Healthy Foods That Can Lead to Weight Gain

"You CAN have too much of a good thing." — Me...I said this 😜

My 6-week Healthy Holiday Blueprint program got off to a great start last Friday.

During our first group coaching call we discussed Nutrition, primarily the topic of Energy Balance.

Energy balance is the relationship between the amount of energy (calories) you expend versus the amount you take in.

If your intake is the same as your expenditure, you'll maintain your weight.

If your intake is greater than your expenditure, you'll gain weight.

If your intake is less than your expenditure, you'll lose weight.

I know...I'm coming at you with some high level science here...but I have faith that you can keep up.

Now, what creates a positive or negative energy balance is NOT the quality of the food that you consume, but the quantity.

Yes, you CAN LOSE weight eating Twinkies (though I don't recommend that).

Just as you CAN GAIN weight eating avocados (which I think would be more fun than the twinkies 🤷🏼‍♀️).

But the point is, you CAN have too much of a good thing.

Because at the end of the day, calories DO matter.

Whether those calories come from "good" or "bad" foods (labels I don't subscribe to by the way), doesn't negate this.

"Healthy fats" are generally a category of food where people consume WAY more than they realize.

Many clients falsely believe that because these foods are healthy, they can be eaten with no attention to serving sizes and without any negative consequences.

Common healthy fat sources include avocado, vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and fatty fish.

While I wish this was the case (because I can go all in on a good bowl of guac), consuming excess calories, even if those calories come from healthy foods, WILL lead to weight gain.

And fats just so happen to be a much easier thing to overdo it on because they contain more calories per gram than proteins or carbohydrates (9 compared to 4).

So, does this mean you need to cut healthy fats out of your diet if you are trying to lose weight?

NO!

(FYI that was a rhetorical question...I really hope that is not what you have taken away from this post so far...)

What it does mean is that IF you want to lose weight, you need to pay attention to how much you eat, in addition to what you eat.

For fun, let's consider the following scenario.

➡ You are out running errands. You haven't eaten for 7 hours, you didn't pack a snack and you are approaching emergency level hangry...

On one corner of the street is a produce stand.

On the other is a McDonald's.

You could:

1) Grab a large avocado (packed with all those healthy fats!)

or

2) Grab a cheeseburger (aka fatty, toxic, death food...)

(FYI, in this scenario you also have a knife and spoon handy should you choose to eat the avocado...totally realistic, right?)

As you can see, from a caloric perspective, they are almost equal.

But, are you surprised to learn that a McDonald's cheeseburger has HALF the fat as an avocado? And almost 4 times the protein?

So, which should you eat? 🤔

Well, that's for you to decide based on your goals and preferences.

But understand that:

❌ Eating an avocado does not guarantee you'll get "skinny"

❌ Eating a cheeseburger does not guarantee you'll get "fat"

✅ Taking in LESS energy than you expend = weight loss

✅ Taking in MORE energy than you expend = weight gain

So, the next time you step on the scale or try on the pair of jeans in the back of your closet, only to be frustrated that you aren't seeing progress,

Remember that "even though you are eating SO HEALTHY"...you can still be eating too much.

Also remember that there is room in your nutrition plan for ALL KINDS OF FOODS, if you practice moderation and portion control.