Calorie Swaps: Simple Changes Could Help Drop Excess Fat

There's no compensation for ice cream...or is there?

bad for the environment

Unless you spend a decent part of your working life eating chicken breast and broccoli, counting calories and smashing reps in the gym, then the odds are that you’ve got unwanted body fat to some degree (yes, even you skinny fat people). Nutrition coach Graeme Tomlinson believes that those seeking their ultimate physique can have the best of both worlds with a simple technique: low calorie food swaps which taste the same as their fattier and tastier counterparts.

 

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A post shared by 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧Graeme Tomlinson (@thefitnesschef_) on

In his latest insightful Instagram post Tomlinson explains that the point of humans consuming food is to remain alive. The point of controlling our food intake is to manage our physique and overall health. And the point of consuming less calories is to reduce body fat through our consumption. It’s not exactly rocket science but the constant that the British nutrition expert highlights is that people should simply enjoy the food they eat – a point that often evades those who are fast tracking their path to getting ripped.

“When an individual embarks on fat loss, one must enjoy their energy consumption, be aware of energy intake in relation to their energy output, and consistently ensure that they are in a state of caloric deficit,” says Tomlinson.

“To ensure progress, one may have to change and adjust their dietary habits. But instead of completely radicalising the diet, adherence to change may be more likely if one makes subtle changes over time. For example: consuming the same volume of lower calorie foods and drinks that replicate higher the calorie versions in experience.”

The graphic Tomlinson has provided outlines the simple high fat food swaps people can try and it’s the numbers that speak volumes. By simply swapping out high fat foods for low fat foods which more or less taste the same, the calories more than halve from 4295cal to 1782cal.

Some of the suggestions are common foods found in the shopping cart, too:

  • 200g of regular beef mince (503cal) can be easily replaced with 200g of 5% fat mince beef (262cal)
  • 45g chocolate bar (240cal) can be replaced with 18g mini chocolate bar (95cal)
  • 330ml can of Coke can be replaced with a can of 330ml can of Diet Coke (0cal)

There’s more to the list but it’s self explanatory from his graphic.

“Whilst consumption of lower calorie versions may not be immediately significant, they can be over a period of time. For example, if one swapped daily consumption of 300ml of whole milk for semi skimmed milk for 1 year, they would consume 17520 fewer calories whilst the ‘milk experience’ is minimally compromised,” adds Tomlinson.

“We must make such choices with the knowledge that lower calorie items may contain less of a particular macronutrient. And in the case of low calorie beverages, awareness that sweeteners are included.”

The most important fact to take away from this, according to Tomlinson, is that dropping fat isn’t easy and requires hard discipline. On the flip side if an individual seizes these opportunities for small changes that lead to long term gains then it should be an incentive to take it nonetheless.

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