Portion Controlling Myths About Nutrition Debunked

I want to go over a couple myths about portion controlling meals that millions of people fall prey to and struggle with weight loss as a result of.


Myth - "I ate way too much/little for lunch today. I'll just make up for that by eating less/more for dinner"

Reality - The body is only capable of absorbing so much nutrients or calories in one sitting. You cannot make up by eating less or eating more food in the next meal; the body doesn't work like that. If you go over that threshold of what can be absorbed and metabolized in one sitting then those nutrients have a higher propensity to add to fat accumulation and you could feel lethargic. If you don't eat enough then you risk starving your bodies cells of nutrients before you eat again and possibly crashing if you workout between those meals. It's really a balancing act you must perform here to find that happy medium between eating too much and too little at meal time. You'll find that through trial and error and making small changes till you get there. Once you do find that middle ground you'll find it easier to not over eat at meal time because you won't be starved. You'll also crank up your metabolism and your workout performance will be enhanced for even further gains in your fitness!

Myth - "I need to protein load to build muscle so I'm going to take 50 grams of a protein supplement right after my workout"

The same is true for individual nutrients as it is for over all calories. The body can only absorb and metabolize so much protein till it has a propensity to spill over into fat accumulation. The average maximum grams of protein that a person can absorb in one sitting is only 30 grams or less. Whatever your maximum capacity to absorb protein is; once you cross that threshold you place an un necessary burden on your kidneys and you increase the odds of putting on more body fat. Besides, after a vigorous workout the body mainly wants water and fast absorbing carbohydrates. Protein is secondary to that. An ideal blend of water, carbs and protein after a vigorous workout is 8 - 12 oz of water with 4 grams of fast absorbing carbs for every 1 gram of fast absorbing (usually whey protein) protein.

To keep it simple just remember to do a few things regarding portion controlling your food.

- If you don't have any idea of how many calories to eat a day to loose weight you need to figure that out first. Recalculate once a week using this fitness calculator that I want you to bookmark. As your body changes so does your calorie requirements:

- Eat at least five or six times per day.
- Don't ever go more than three or four hours without eating anything.
- Avoid eating more than your body is capability of absorbing and metabolizing in one sitting. For most people that maximum calorie count can be anywhere from 400 to 800 calories in a single meal.

Follow up to this article with an incredible article I wrote on Simplifying your meal planning for vibrant health: http://tombirkenmeyer.blogspot.com/2009/10/simplify-your-meal-planning-for-vibrant.html

Once you get your nutrition right then you have just become your own nutrition expert to maintain vibrant health for the rest of your life! Isn't that alone worth the early on small pains of discipline?

Tom
Passion Fitness