3 Ways To Automatically Control the Caloric Content of Your Meals

I remember reading a journal article on this topic a number of years ago. But guess what? The idea is still a good one and the science is still valid so I thought I'd share it with you.

So how does this tip work exactly? Well it's a way for you to be able to quickly and effectively control the calorie content of your meals. Because most people don't count calories. And some people even tell you not to read food labels. haha

We eat based on portion size, don't we? And the bigger the portion the more we eat. Sure there's one in every crowd who weighs out their food and has a pretty good idea of how much they're eating. But for most of us we don't the equipment, knowledge or time for this.

So this makes it pretty hard to know whether a particular meal has more or less calories than what you need. And here's the really cool thing about this tip. It works for everyone! Yeah, that's right. It doesn't matter if your goal is lose a few or a lot of pounds. Or if you're trying to gain a few or a lot of pounds. The concepts in this tip will work for everyone. And it's very easy to follow.

So let's get to it already (you're probably thinking, right?)

Ok so here are 3 Ways To Automatically Control the Caloric Content of Your Meals.

Rule #1 - Add more water Ok here's a nutritional trivia question that 100% of you better get right. How many calories are there in water? If you said 'zero' give yourself a gold star and let's move on. (if you answered anything other than zero I can't help you...sorry) So if we agree that water has no calories then we can quickly reduce the caloric content of our meals by increasing the water content. And how do we do this? By cooking with more fruits and vegetables. And by making home-made soups. Both contain lots of water and therefore increase the volume of your meals without adding any calories.

Rule #2 - Decrease the fat content Now before you go all crazy on me that I said 'don't eat fat' or 'now Chris has switched to a low-fat' approach that's not what I'm saying. What I mean is to slightly reduce the amount of fat in your meals. Why? Because there is twice the amount of energy in fat as there is in carbs or protein. So when you have a gram of fat you get 9 calories as opposed to 4 calories from the other two. You probably don't need to reduce your intake of omega-3 but instead look for ways to cook with less fat and thus reduce the amount of calories on your plate.

Rule #3 - Do both Ok this sounds a little bit like a cop out but it's not.  Think about the next time you make a meal. By filling up your plate with lots of vegetables you've managed to load up on lots of nutrition with high water content and thus low caloric content. Plus if you are careful about which fats you include on your plate you manage your total caloric intake more effectively.

Bonus Rule #4 - Do the opposite for weight gain Some of you are actually trying to put on lean body mass. I am. And in order to put on some size and muscle we need to create a caloric surplus. If we use the same logic from above and apply it in reverse we should be able to increase the calories we consume. What would this look like? It would mean decreasing the water content of our foods and increasing the fat content.

****I am NOT advocating eliminating fruits and vegetables from the diet as way to reduce the water content.***

Instead of drinking water you may have milk or juice. You might also eat more dried fruit and nuts. The dried fruit has the water removed and therefore a higher energy density compared to natural fruit. And nuts contain healthy oils at 9 calories per gram.

Start today and give these rules a try. You'll be amazed at how much you can change the energy density of your meals and your body composition as a result. Proof's in the pudding...at the end of the summer I was in the low 170 lbs. Today I'm closer to 195 lbs and just as lean!