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Consuming a particular number of calories determine how much weight you'll lose while consuming other calories will determine what type of weight you lose.
There has been much talk lately about calories. Some people count them, some people say not to count them, so what's the deal with them? Old school methodology will tell you that a calorie is a calorie, regardless of where it comes from. This means, that the traditional approach to losing weight was simply eating less. Would this work? Yes and no. Yes because eating less calories means that in an effort to stay alive, your body will burn the calories from your body that are currently stored as fat. No, because in some cases, eating less forces your body to go into what is known as "starvation mode," where your body thinks it is starving and therefore holds on to fat (appropriately named "stubborn fat") in an effort to help you survive for as long as possible, giving you time to find food.
How about the new school methodology? The new school methodology says that not all calories are created equal, and therefore foods have to be treated differently based on the source in which the calories are derived. For example, 100 calories from table sugar (sucrose) is vastly different from 100 calories from a lean chicken breast. One source (sugar) provides a very simple carbohydrate which will have a negative impact on your blood sugar levels and will cause a quick rise in your insulin, while the other source (chicken) is derived from quality protein and will have no impact on your blood sugar levels. Instead, this quality source of calories will provide your body with muscle-building amino acids that are necessary for survival.
So which method is correct, the old school of thought or the new school of thought? To create a truly effective diet, I would say that both methods are correct in different respects, and that you should encompass elements of both the old school and new school of thought. What I mean is that you should undoubtedly eat less overall calories if your goal is to lose weight, however, the type of calories that you do consume should be from primarily quality sources. In other words, eating less calories will help you lose weight, however, eating quality calories will determine the type of weight you are going to lose. You don't want to lose lean muscle, rather, you want to only burn fat for energy. Eating less overall calories while eating low quality sources of those calories will cause your body to burn lean muscle from lack of protein and nutrients needed to support the muscles. But eating less calories and still getting enough protein, vitamins, minerals, and quality carbohydrates will cause your body to retain its muscle mass and burn stored fat for energy.
So to answer the question, no, not all calories are created equal. However, just because you decide to eat from quality sources, does not mean that you can eat as much as you want. Excess calories, if not used up, will still turn to fat, regardless of the source. So eat less, but eat healthy.
Yours in health,
James Hallmark
CFT
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