Hi Guys! I have not put up a blog post in a while, since I have been focusing on making and editing videos for my Youtube channel. I do want to make a better effort to post blogs, and there is no time like the present to get started! Plus, I have a pretty important topic I want to discuss based on some interactions I had this weekend…
Guys, there is no such thing as a “good” food or a “bad” food. There. I said it. I know this is not what is commonly drilled into your head by so many in the fitness industry, but it’s true. Broccoli is not a “good” food and ice cream is not a “bad” food. They are just foods. And if you manage your food intake properly, there is no reason that you cannot enjoy what are commonly considered “bad” foods. No matter what you eat, if you simply consume approximately the amount of calories you burn through every day (for both energy and metabolic needs) you will not put on any body fat. It doesn’t matter if you happened to eat some ice cream or cake or chips that day. It is not as if simply eating these foods causes you gain body fat. Like your body knows you just ate a “bad food.” It is eating these foods in excess of your calorie requirements that causes you to gain fat.
Think about it this way. If you overeat by 500 calories and those extra 500 calories came from ice cream, yes, you will store body fat. However, if you overeat by 500 calories and they came from brown rice, chicken breast and broccoli, you will store body fat. It is the extra calories that causes your body to store fat, not eating “bad” foods.
One key point to keep in mind is that junk foods are typically very calories dense. This means it takes relatively small amounts of food to account for relatively large amounts of calories. This is the real problem with “bad” foods and why they make it is so easy to go over your daily calorie needs. Additionally, junk foods can frankly be addicting. If you can keep it under control and are able to eat reasonable portions, there is no reason you cannot indulge as often as daily in such foods. However, if for whatever reason you are not able to enjoy such foods in moderation and once you start eating them you cannot stop, you need to avoid them altogether and note take that first bite.
So why did I feel the need to write this blog? Well, I was out for my wife’s birthday and she got a complimentary piece of cake from the restaurant and I of course indulged. People started going “OOHHH Kev-D Fitness, you shouldn’t eat that…let me get a picture of that and expose you…” I just laughed because, one, I had left myself plenty of calories in the day before we went out so that if I wanted to have a treat I could, and two, because I understand the principle I just explained above…it is excess calories, not “bad” food that makes you store body fat.
The takeaway from this blog should not be that you can eat junk food with little nutritional value at will and as long as you don’t eat excess calories you won’t put on body fat (though this is true, it will lead to a massive degeneration in overall health due to nutrient deficiencies). Rather, the takeaway should be that you can enjoy any foods in moderation and that the key to staying lean and preventing fat gain is to avoid eating excess calories on a daily basis.
Guys, there is no such thing as a “good” food or a “bad” food. There. I said it. I know this is not what is commonly drilled into your head by so many in the fitness industry, but it’s true. Broccoli is not a “good” food and ice cream is not a “bad” food. They are just foods. And if you manage your food intake properly, there is no reason that you cannot enjoy what are commonly considered “bad” foods. No matter what you eat, if you simply consume approximately the amount of calories you burn through every day (for both energy and metabolic needs) you will not put on any body fat. It doesn’t matter if you happened to eat some ice cream or cake or chips that day. It is not as if simply eating these foods causes you gain body fat. Like your body knows you just ate a “bad food.” It is eating these foods in excess of your calorie requirements that causes you to gain fat.
Think about it this way. If you overeat by 500 calories and those extra 500 calories came from ice cream, yes, you will store body fat. However, if you overeat by 500 calories and they came from brown rice, chicken breast and broccoli, you will store body fat. It is the extra calories that causes your body to store fat, not eating “bad” foods.
One key point to keep in mind is that junk foods are typically very calories dense. This means it takes relatively small amounts of food to account for relatively large amounts of calories. This is the real problem with “bad” foods and why they make it is so easy to go over your daily calorie needs. Additionally, junk foods can frankly be addicting. If you can keep it under control and are able to eat reasonable portions, there is no reason you cannot indulge as often as daily in such foods. However, if for whatever reason you are not able to enjoy such foods in moderation and once you start eating them you cannot stop, you need to avoid them altogether and note take that first bite.
So why did I feel the need to write this blog? Well, I was out for my wife’s birthday and she got a complimentary piece of cake from the restaurant and I of course indulged. People started going “OOHHH Kev-D Fitness, you shouldn’t eat that…let me get a picture of that and expose you…” I just laughed because, one, I had left myself plenty of calories in the day before we went out so that if I wanted to have a treat I could, and two, because I understand the principle I just explained above…it is excess calories, not “bad” food that makes you store body fat.
The takeaway from this blog should not be that you can eat junk food with little nutritional value at will and as long as you don’t eat excess calories you won’t put on body fat (though this is true, it will lead to a massive degeneration in overall health due to nutrient deficiencies). Rather, the takeaway should be that you can enjoy any foods in moderation and that the key to staying lean and preventing fat gain is to avoid eating excess calories on a daily basis.