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It’s true, it really is. For the vast majority of people, counting calories just doesn’t work – it’s too hard and your will power will eventually fade.

The real key to success is learning to eat in a way that is healthy and can be sustained long term. You need to understand your food and how your body processes it. So that’s what this blog post is all about then; shall we get started?

Starvation mode:

The problem with traditional diets is that they rely on you consuming much less calories than you burn during a day – this can certainly lead to weight loss if kept up, the problem is though that whenever our bodies have a calorie deficit our brains go into starvation mode.

This basically means that your overriding priority becomes “get food” and you naturally start craving high calorie foods. This is a hard thing to resist and will almost certainly be your downfall.

Slow carbs:

The secret to maintaining a good diet is staying full and consuming plenty of calories, but by consuming foods that are unlikely to be stored as fat. Foods such as pulses, lentils and beans are high in complex carbs and will fill you up with all the energy you need.

These food types take a long time to be digested and as a result they feed energy to your body gradually as it is being used. This means you don’t crave sugary foods and your energy levels stay constant.

Fast carbs:

Fast carbs, such as bread, rice, pasta and anything sugary are also high in calories, the problem is that they are digested and converted into energy very quickly. This means that unless you are doing intense exercise at the time, consuming bread and the like will give your body an excess of energy – and this will be stored as fat.

Try to avoid these types of food unless you are doing exercise – consuming fast carbs when you have an immediate need for them is fine, which means that an hour at the gym followed by a pizza really can be good for your diet!

Fat:

Fat gets a bad press. Some fats are good and some are bad. The funny thing is though, a lot of good fats (cheese, milk etc) are not easily digested. Just try to avoid processed foods since these have bad types of fat, not mention lots of fast carbs. Eat healthy fats in moderation and you’ll be fine.

Summary

That’s it, just stick to these few principals and you will gradually start to lose weight. It won’t happen overnight, but pretty soon you’ll notice the difference and it won’t even feel like you’re trying!

Bonus Tip

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