Moderation never works.

Everything in moderation.

At some time you have heard that this is the way to eat well and stay slim. I don’t buy it, but then again I have never been that good at moderation. Maybe it doesn’t work for me or this is a rule other people can live by and maintain their weight.

Maybe not.

Calorie density or nutritional density?

I have often talked about nutritional density in other posts, it refers to eating high-value foods, rather than high-calorie foods. High quality, unprocessed, whole foods, full of fiber, nutrients and water.

In other words, vegetables.

Nutritionally dense foods are by their nature low in calories. They have not been stripped of their fiber and vitamins and do not have a high-fat content. They are not processed and can be consumed in abundance with little risk to your health or your waistline.

Portion sizes.

If you have ever tried to lose weight you know the importance of portion sizes. Eating more means the number on the scale doesn’t move, which in turn leads to feelings of failure. Then we revert back to old eating habits.

We have all been there.

That moment when you think you are doing well, but don’t see any immediate results, you give up trying and begin to believe that weight loss really is a fantasy land inhabited by only the rich and famous.

That could also be the moment when you realize your portions too big to see any changes in your weight so you decide to eat less.

Eating less is hard.

We aren’t very good at less. We eat more when we are served more and this has been proven over and over again. Even after a year of participating in a weight control program focusing on portion sizes people still eat more when given more, up to 30% more. 

The good news?

By focusing on nutritional density you can eat more and still eat less. Eat more vegetables and you will still eat fewer calories while getting more nutrients.

The people in the weight control group ate more when given more food, but they ate more salad.

Everyone in this study by Penn State ate about the same amount more, but the people who had participated in the weight loss group chose high nutrient, low-calorie foods over the high calorie, low nutritional choice of garlic bread.

We don’t like to eat less.

We have a hard time managing our portion sizes, so how can we eat less? By eating fewer calories, not less food.

Less can be less CRAP. Less fat. Less processed foods. Less empty calories.

One of the reasons that plant-based diets work so well is you get more food. You also eat more fiber and more nutritional value.

More is easier than less. Moderation is almost impossible. Trust me on this one.

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla