Everywhere I look I see “zero calorie” this and “zero calorie” that. But since when are calories the enemy?
Just like much of us are focusing on weight loss rather than fat loss, many of us are just as focused on eating “no calories” and we are focused on eating “the right calories“. Calories area good thing. They provide us with the energy and the nutrients we need to function. If you’re trying to add lean muscle, you need calories, but you also need calories if you’re trying to burn fat.
If your body has no fuel, it’s not going to run like you want it to. And if something has no calories, then it’s not going to have much nutrients either. Vegetables have calories, fish have calories, chicken breasts and brown rice have calories, but each of them help you burn fat, and provide you with the nutrients your body needs to live healthier. Good calories help your body recover, they speed up your metabolism helping you burn more fat in the run of a day.
As for those “no calorie” foods constructed in the lab, what do they do?
They don’t help you in any way besides allowing you to eat something that’s not going to contribute to your waste line, but they’re not going to contribute to anything really. Rather than consuming something that isn’t going to add to your belly, why not eat something that will help you lose your belly?
Why not fill your diet with foods that are made up of “good calories” instead of searching for foods with “no calories”?
We hear “zero calories” in something and think it’s going to help us lose weight, we also think this means we can have a few more calories in another meal, or have a bit of a bigger slice of pie. Which, when you think about it, leaves us with zero good calories in our diets. And just because something is low in calories, it doesn’t mean that it’s healthy for you. Eating clean and healthy is what is going to help you reach your fitness goals. The nutrients found in “clean” foods is what will keep you from getting run down, and its what will help your body recover from intense exercise, along with rest.
Here’s a list of foods that will help you boost your metabolism and burn more fat, or provide you with the nutrients your body needs to recover and stay healthy. Notice that all of them contain calories.
Carbohydrates
| Vegetables | Grains |
| Broccoli | Whole wheat bread/pasta |
| Spinach | Oatmeal |
| Cabbage | Brown rice |
Proteins
- Lean beef
- Chicken breast
- Fish – salmon and tuna are great
Fats
- avocado – veggie
- salmon – fish
- almonds – nuts
- olive oil – oils
