting to burn calories, the amount of energy you have available to spend is mediated by processes that behave very differently depending on the type of food consumed.
I only stated this because the comment was implying what seems to be that by eliminating a specific type of food they were able to lose 30 pounds and feel great. I was trying to point out that they could have not completely eliminated this food, but kept track of their calories consumed and caloric expenditure and not make it sound like they should be blaming this specific food for their weight gain (in this case sugar). Unless of course they have some sort of health issue related.
Actually I was implying that by eliminating 100% refined sugars from your diet, that also immediately rules out a lot of other food that is not very good for you.
Sorry if that wasn't clear, but my rule is no refined sugar. Fruit is fine because the sugar in it is naturally occurring. Fruit is pretty much my only source of sugar at this point.
Actually no. The sugar in fruit and the sugar in table sugar are both "simple sugars". They're the same chemical, one is just much more pure and absorbed much more quickly, which has a significant effect on how the body handles it.
Or, eating big hunk of rock candy is to eating a piece of fruit as eating a bunch of cocaine is to chewing coca leaves.
You said it exactly: refined sugar (white sugar, corn syrup, etc) is more pure and absorbed much more quickly. This has a significant (and terrible) effect on how the body handles it.
Also note that refining sugar from fruit can lead to the same kind of bad sugar. But if you're eating it in a whole piece of fruit, you're also getting all the other good things that come with fruit so it's a lot better.
The biggest difference I've noticed in my general level of health was when I cut out all refined sugars from my diet. It was a difficult thing to do, but was well worth it.
When I say all forms of refined sugar, I mean all forms. Sugar, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, etc, etc. There are a lot of names for sugar, and lately a lot of "health food" items have been sneaking in sugar by calling it something else.
Read all labels carefully. Avoid anything that is not sweetened exclusively by fruit. Once you do this, you'll find that 80% of food at the grocery store (yes, even health food stores) is out of the question. You'll be forced to eat things like fresh fruits and vegetables, and only the best breads.
It's easiest to make this switch in the summer when there is a lot of access to fruit. I first tried in the winter and only lasted a week. I tried again that summer and have been 100% sugar-free for 3+ years. The only thing I changed about my diet was the simple rule of no refined sugar, and my weight dropped 30 pounds over the course of the next year, and I stopped getting drowsy during the day.
If there is any single change in diet I recommend, it's cutting out all refined sugars. It's not easy but it's worth it.