Calories - The Simple Truth
A month or so ago, I attended a nutrition lecture by Martin
MacDonald at my university. He is the founder of Mac Nutrition and has worked
with a range of celebs including Vicky Pattison, Zoe Smith and Jenifer Ellison.
He asked us as an audience to suggest topics for him to discuss, some of which
were of great interest to me and others less so.
Overall, I thought that the talk was really informative,
although occasionally topics were touched upon, sparked my curiosity and
unfortunately no further detail was given. However, one specific idea has stayed with me
over the past month and I thought I would share it with you.
Along with the rest of the population, I am aware that there are
good, healthy foods and bad, not so healthy foods. I am sure that I am not
alone in telling myself that as long as I’m eating the good stuff, and limiting
the bad stuff, I will keep at a healthy weight. Whilst to an extent this is
true, there is another dimension to this idea. What Martin was touching on was
that at the end of the day, calories are calories, and it doesn't matter where
they come from, if you eat more than you burn, you will gain weight.
I've thought about this idea for a while now and I can’t quite
get my head around it.
Hypothetically, let’s say that I eat 1875 calories a day,
comprised of exactly the same macro nutrients day in day out. In order to
maintain my weight, I need to eat 2000 calories and so I decide to add in a
snack. Let’s take two scenarios. For one month, I eat half a Mars Bar every day
– 125 calories worth of saturated fat and refined sugar. For another month, I
snack on a wholegrain slice of toast with a generous helping of pure peanut
butter – 250 calories perhaps. At the end of each month, what would be the
outcome with regards to my weight?
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Logic tells us that the peanut butter sandwich is a much
healthier option and so the month where I eat a Mars Bar a day should be the
one where I gain weight. This is exactly what I would assume as well. However,
by Martin’s theory, by choosing the Mars Bar, I am staying within my calorie
limit. Opting for the peanut butter sandwich on the other hand, takes me over
by 125 calories a day. Calories are calories, and if we eat a in a surplus then
it doesn't matter where they come from, we will gain weight.
In all honesty I don’t know the answer to this scenario. The
powers of logic tell me that a Mars Bar a day can’t be a healthy way to live,
but if you can eat one and keep within your calorie limit, then in theory it shouldn't cause a problem with regards to weight gain.
I think what I took away from this lecture was that as much as
you do need to focus on sugar content and fat content for health, if you are looking
for a specific weight goal (whether it be losing, maintaining or gaining), it doesn't massively matter which macro nutrient you get the calories from. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat in a calorie deficit. If you want to maintain
weight, then you cannot eat too much or too little. If you want to gain weight,
you have to eat in a calorie surplus.
Despite understanding this theory in principle, I can’t get my
head around being allowed to eat a Mars Bar every day, assuming I don’t eat
over my calories from other foods. However, it has made me much more aware
about the portion sizes I am eating. I used to scoff down a huge salad of chicken
breasts covered in peanut sauce with nuts and seeds and a variety of fruits and
vegetable toppings. I’d think that because it was just a salad full of chicken
and healthy fats, it was fine. I couldn't understand why I wasn't losing
weight. The answer must have been calories. Although it was all good for me on
the inside, as I was eating more calories than I should, I couldn't shift the
weight.
Since the lecture I have
definitely started to think more carefully about how much peanut butter I put
on my toast (and other general portion size things of course). No matter how
many ‘healthy fats’ I tell myself PB contains, if I eat too much of it, it
can’t be good for me weight-loss
