With all the different nutritional angles you are presented with, do you ever get confused?

I keep an open mind about various supplements, dietary strategies, vitamins, etc., but I always base their value on one thing.

Does this make sense for the general population.

No, not the 2% who are extreme athletes, already eating near perfection, are single digit body fat, and so on. That is a whole different article, which would likely be irrelevant to anyone reading this.

I often say that working out and it’s associated nutrition is fairly simple. The only reason it gets confusing is because so many people choose to make it confusing.

Think about all the hot topics in nutrition right now and you begin to understand where the confusion comes from.

Gluten, sugar, low-carb, soy, dairy, vitamins, shakes, plant based healing products, detoxes, etc.

Everyone is encouraged to blame something if they aren’t happy with the shape of their body.

To be clear, if someone has a legitimate food allergy/issue this topic is not as simple as stated here although many of the concepts still apply.

This is about the millions of people who are led to believe that they have an specific issue that is causing them to gain weight or have trouble losing it when they do not.

Years ago we were told that fat was the devil.

Then fingers started pointing at carbohydrates.

Now, the concern has turned to sugar.

You have heard all of these over the years I’m sure.

In certain contexts all of these things can cause a person to not make any progress. However, they are rarely the root of the issue.

But Jon, as soon as I stopped eating bread, pasta, bagels, and cereal I started losing weight!

Or

Jon, I cut out candy bars, cookies, cake, doughnuts, and cupcakes and I have been losing weight ever since!

The above two scenarios are plausible.

Person number one has now deduced that they have a gluten allergy and/or that they are carbohydrate intolerant.

Personal number two is telling all their friends on Facebook that once you cut out sugar the weight will just fall off.

Both people seeing progress is great, but they are missing the glaringly obvious point of where their success is coming from.

They are cutting out a TON of calories.

Think about it for a second.

All of those sugar dense foods I mentioned above (cookies, cake, doughnuts etc.) are full of fat and therefore loaded with calories.

Same with the carbohydrate dense foods above. Many are high in fat or eaten in very large portions and therefore the calories crank way up.

The point is, if you cut out lots of carb or sugar based foods, the most important thing you are doing is removing a bunch of excess calories.

Claiming that sugar was making you fat is humorous when you find out 1200 of your daily calories was from foods that simply had sugar in them. People are programmed to say sugar was the problem, but look right passed the simple fact that they were MASSIVELY overeating.

Now, is sugar a good thing? Oh, come on don’t be the person who thinks I am saying that loading up on sugar is fine or that it can’t have a harmful effect on your body.

My point is that the more discernible you can be when it comes to your own nutrition the more you can help yourself and achieve the results you want.

Calories matter. If you want to make progress stop leaving yourself in the dark and gather some facts. Take a few days and actually track what you are eating and see where your calories are at the end of the day.

Don’t just cut out a food, cross your fingers, and hope that was the magic bullet. Actually FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF.

It is very easy to feel like you are not over eating when you are. That is why it is so important to educate yourself and know what you’re giving your body.

Remember, it doesn’t matter what “healthy foods” you are having if you are taking in more than you burn.

Avocados, olive oil, and nuts can all stop you from losing weight and can even make you gain weight if you are in a surplus of calories. Just because they are touted as healthy foods means nothing.

Of course there are circumstances where nutrition needs to be made more complicated than this, but for 98% of the population, it doesn’t.

Eat more than you burn and you will not lose weight.

Eat less than you burn, stay active, and overtime you will lose weight.

Is that all the advice that you will ever need?

No.

But if I asked 98% of you if you are eating more or less than you burn, you wouldn’t be able to truthfully answer.

Most people are so worried about trying to follow what their friend said helped them lose weight or what some guy on Instagram said he did that they have no real grasp on their own body.

Stop focusing on the secondary details and put your eyes on the whale. There are many more avenues to pursue as you go down the healthy eating road, but figuring out your caloric intake is step one.

Narrow your focus and you just might find that it is much easier than you may have thought.

If you need any help or have any questions, send me an email at:

JwaltersPT@gmail.com

Website: JonWalters.co

IG: JonWalters15