3,900 - According to an article by Michael Pollan that was
published in the New York Times, this is the amount of food
calories produced every day for each American citizen.Think
about this number for a minute. 3,900 calories is easily a
thousand more calories than almost any of us will ever need
in a day- but they are being produced so someone has to eat
them. This is what I like to call the North American
paradox. Food companies and food producers need us to
consume more and more calories to keep their profits
coming, yet we want to consume less and less calories to
maintain our health and weight.This is why it is not an
exaggeration when I say it is a constant battle to try to
avoid overeating, and to make sure that the foods we do eat
are healthy, nutritious foods. Imagine what would happen if
everyone in North American suddenly decided to eat half the
amount of calories produced by the food industry? That's
1,950 less calories per day and that's 1,950 calories worth
of profit that food companies would lose out on. Most
likely this would be financially disastrous. This is why we
are bombarded with food advertising.
The best way to win this battle is to get closer to 1,950
than 3900. The key to doing this is always remembering that
the foods you see in convenience stores and gas stations
are there because someone wants you to buy them. Not only
this, but they have spent a lot of time and effort to
figure out what colors, names, and sizes will make you
notice their products.So the way to win this battle is by
not being a "good little consumer".
Try your best to buy only planned foods - The foods you
plan to buy during your grocery run. Resist all unplanned
purchases...gas stations, convenience stores, vending
machines and checkout lines...these are all examples of
places where we typically make unplanned impulse food buys.
Avoid the temptation to think that eating several meals in
a day will "cause" weight loss. If you are eating too many
calories, you are eating too many calories. It doesn't
matter how many meals you eat.There are diet plans out
there such as my book Eat Stop Eat that promote very brief
periods of short term fasting as a method of weight loss.
Plans like these teach us that we don't have to be
constantly eating to be healthy. In fact, taking small
breaks from eating every once in a while may actually be
healthy for us.
By making at least one of these adjustments (avoiding
"unplanned foods" and avoiding the urge to eat constantly)
you will be one step closer to a healthy and nutritious
diet. And remember, 3,900 calories per day is overeating
for almost everyone.
----------------------------------------------------
Brad Pilon is a strength training and nutrition
professional and author of Eat Stop Eat. You can learn
about his new book "Eat Stop Eat" that is quickly changing
the way people think about dieting, by visiting
http://www.eatstopeat.com
Brad Pilon is an expert
contributor at eFit-Today
http://www.efit-today.com/public/department59.cfm
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