In this lesson, I will be sharing the real reason most people are overweight on Nigerian foods even though they eat super carbs and healthy foods.
If you remember, in the first lesson, I mentioned that the reason most people are overweight on Nigerian foods is either because they are frequently eating the bad carbs or they are eating too much of the good carbs.
In lesson 2, I listed some carbs you should eat less of. and the good carbs you can eat most of.
Now, in this lesson, I will be explaining how overeating carbs, even the good ones, can make you overweight.
It could even be the reason you are struggling to lose weight, so it is very important to pay close attention to this lesson.
If your goal is weight loss or weight maintenance, you must be very mindful of how much food you eat. It doesn't matter whether it is carbs, protein, or fats. Any class of food, when overeaten, can make you fat.
But the question remains, how does overeating actually make one overweight?
The simple and short answer is CALORIES
When you eat food, your body breaks it down and converts it into energy. The amount of energy that each food provides is measured in calories. The more calories a food has, the more energy it can provide to your body.
Overeating simply means that you are giving your body more calories in form of food than what it requires for the daily tasks.
For instance, you and your husband or friend may set out to be eating 3,000 calories every day. You both eat the same of type of food, same amount and at the same time.
Over time, you begin to add weight while your friend hasn't even added a single kilo. And you are wondering how come this is happening to you.
Well, there are actually four main factors that determine how much calories you burn daily
Factor #1: Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) which is the amount of energy your body burns at rest, just to keep your vital organs functioning. It accounts for about 60-75% of your total daily calorie burn.
Factor #2: Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) which is the energy you burn through activities that are not considered formal exercise, such as fidgeting, walking around, and doing chores. It accounts for about 15-30% of your total daily calorie burn.
Factor #3: Thermal Effect of Food (TEF)
Thermal Effect of Food (TEF) which is the energy your body burns to digest, absorb, and process food. It accounts for about 10% of your total daily calorie burn.
Factor #4: Exercise
Exercise is any activity that increases your heart rate and breathing, without necessarily causing you pain. I had to say that because most people think when they workout and all their body become sore, that’s only when their body burns fat.
This is a big lie. In fact, exercise only accounts for about 5% of the total daily calorie burn.
Now, amongst the four above, you will see that most of the calories we burn daily depends on our Resting Metabolic Rate which ultimately depends on our metabolism.
Metabolism is how your body converts all the foods you eat into energy. You can either have a fast or slow metabolism.
A person with a fast metabolism tends to burn calories at a relatively higher rate, even when at rest. They find it easier to maintain or lose weight because their body is more efficient at utilizing and burning calories.
However, having a fast metabolism doesn't mean someone can eat unlimited amounts of food without consequences.
A person with a slow metabolism tends to burn calories at a relatively lower rate, even when at rest. They usually have a harder time losing weight or may be more prone to weight gain.
That is why your husband or friend may be eating 3,000 calories without gaining a single kilo while you are eating the same amount and keep adding weight every day.
For you to burn fat seamlessly, you need to BOOST YOUR METABOLISM.
Exercising everyday will only account for 5% of your total calories burn. In fact, doing your house chores and talking a long walk everyday will contribute to more fat burning than exercising.
Don't get me wrong! Exercise has so many benefits especially for heart health and mood but when it comes to losing weight, on it's own, it is insufficient.
If you really want to lose this weight, you need to work on increasing the calories you burn even while you sleep, and the only way to do that is by boosting your metabolism.
The good thing is, there are certain foods you can take and within a short period of time, your metabolism will be up and running, burning fat at a high rate.
In fact, in the last lesson of this series, I will be showing you exactly how to boost your metabolism and start burning fat seamlessly without buying any pills or products, just by eating certain SUPER FOODS.
You don’t want to miss out that lesson for anything.
Back to this lesson...
Now that you understand how the body makes use of the food you eat, it is important to feed the body with the right amount of food it needs for the day and especially, to always eat foods that will boost your metabolism.
So, here's the thing...
Calculating the amount of calories you need to eat daily is outside the scope of this lesson, and the truth is, you don't really need to count calories to lose weight.
You know what's interesting? We have helped over 10,000 persons who followed our program to lose weight and none of them had to count calories.
Instead of struggling with counting calories to lose weight, here is something you need to stop doing if you want better results...
There is a huge culprit which makes people overeat. That culprit is called SNACKING.
Most people will say they don't eat much but they keep adding weight every day. Do you know why?
THEY SNACK A LOT.
In fact, snacking is one of the hidden hindrances to a successful weight loss journey. It's so powerful it can make you hit a weight loss plateau.
It's hidden in the sense that you won't realize that it is stalling your weight loss journey.
"I mean, what's a pack of plantain chips?"
"Can #100 worth of groundnuts make one overweight?"
"I love eating crackers biscuits, it doesn't contain sugar so it's good for weight loss."
Those are some of the lies people tell themselves when looking for an excuse to snack.
But is snacking really that bad or am I just painting a bad picture of it to scare you?
Now, here's the thing...
There may be nothing wrong with snacking but there is a particular way of snacking which is very bad for weight loss called MINDLESS SNACKING
Here is what I mean...
Let's say you are addicted to eating an unhealthy sugar-loaded cookie whenever you want to snack, then you decide to start eating healthy but find out you can't control the desire to eat cookies.
You decide to go for a healthier option like crackers. Now that's a good reason to snack while trying to stay healthy and lose weight. Even though the crackers are not perfect, it's better than the sugar-loaded cookies, right?
Now, this is completely different if you're snacking out of boredom.
In fact, most people can unconsciously finish 3 bowls of popcorn while seeing a movie.
Some people can finish a bottle of fried groundnut in a day.
Some people can’t just stay for an hour without looking for what to put in their mouth.
That's not a healthy way to snack. It doesn't matter whether what you're eating is healthy or not.
If you must snack, let it be for a good reason.
It will interest you to know that about 20 pieces of small-sized roasted peanuts has approximately 100 calories!!!
A pack of N100 groundnut usually contains about 50 pieces before inflation hit the country. That's over 250 calories.
A 100g pack of fried plantain chips contains over 500 calories. Just one pack!
And most people eat several packs of these daily. Imagine consuming over 1000 calories daily on just a snack. Then you go ahead to eat 3 square meals on top of that.
That's a good recipe for weight gain.
If you want to actually lose weight seamlessly, CUT DOWN ON THE SNACKS!!!
I have been helping people get in shape since 2019 and I haven't seen anyone who snacking mindlessly has helped him/her get results.
In fact, here is something I want you to do starting from today. Whenever you feel the urge to snack on anything, first drink a cup of water. You will realize that most of the time, you are just thirsty.
So understand that you need to cut down on snacks as it could actually be making you overeat even while eating healthy.
And talking about eating healthy, in the next lesson, I will be teaching you how to prepare a healthy plate that will actually help you lose weight. See you in the next one.