Coach on what foods to limit when trying to lose weight
Illustrative photo (Freepik)
For anyone looking to lose weight, it's crucial to understand that body weight is influenced by the total amount of food consumed.
Coach and nutritionist Viktor Mandziak outlined which foods should be limited if you want to shed some pounds.
Which products should be limited?
The focus is on fats. Naturally, fatty foods are significantly more calorie-dense than their low-fat counterparts.
"Low-fat cottage cheese with 9% fat has twice the calories of its fat-free version. Marble fatty meat has 2.5 times the calories of lean veal. Pure fat (oil) is more than twice as calorie-dense as pure carbohydrate (sugar)," the expert wrote.
According to Viktor, our bodies store fat because that's where the energy is.
"That's why a kilogram of oil contains 9,000 calories, while a kilogram of sugar contains only 4,000. Fats are more than twice as calorie-dense as carbohydrates, and this significantly impacts weight loss," the nutritionist explained.
Viktor referenced a well-known 1995 experiment that demonstrated a clear pattern: the more fat a product contains, the less satiating it is. The current scientific consensus on the satiety of macronutrients is as follows: proteins are the most satiating, fats are the least, and carbohydrates are in the middle.
"Almost all hyper-palatable foods are combinations of carbohydrates and fats: burgers, fries, chips. Most of the tastiest sweets aren't just sugar, they’re sugar combined with fat: chocolate, waffles, ice cream, pastries—it's all sugar and fat. And when we reduce fat intake, we can't avoid such foods—we have to limit them," Mandziak said.
The takeaway is that you don't need to eliminate fats from your diet entirely, you just need to limit them if you want to lose weight. There are beneficial fats, such as those found in fatty plant foods (avocados, nuts, seeds) and fatty fish.
