When it comes to nutrition, what really matters? Calories? Macros? Hunger cues? Time restricted feeding? When we look at it from an objective measure, all of these things matter. But the way in which most people apply things is usually missing the forest for the trees.
At the end of the day, calories matter. If we consume more calories than we use we will gain weight. The opposite is also true. Yet within the diet world the answer is almost exclusively to slash calories. Unfortunately the “calories out” side of CICO (calories in calories out) is heavily influenced by the “calories in” portion of the equation. When we lower intake below a certain threshold we will potentially throttle the energy available for output. So we could be limiting the very thing we hoped to create; fat loss.
Macros. The flavor of the month. I utilize a macro-based plan personally and have with hundreds of clients over the years. And we have all seen incredible results. But is it due to some perfect percentage or combination of fats, carbs and protein? The reality is that if you are consuming enough protein to support your activity and preserve muscle mass the ratios don’t really matter for most people. We want to make sure we eat enough fats to support hormonal function and control for overall calories but other than that there’s no evidence that a certain percentage of fats vs carbs is any more effective than another.
So what about things like intuitive eating or intermittent fasting? Moving to a place where we can better recognize actual hunger and eat to our needs is a long term goal for all my clients. Part of that process is getting to a place of eating a lot of calories and moving a lot to allow for a more flexible diet. On a grand scale this matters more than anything else for long term success but people often want to jump in without the requisite understanding of what foods contain.
Time restricted eating is another thing that can make huge differences for a lot of clients. Creating a better opportunity for metabolic flexibility and potential improvements in metabolic health are huge benefits to having a time restricted approach. But the application can be silly. It’s not the time itself but rather the fact that there’s a time in which there is restriction. If you have a 12 hour window it’s not going to change things if you eat 10 minutes late or early. And all of the other rules of thermodynamics still apply.
Don’t get lost in nutritional dogma when embarking on lifestyle change. These things are likely not going to be what dictates your success and can often lead to bigger problems when misapplied. Focus on creating better habits around food, movement, and relationships and you will be able to determine how those “big rocks” dictate daily life. And if you’re confused about what matters, now is the perfect time to hire a coach.
