On my previous blog, we’ve talked about the types of food to avoid due to the heavy effect of them causing your body to get drained. On today’s blog we’ll be tackling about macronutrients and how a good diet for energy affects your body in different ways.
Macronutrients
Pillar #2 is all about Macronutrients (AKA Macros). This includes fat, protein, and carbohydrates, which are the primary elements that make up a food’s composition and help you create energy and power. You can find them listed on the nutrition facts panel of most foods or by using online apps and calculators.
Macros are then comprised of calories or “units of energy.” What’s important to understand about macros is that not all calories are equal.
For instance, one gram of carbohydrates or protein provides 4 calories, while one gram of fat provides 9 calories. As you can see, fat provides more than twice as many calories as either carbs or protein. This is good news because you’ll be eating mostly fat on The Power Diet.
Why Counting Calories Doesn’t Work
One of the oldest and most outdated nutritional practices is “calories in calories out” (CICO), which has been pounded into the nutritional mainstream for centuries. The idea is that by simply eating fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight and visa versa.
The problem with CICO alone is that it won’t tell you the balance of fat, carbohydrates, and protein in the foods you eat, which is a crucial mistake that could have seriously damaging repercussions.
For example, let’s say you want to lose weight and you go on a vegetarian diet and unknowingly eat 60% of your calories from carbohydrates (which is quite common). This will have a massively different effect on your weight, power and energy than if you had eaten 60% of your diet from healthy fat sources.
As best selling author Dr. Joe Mercola says, “fat for fuel” is a far superior source of sustained energy than carbohydrates.
Additionally, according to experts like Dave Asprey, CICO does not take into consideration the effect of macros on your hormones, which have been shown to affect weight gain completely independent of the amount of calories consumed.
Thankfully, in The Power Diet, you won’t have to bang your head against the wall or break out your calculator and count calories every time you need to eat a meal. Instead, we’ll go beyond counting calories and focus on tracking macros, a much more effective and reliable strategy that takes into consideration the individual effects of carbs, protein, fat and their effect on your hormones.
Mindful Eating
In my experience, most people (I’ve been guilty), approach a meal thinking something along the lines of: “I need some kind of protein and starch and what salad or veggie would go good with that.”
What they do not realize is that some of these foods may be draining power by over or under consuming a particular macro.
For example, I used to mindlessly put together a veggie bowl with some fish with no thought as to how much carbs, fat and protein were really optimal. Of course, I never really felt that amazing after eating it either. Instead, I felt drained of power and needed to take a nap an hour or two later.
But once I really got committed to maximizing power and feeling really good, I slowed down and became more mindful by measuring the grams of carbs, fats and protein in each one of the ingredients in my food. What I realized was that I was way off, and in some instances, I was eating twice as much protein and carbs as I needed.
This was a huge revelation for me and doubled my power once I cut back on the protein and carbs. So I want to encourage you right now to stop mindlessly throwing food on a plate or ordering something just because it looks good and slow down to mindfully think about what you are eating; then ask yourself our master question:
Does This Food Give Me Power Or Take It Away?
While you won’t be counting calories on The Power Diet, initially, it’s super important you understand and get familiar with how many grams of a particular macro is included in each food you are eating.
To assist you in this process I’ll offer examples later on and I encourage you to check out our video library where you can find step-by-step instructions on how to build power meals quickly (under 10 minutes) so eventually, you will not have to measure the grams in your macros. All you’ll need to do is simply eyeball the food and you’ll be good to go.
Realistically, this will take a good 2-4 weeks of consistent practice. So be patient and just know, this is a game changer strategy, which will completely change your life, with more energy, power and joy for the rest of your life.
Lastly, depending on your health goals, you can adjust the ratios of macronutrients you consume to lose weight, build muscle, or enter maintenance & expansion mode. More on mindful eating in a bit, for now, let’s take a look at some of the other awesome power boosting effects of balancing macros to make sure you invest in this strategy long-term.
Big Benefits of Balancing Macros
Flexibility
Ultra-stringent diets that require you to laboriously count calories can lead to frustration, cravings, and eventual failure. Let’s face it, when you’re hungry, at a restaurant or having fun at a party, who wants to count calories?
In contrast, the flexibility of balancing macros in The Power Diet allows you to fall out of your target range for a bit without falling apart then bounce back quite quickly. There is no one size fits all here, instead, our goal is to get close to a target ratio and monitor whether or not your power is drained or boosted, then adjust accordingly.
It’s More Enjoyable
Balancing your macros does not force you to eliminate entire food groups like carbohydrates. Instead, when you feel depleted or drained, again, you simply shift more or less from one of the three macros into the others.
It Prevents You From Overeating
Balancing your macros also helps to avoid some of the problems with overeating in one macro category. For example, I used to have a gardener who would eat refried beans and corn tortillas for lunch every day and literally within 15 minutes he would fall asleep in his chair. Why?
No, it’s not because all Latin Americans need a siesta, it’s because beans and corn tortillas have some of the highest carbohydrate and lectin content of any foods and anyone who eats them is going to be severely drained of power.
Or let’s say you eat way too much fat from coconut oil, avocados and sardines but very little carbs or vegetables. In this case, you may feel constipated simply because you aren’t getting enough fiber. Unfortunately, counting calories will never explain why you’re so backed up.
Helps Manage and Reverse Chronic Diseases
Managing and avoiding disease by balancing your macros isn’t just hearsay. Researchers have proven scientifically that managing macros can help boost your health on multiple fronts as well as reverse conditions such as diabetes, certain cancers, and polycystic ovary syndrome.
Time for a healthy life, If you’re looking for for more information about boosting your energy up and feeling better with a new diet, kindly check out “The Power Diet‘ by Chad Scott.
