BURN Fitness 101: There are NO Fattening Foods
- Jeff Ward, CSCS (with Lisa Brightman, DTR)
Nutrition terminology, like exercise terminology, changes with the times. What a few years ago was a “squat thrust” is now called a burpee. Nobody ever heard of a “kipping” pull-up or a “muscle-up” until the advent of Crossfit. “Low Carb” now has about three different meanings, and a few years back it was called the Atkins diet… but not really… Things change. Fads come and go. But one nutritional concept that has lingered and lingered through the years and skewed everyone’s concept of healthy and fat-loss conducive eating is the idea of a specific food being “fattening”.
There is no such thing as a fattening food.
HUH??? What about donuts? What about cookies? What about chocolate? Peanut butter is fattening, right? Aren’t those all fattening???
In reality… NO.
Here are the facts… ALL foods can be “fattening”. Likewise, all foods can be used to lose fat. It’s ALL about the QUANTITY of the food you consume, and the macro-nutrients (carb, fat, and protein grams) that those foods add up to over a day, a week, and a month. If you eat too much grilled chicken… you can gain fat. I keep needling Lisa about writing a fat-loss book that would sell millions: “The Peanut Butter Diet”. In reality, even a 5’1” obese woman could lose significant fat weight eating 3-4 tablespoons of peanut butter per day! I have clients that have eaten chocolate EVERY day, and lost 50-60 pounds. The key is you need to account for every calorie, and every gram, and do it in moderation!
Are there “better” food choices than peanut butter or chocolate for fat-loss? Yes, of course… but sometimes, planning foods that most people would consider “fattening” into your daily intake can be very effective at keeping cheating under control.
Case in point: I had a client years ago in Los Angeles who came to me about 50lb over weight. She had exercised sporadically over the years, and dieted a LOT, but couldn’t lose the weight and KEEP it off. She admitted to me right away that she was a “chocolaholic”. She HAD to have chocolate every day. So what did I do? I loaded up her diet with chocolate… 3-4 times per day! And she lost all of the fat in 6 months! She started her day every day with a chocolate/peanut putter protein shake. She got a Hershey’s Kiss with her lunch, had a chocolate protein bar every afternoon, and even had chocolate sugar-free pudding many nights before bed. She kept her calorie intake ABSOLUTELY in check at the levels she was allotted per day, with high protein, moderate fat intake, and almost no sugar (except for the Hershey’s Kisses), and that came right after her workout, and ONLY after she worked out. No workout… NO SUGAR. But if she did 45+ minutes of exercise, she got her chocolate! Your body NEEDS glucose post-workout anyway to restore muscle glycogen. That sugar/chocolate got sucked right into her muscle!
Allowing this client to not only eat SOME chocolate/sugar, but a significant amount, allowed her to be PERFECT with the rest of her meal plan. Chocolate became her reward for intense exercise! Instead of eating chocolate because she was overweight, depressed, and bored… she ate it because it was part of her fat-loss plan.
Obviously, I’m not going to allow a client to live on chocolate, peanut butter, cookies, and booze… but virtually any food, in reasonable amounts can be figured into a fat-loss diet.
I know one particular NPC Figure athlete who eats a couple tablespoons of peanut butter every day… In fact she’s co-authored this article with me! She also eats dark chocolate. And she drinks wine…
Nutritional “perfection” does not always mean eating NOTHING flavorful, enjoyable, or calorie-dense. It only means that every calorie, and gram, is accounted for, and that “sacrifices” and adjustments are made elsewhere in the diet.
“A teaspoon of sugar makes the medicine go down…” Sometimes a little chocolate makes the massive amounts of grilled chicken go down a little easier too!
If you want to eat chocolate, peanut butter, and even the occasional donut… or glass of wine… and STILL lose serious fat and build sexy muscle…. Come see Lisa and I at BURN Fitness! We WILL show you how it’s done.
- Jeff Ward, CSCS (with Lisa Brightman, DTR)
Nutrition terminology, like exercise terminology, changes with the times. What a few years ago was a “squat thrust” is now called a burpee. Nobody ever heard of a “kipping” pull-up or a “muscle-up” until the advent of Crossfit. “Low Carb” now has about three different meanings, and a few years back it was called the Atkins diet… but not really… Things change. Fads come and go. But one nutritional concept that has lingered and lingered through the years and skewed everyone’s concept of healthy and fat-loss conducive eating is the idea of a specific food being “fattening”.
There is no such thing as a fattening food.
HUH??? What about donuts? What about cookies? What about chocolate? Peanut butter is fattening, right? Aren’t those all fattening???
In reality… NO.
Here are the facts… ALL foods can be “fattening”. Likewise, all foods can be used to lose fat. It’s ALL about the QUANTITY of the food you consume, and the macro-nutrients (carb, fat, and protein grams) that those foods add up to over a day, a week, and a month. If you eat too much grilled chicken… you can gain fat. I keep needling Lisa about writing a fat-loss book that would sell millions: “The Peanut Butter Diet”. In reality, even a 5’1” obese woman could lose significant fat weight eating 3-4 tablespoons of peanut butter per day! I have clients that have eaten chocolate EVERY day, and lost 50-60 pounds. The key is you need to account for every calorie, and every gram, and do it in moderation!
Are there “better” food choices than peanut butter or chocolate for fat-loss? Yes, of course… but sometimes, planning foods that most people would consider “fattening” into your daily intake can be very effective at keeping cheating under control.
Case in point: I had a client years ago in Los Angeles who came to me about 50lb over weight. She had exercised sporadically over the years, and dieted a LOT, but couldn’t lose the weight and KEEP it off. She admitted to me right away that she was a “chocolaholic”. She HAD to have chocolate every day. So what did I do? I loaded up her diet with chocolate… 3-4 times per day! And she lost all of the fat in 6 months! She started her day every day with a chocolate/peanut putter protein shake. She got a Hershey’s Kiss with her lunch, had a chocolate protein bar every afternoon, and even had chocolate sugar-free pudding many nights before bed. She kept her calorie intake ABSOLUTELY in check at the levels she was allotted per day, with high protein, moderate fat intake, and almost no sugar (except for the Hershey’s Kisses), and that came right after her workout, and ONLY after she worked out. No workout… NO SUGAR. But if she did 45+ minutes of exercise, she got her chocolate! Your body NEEDS glucose post-workout anyway to restore muscle glycogen. That sugar/chocolate got sucked right into her muscle!
Allowing this client to not only eat SOME chocolate/sugar, but a significant amount, allowed her to be PERFECT with the rest of her meal plan. Chocolate became her reward for intense exercise! Instead of eating chocolate because she was overweight, depressed, and bored… she ate it because it was part of her fat-loss plan.
Obviously, I’m not going to allow a client to live on chocolate, peanut butter, cookies, and booze… but virtually any food, in reasonable amounts can be figured into a fat-loss diet.
I know one particular NPC Figure athlete who eats a couple tablespoons of peanut butter every day… In fact she’s co-authored this article with me! She also eats dark chocolate. And she drinks wine…
Nutritional “perfection” does not always mean eating NOTHING flavorful, enjoyable, or calorie-dense. It only means that every calorie, and gram, is accounted for, and that “sacrifices” and adjustments are made elsewhere in the diet.
“A teaspoon of sugar makes the medicine go down…” Sometimes a little chocolate makes the massive amounts of grilled chicken go down a little easier too!
If you want to eat chocolate, peanut butter, and even the occasional donut… or glass of wine… and STILL lose serious fat and build sexy muscle…. Come see Lisa and I at BURN Fitness! We WILL show you how it’s done.