How to Burn Fat Automatically and Feel Fuller on Less Food

According to BARBARA ROLLS, PH.D., PROFESSOR OF NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY, "studies suggest that the energy density of foods affects calorie intake, satiety, and ultimately body weight. Low-energy-density diets can help lower calorie intake without reducing food volume and thus help individuals avoid feeling hungry and deprived."

In this article, I want to, in a way, 'prove' to you that you can get leaner, become healthier, and feel fuller even when you’re eating less food.

By the time you begin to put to use the simple nutrition rules I share here, you’ll be more than shocked that you can easily achieve your perfect weight, and it won’t seem like you’re on a diet.

Now, I must make it plain that I'm not about to tell you to starve yourself or give up your favorite foods. Not at all!

In addition, you’ll also have no problem maintaining your new body shape because you’re not going to do anything weird or extreme to get there.

Before we proceed, it is important you understand that getting leaner doesn’t depend on fat grams, carbohydrate grams, meal timing, food combinations, macronutrient ratios, individual micronutrients, or any of a hundred other exotic diet program themes.

None of those matter if you’re eating too much. That's the plain truth!

So, in the end, no matter what weight-loss strategy you employ, it comes down to whether it helps you maintain a calorie deficit or not.

The big question is, “What is the most painless, efficient, and healthiest way to maintain that vital caloric deficit?”

That's where the “high-low” nutrition approach comes in. This is an approach to food selection based on three important principles:

1. Energy density, also known as calorie density, is the number of calories in a food per serving.

2. Nutrient density is the nutritional value per serving (vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber).

3. Satiety is how full a food or meal makes you feel and how that affects how much you eat.

To maximize fat loss while optimizing your health, your goal is to choose foods that contain the highest nutrient density, the highest satiety value, and the lowest calorie density.

I'm sure you have started thinking, “Oh no, not another calorie-counting program!” Not really! I’ll simply ask you to do three things:

1. Acknowledge the calories-in versus calories-out equation.

2. Be aware of your portion sizes.

3. Increase or decrease your portions in response to your weekly results.

This method is proactive, not reactive. You write down what you plan to eat first, then eat it, rather than eating first and then writing down what you just ate. Think of it as menu planning rather than calorie counting.

Calculate Your Daily Maintenance Calories

Here's something I need you to know: One size does not fit all when it comes to calories. For example, 1,500 calories a day might be optimal for most women to reduce fat, but it could be semistarvation for a large, highly active man.

The bigger and more active you are, the more calories you need to maintain your weight. Also keep in mind that calorie needs also decrease as you get older.

Create the All-important Calorie Deficit

To shed fat, you must create a caloric deficit. A caloric deficit, also known as negative energy balance, means that the number of calories you consume is less than the number of calories you burn.

You can create a deficit by decreasing your food intake, increasing your activity level, or both.

If you require 2,800 calories per day to maintain your weight and you eat 3,300 calories per day, you’re in positive energy balance by 500 calories and you’ll gain weight.

If you eat 2,300 calories per day, you’re in negative energy balance and you’ll lose weight.

A caloric deficit is simple subtraction. To calculate your ideal caloric intake for reducing body fat, subtract 20–30 percent from your maintenance level.

Twenty percent is considered a conservative deficit; 30 percent, an aggressive deficit.

If you’re an average male and your maintenance level is 2,800 calories per day, then a 20 percent deficit is a 560-calorie reduction, which gives you a goal of 2,240 calories per day.

If you’re an average female and your maintenance level is 2,100 calories per day, then a 20 percent deficit is 1,680 calories per day.

It’s generally best to keep your calorie reduction conservative at first. If you’re not getting the rate of fat loss you want, you can create a more aggressive deficit later by reducing your calories a little further or increasing your activity.

Adjust Your Calorie Intake or Exercise Output on the Basis of Your Results

There are many formulas you can use to calculate your calorie needs with precision. However, don’t be overly concerned about calorie calculations, because you’ll have to adjust your calories based on your weekly results anyway.

All you need is a good baseline. In the end, it’s more important that you understand the big picture of energy balance.

Regardless of the number of calories you think you’re eating right now, if your body weight is not changing, then you don’t have a calorie deficit. This means one of three things:

1. You underestimated how many calories you are eating.

2. You overestimated how many calories you are burning.

3. Both of the above.

Whatever the reason, you need to create or reestablish a deficit by eating less or exercising more.

Remember, the cause of obesity is not carbs as many postulate, it’s an excess of calories, a decrease in physical activity, and all the factors that lead to this energy imbalance.

In the next article, I'll continue this discourse with "The Ten Body Fat Solution Nutrition Rules." I promise you have never seen a thing like this. And best of all, you will fall in this love with is approach.