The Fat Burning Effect of Food
It may sound crazy, but the foods we select can actually increase the level of thermogenic activity (calorie burning), that happens in our body. This is a big part of why, not all calories are created equal. To say all calories are the same is like saying riding in a car for 5 miles vs. running the 5 miles is the same because the same distance is the same, though they’re both the same distance, the one simply burns more calories than the other. This can be the culprit (in problems losing weight) when a person only concerns themselves with a certain number of calories and not where the calories are coming from.
An example of the above would be a salad, several servings of vegetables and a chicken breast vs. a milk shake. The amount of calories you will burn digesting the vegetables (especially raw vegetables) will be much higher than the milk shake. Easy to digest foods jack your sugar levels up and if you’re not actively burning this rapid entry of sugar into the blood, it will get carted off to your fatty deposit areas.
1 + 2 = obesity and our current diabetes epidemic:
1. Longer ago, due to less modern conveniences, our ancestors had much more activity in the course of the day, and many of these individuals got much more exercise (from their activities of daily living) then the typical person does today that exercises 3–4 hours per week.
2. Typically an individual or family had 20–50 different food choices or less around them to choose from, (mostly made up of fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts, meats and dairy) now there are 1000’s of fast food, packaged and processed food and snack choices to choose from. Many of these foods almost immediately cause sugar spikes and do not contain the micronutrients that protect us from disease, or the self-regulating fibers that slow down the sugar absorption like natural foods do.
The key to creating a fat burning environment: surround yourself with foods that take longer to digest (such as raw vegetables, nuts and other unprocessed foods) and create ways to squeeze in more activity such as walking, squatting, taking the stairs, parking further out in the parking lot, rapid house cleaning, yard work or manual labor at your job. You can turn activity into exercise by doing it more rapidly.
The main purpose of eating is calories, but we need those calories to break down over a longer period of time to sustain us properly in keeping our energy levels steady and to avoid sugar spikes as well as the ensuing fatty deposit buildup. When we know the prior meal was heavy, we should always go lighter on our next meal or simply skip the meal.
Example moderate thermic (fat burn) effect: sweet potato (with a little coconut oil and cinnamon), steamed broccoli and tuna. The sweet potato gives carbs that last for quite some time, the fat from the coconut oil gives a long source of energy, the cinnamon gives added sugar control, the tuna gives us good lean protein for building muscle which in turn helps build our metabolism, and the broccoli gives us a great source of fiber and micronutrients. We can substitute beans (black beans, kidney beans etc.) for our meat, or have a little of both.
Example intense thermic effect: salad (oil and vinegar dressing) or other mix of raw vegetables, and grilled chicken or tuna (you can substitute beans for the meat).
Fat burning tool chest for your kitchen: oatmeal, eggs, apples, grapefruit, strawberries, eggs, nuts, berries, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, tomato, beans, quinoa, tuna (grilled fish), grilled chicken.
The above types of foods keep energy levels (blood glucose) steady and shrink fatty deposits!
2 foods that have a negative calorie effect: if a food has a negative calorie effect, it means the food burns more calories than it provides. The two foods that are said to actually burn more calories than they provide are celery and grapefruit.
Burning fat is as easy as 1–2–3:
1. Food choice
2. Activity and exercise
3. Guard your food choices extra much surrounding time periods of low activity.
You cannot put jet fuel into a slow-moving vehicle and not expect problems!
