What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

If you find yourself not having enough energy to get through your day and still feel like you need to drop some weight, take a look at the calories you have been eating.  Not all calories are created equal!   Eating foods that are full of fiber and nutrients will help you feel full and satisfied while also giving you great energy.   I do not teach my clients to count calories, but I use this as an example to give you a quick breakdown of why I teach my clients to eat whole foods rather than focusing on calorie intake.  

Take a peek at what 200 calories look like - you can eat a lot more real food which is full of fiber and will make you feel full while giving you energy vs. eating a slice of pepperoni pizza (about 230 calories) or four chicken nuggets.  Plus - who is able to stop at one slice of pizza?!  I can easily eat about 4 pieces of pizza, which would add up to at least 920 calories - yikes!!!  And that is just ONE meal!  

Compare that to eating 2 cups of steamed veggies, grilled chicken breast, and a large baked sweet potato topped with a tablespoon of butter which adds up to about 500 calories.  This meal would also give you much more energy and help you to feel full much longer than a pizza binge which would lead to a blood sugar spike from all the carbs in the crust and then lethargy from the blood sugar drop.  

Typical caloric needs for women can range between 1600 to 2400 per day and for men, it can range between 2000 to 3000), so we can see how quickly our daily calories can be met very quickly when we eat fake food.  

Plus, if we are fueling ourselves with fake, processed food, it will lead us to feeling lethargic, bloated, and with little to no energy at all.  And when we feel tired, we tend to want to eat more to give us energy.  So it ends up being a downward spiral when we are not mindful about our food choices.  

When we fill ourselves with whole foods, we can give our bodies the nutrients and energy it needs, while losing weight.  Plus, it satiates us.  When we feel satiated after a meal, our bodies will automatically tell us to stop eating.  If we are eating lots of processed, refined foods, our instincts get muddled and our bodies tell us we are still hungry after we’ve eaten more calories than we need, which leads to overeating and weight gain.  

When we choose whole foods, we invest in our longevity and a vibrancy to be able to live life to the fullest!