Ever wondered why you're still hungry even after consuming a high-calorie, ultra-processed meal? Could it be your body's cry for nutrients? In a fascinating revelation, we unpack a study by Dr Kevin D. Hall and his team, that sheds light on our body's reaction to ultra-processed versus minimally processed diets. We'll uncover why, despite the same caloric content, individuals consume more on an ultra-processed diet. We will also dispel the myths around counting calories and macros for health, and explore the role of macros for individuals chasing specific physique goals.
But that's not all. Health is not just about what you eat but also about how you live. We move beyond food to discuss why it's critical to focus on other health markers such as sleep, stress levels, and hormones. We'll talk about why eating nutrient-deficient, ultra-processed foods can lead to increased hunger and delve into how we can address this by listening to our bodies and choosing nutrient-rich foods. So join us as we guide you on how to sail through midlife gracefully, not by obsessing over numbers but by nourishing your body with what it truly needs. Don't miss this enlightening discussion!
Welcome to Moving Through Midlife. I am your host, courtney, a personal trainer and movement specialist who wants to help you move through midlife with more grace. Each week, we will discuss ways we can show up better for ourselves and our children without the burnout. We will focus on overall health through habit stacking to help increase energy, provide movement snacks to help you move more throughout the day, while also moving your body more, and learn from professionals on moving through midlife with ease so that you can feel confident with aging. Gracefully, grab your earbuds and join me on a leisurely walk while we discuss moving through midlife.
Speaker 1:
Today, I want to share with you my take on counting macros and counting calories, and it may not be what you think. So lots of buzz around counting calories and counting macros and you can get results with both of them, for sure, and I'll talk about that a little bit more but I kind of want to talk about my feeling in regard to whether or not you should be counting calories and counting macros and what your goal is as to which you may want to do and some science behind some of this. So the first has to do with calories, and there is a huge debate out in the fitness world about counting calories and whether counting calories are calories all the same. Some people say yes, some people say you must count calories, some people say no, you don't. So where do I stand with all of this? Well, there was a study that was done by Dr Kevin D Hall and his team at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. So they're looking at this to determine diabetes and they're looking at the effects of ultra processed foods on calorie intake and weight gain. So, understanding all of that, they recruited 20 healthy volunteers who lived in an NIH metabolic ward. So think like a college dormitory, where you know your food and everything you need is there for you, and they're going to keep you there for a period of time. It was two weeks and they were provided with either ultra processed foods or minimally processed foods for two weeks in a random order.
Speaker 1:
Both diets were designed. This is the key here. Both diets were designed to contain the same amount of calories, sugars, fiber, fat, salt and carbohydrates. They contain the same amount of everything. They were given plates of food that contain the same amount of calories, sugars, fiber, fat, salt and carbohydrates. They were told to eat until you're full, so you got to plate a food you may have even I'm just guessing here maybe you have some food laid out in front of you. Eat until you're full. Once they were done eating, dr Hall and his team would painstakingly weigh every single food component to get a precise estimate of what was eaten up until that point, and they shared pictures as to what you could expect for each meal. So for the ultra processed foods, they were getting things like fruit, yogurt, ice cream, sugary drinks and two hot dogs. Now, remember, the calories are the same, but the food is different. The other one was giving things like fish, roasted potatoes, broccoli and a salad.
Speaker 1:
Although everything was the same, the findings were that people who ate the ultra processed diet ate 500 more calories than the other people. Why is this? Because they have created these things, these ultra processed foods, for you to consume more and more. That's why you can't just eat one chip, right? So, whether or not this does not even get to how your body responds to those calories because that's a whole nother story as to what those calories are doing in your body, how it's affecting your hormones, how it's affecting your microbiome, so your gut flora, which then, in turn, can create cascading effects of other issues. This is specifically just about you know, are they eating it? What they found and you know, did they eat? Did they consume more calories when they were on the ultra processed diet. So it was found that when they ate the ultra processed diet, they gained weight, and when they ate the whole food diet, they lost weight. Okay, calories were all the same. It had more to do with the foods that they were eating.
Speaker 1:
Let's look at macros. Macros are one of those things and I don't have science to back this up. What I have is knowledge being in the fitness industry for a while 17 years and what I remember myself growing up and today. And I do want to caveat this that if you are a person who is looking for a certain physique not just to lose the midsection weight we're talking about wanting to have a certain physique. Maybe you're wanting to do some sort of competition, like a bikini competition or something like that. Macros are key. They're key to that. They are very important if you are looking for a specific physique.
Speaker 1:
If you are a mom who just wants to lose some of that midsection weight, macros can be good, but I want to encourage you to really. Let's stop feeling like we've got to be constantly glued to our phone entering all this information. And let's really just process this information, let's really think about it. When we look back in time. They've said that when I was growing up in the 80s, women, the average weight and this is averages, the average weight, I think was like 140, maybe it was like 130 or 140. I can't remember exactly, but it was 130 or 140. Today, the average weight is 170 for a woman, so it has gone up.
Speaker 1:
Now I want to make sure you understand that ultimately, this does not. When we work, when I'm speaking to you about losing the midsection, my goal is not for you to have a certain loss to your body. So whether you're 140 or 170, doesn't matter to me. From the outside looking, what I want you to really really think about is what are the side effects that you are dealing with? And if you're dealing with low energy and you're dealing with prediabetes and you're dealing with high blood pressure and you're dealing with all of these things hormones out of wax Goodness, I mean, there's numerous things right dealing with an autoimmune disease. So many, so many of you that I know that are friends that are clients of autoimmune diseases. That is what I don't care about the weight for the look. I Want to help you lose the weight for your health, for your longevity.
Speaker 1:
So my recommendation to you is let's not fixate on the calories, let's not fixate on the macros. Yeah, could you increase your protein intake? For sure, that is one of the. If you can just count that, don't worry about anything else. You count that and try to get ultra processed foods out of your diet, you will see a difference. You will see a difference.
Speaker 1:
So that is what my take on all of this is Don't bother counting calories, don't bother counting macros. It can be really frustrating. It keeps you staring at your phone more. It keeps you thinking about Almost this obsessiveness about what you're eating, what you're putting in your body. Instead, let's focus on one thing. Well, two things let's focus on. Let's increase our protein.
Speaker 1:
We, as women, need more protein in our diets. Whether you do this, your plant-based protein or regular protein, that's up to you your meat, and Then let's also sorry animal protein. That's what I'm trying to think of. And then let's also Eat more fruits and vegetables, which, in turn, means eat less processed foods. Right, all your ultra processed foods. If you do that, you don't have to eat the Mac or count the macros, you don't have to Count the calories.
Speaker 1:
Now, if you start there and you continue down that road and then you're still Dealing with issues, then I would say then you probably need to start looking at things a little bit more. But my guess would be it has more to do with your sleep, your stress levels, things like that, your hormones, maybe some inflammatory markers being higher. Then you know, you know making sure that you're counting calories or counting macros. So that is my tip for you today let's focus on protein and not eating ultra processed foods. Less time worrying about our macros and our calories.
Speaker 1:
There's science that proves that by eating ultra processed foods, you're going to eat more calories. What those calories are doing in your body doesn't even matter, because you're eating foods that are making you hungrier. You're eating foods that do not have any. They're deficient in nutrients. The only reason you're hungry let's I mean, if we're gonna really get down to it what's the only reason you're hungry?
Speaker 1:
Your body's asking for nutrients. We have turned the way we feel about or like our cravings and everything has turned into this oh, I'm craving chocolate and all of those things, but your body is craving nutrients. That's why you're hungry and if you're shoving goldfish in your mouth, you're not giving your body the nutrients it is craving. So it's going to continue to ask for more because it's still seeking out the nutrients that it needs and you're feeding it the wrong things. And then finally you know the body turns off and it's like okay, overload, or you can eat the healthy foods. You're not going to eat as much. Your body will naturally tell you it's full because it's gotten the nutrients and the things that it needs. Whether you're macronutrients, you're macronutrients it's gotten what it's need, what it needs.
Speaker 1:
So I hope this helps to answer your questions. My approach is definitely one that is more relaxed, more on listening to your body, to get the clues from your own body to help you and if you need help with that, just make sure to reach out to me. You can go to movingthroughmidlifecom for more information. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found something to take away to help you practice healthier habits, move more or handle the midlife and aging with grace. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review to help us reach more. Moms just like you Head to moving through midlifecom to join the free community or learn how you can move more and feel better in your daily life.