Let’s just start this post by making something very clear, when I lost my weight (roughly 80 lbs), I knew very little about nutrition and how things ACTUALLY work. So there’s no judgement here if the information I’m about to give you is 100% opposite to what you though was “the right thing” to do. Also please keep in mind that everyone is slightly different and that the scope of this post is to simplify “weight loss” as much as possible as one of many ways to improve our quality of life.

Convenience

Fast food has something going for it and it’s convenience sure, but it’s also that some of these foods are quite literally engineered to elicit in your brain similar responses as it would have to cocaine, so it’s no wonder that the more of them you consume, the more you crave them.

Straight to the point.

Can you lose weight eating fast food?

The answer is YES!

You probably know one of those lucky bastards that can eat whatever they want and they never gain weight. Yeah, life isn’t fair, but the sooner we get over it the sooner we can make some progress, so let’s move on. Why is it then that even though you eat mostly healthy foods and you’re not hitting McDonald’s every day or anything remotely close to that, you can’t lose weight?!

Twinkie diet

To explain this let me tell you a story. A nutrition professor at the Kansas state university put himself though an experiment.

He ate at a calorie deficit (less calories than he burned) for 10 weeks. His diet consisted almost exclusively of twinkies and donuts.

Well, guess what… he lost almost 30 lbs and as a result of that weight loss, his good cholesterol went up, his bad cholesterols and triglycerides went down.

WTF?!

Although he doesn’t necessarily recommend you do what he did, he proved a very simple concept and I quote: “That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food.” If you are at a calorie surplus it doesn’t matter if those calories came from broccoli, you’re still going to gain weight.

Why eat healthy then if I can lose weight eating crap?

Because losing weight isn’t the end all be all… Trust me, being skinny doesn’t equal being healthy or happy for that matter!

I will make another post to talk about the many benefits of eating healthy – besides weight management 🙂

Now what?

Very simple, you need to know your numbers. Estimate how many calories your body burns per day using this tool (https://tdeecalculator.net/).

Then eat a slight deficit, 200-500 calories per day. Track your calorie intake with an app like MyFitness Pal and after 1 week check to see if your weight has moved.

Adjust accordingly 🙂

What DEFINITELY doesn’t work…

I can tell you one thing, I have trained and worked with well over 500 people, directly addressing their weight loss goals and strategies.

You know who has THE MOST trouble? The person that’s impatient… that feels that they need to lose the weight to start loving themselves.

The people that draw a huge part of their sense of self worth from the number on the scale.

If this is you, there’s nothing to be ashamed of, just understand something you need to seek out help and support.

Trust me, in one way or another we’re all in this together.

Do NOT give up!

Miguel Diaz

DP Fitness