Eating for Weightloss
Low Hanging Fruit
Question: How do you get your biggest bang for your buck?
Answer: Go for the low hanging fruit!
What are low hanging fruit?
Low hanging fruit are the fruits that are the lowest on the tree so they are easy to reach! You do not have to work very hard to grab them!
Although you may not spend your mornings in an apple orchard or an orange grove, this short piece will give you some low hanging fruit for weight loss.
Ready? Let’s start picking.
When trying to lose weight it is important to know what may be having the biggest interference to your goals. If you haven’t written your goals down, here is a quick and easy guide to help you do that: Goal Setting 101.
Now that you have your goals, let’s look at the low hanging fruit that can contribute the most calories(not necessarily in this order).
- Fried foods.
- Dense carbs.
- Sugary Drinks.
What is the biggest bang for your buck?
After having worked with over 100 weightloss clients the easiest change to make with the biggest effect, for most people, is the sugary drink.
The biggest impact made, time after time is looking at what sugary beverages the person consumes and swapping them for non-sugary substitutes.
Let’s look at normal day drinking habits for a lot of folks.
Breakfast=
8oz orange juice
1cup coffee with 1tbsp honey
Lunch=
12oz Soda/Tea
Afternoon pick me up=
12oz Soda/Tea
Dinner=
4oz Pinot Noir
Total Carbs=
141g
564 Calories
Should you throw in 1 Starbucks visit with a super tasty special treat you just threw in another 250cal with 35grams of carbs.
This is getting close to how many carbs someone training for a competitive event might consume, just from drinks. This means that the fuel your body is receiving is of poorer quality than say from a sweet potato, butternut squash, or even from chocolate!
As a reference, my wife is training as an elite Olympic weightlifter(which requires a lot of strength, therefore a lot of muscle, and a lot of food), and she eats 165 grams of carbs per day. That is in both food and drink.
That’s a lotta calories in my drink!
You’re right; it is.
Then we add hash browns, a banana or an apple, some pasta salad, and a sandwich, You’ve got somewhere close to 350 or more grams of carbs.
If the joints are achy, the brain is fogged, and the beverages are sweet, there is an easy change to be made.
Remember!!!
You want progress, not perfection, so swapping out just one beverage can make a huge difference.
Pick the one drink you can live without, and dump it(then recycle the bottle!)
For me, I had no problem drinking black coffee. Some folks really want the cream and sugar, and if that is you, don’t give it up!
Maybe you can do without the OJ, or even better, the soda! Pick just 1 drinkn, give it up for 2 weeks, and see if there is a change.
Again, it is about progress, tiny, tiny steps that you can keep stepping on.
If you keep stepping, you suddenly arrive at the top of the mountain!
Just keep stepping. I know you can.
Jordan Vance, M.B.A., PNL1
Jordan helps people reach their goals and break through massive barriers by making simple and easy to follow programs. He loves a great meal, a great coffee, and a great pint of something local. When he isn’t writing or walking his dog with his wife, he is either helping someone crush their goal, or creating a plan to help more goals be crushed.
