Nutrition 101
There are many variables that impact individual nutritional requirements and food choices. Nutrition 101 aims to build (or refresh) your nutritional knowledge, empowering you to make informed decisions on your journey.
What makes up the foods we eat?
All the foods we eat break down into 3 core macronutrients (macros). Each of these nutrients plays an important role in supporting how our body functions.
- Protein is crucial for growth and repair, maintaining muscle and promoting satiety/feeling of fullness
- Fats are vital for cell growth, absorption of certain vitamins, and warmth
- Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy. Many carbohydrates include fiber, which plays an important role in heart health, digestion, and appetite regulation
Foods often contain a combination of protein, fats and carbohydrates. We categorize food based on their most prominent macronutrient. Here is a table of some of the most common foods we think of when talking about proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
| Proteins | Fats | Carbohydrates |
|---|---|---|
| Meat | Olive oil | Bread |
| Fish | Canola oil | Rice |
| Eggs | Sunflower oil | Pasta |
| Dairy | Nut oils | Potatoes |
| Beans and pulses | Butter | Cereals |
| Soy products | Fat on meat/ lard / shortening | Starchy vegetables |
| Nuts | Avocado | Fruit |
| Texturized vegetable protein | Coconut oil | Sugar/ maple syrup/ honey |
Canada’s Food Guide
There is no one size fits all when it comes to diet, however, if you are looking for somewhere to start, the Canada Food Guide is a brilliant tool!
Top tips from Canada's Food Guide 2020
- Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods and protein foods. Choose protein foods that come from plants more often.
- Choose foods with healthy fats instead of saturated fat.
- Limit highly processed foods. If you choose these foods, eat them less often and in small amounts.
- Prepare meals and snacks using ingredients that have little to no added sodium, sugars or saturated fat.
- Make water your drink of choice.
The plate model is a practical guide for meal planning. This model recommends filling half of your plate with fruits and vegetables, a quarter with protein-rich foods, and the remaining quarter with whole grains. This approach not only helps ensure you get a balanced mix of nutrients, but also helps reduce the calorie density of your meals, which can aid in weight loss.
Calories And Body Weight
A calorie is a unit of energy. Technically, it is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree celsius. Similar to how a lamp needs kilowatts as units of electricity, our body needs calories to function.
Factors that influence our body weight are more complex than just the food we eat, however, understanding calories is crucial for weight loss.
- Weight gain occurs when we eat more calories than our body needs. Surplus calories are stored as fat tissue.
- Weight loss happens when we eat less calories than our body needs, this is known as a calorie deficit. The body is forced to look for energy elsewhere, and will start to use energy stored in our fat tissue.
Changes in body composition don’t happen overnight. Average calories over the course of weeks and months has the greatest impact on your body weight.
Being aware of the amount of calories in macronutrients can be helpful to understand how different foods may impact our energy levels and calorie consumption. Minor changes to cooking methods or portion sizes can have a big impact on our daily calorie intake!
| Macronutrient | Calories per 1g |
|---|---|
| Carbohydrates | 4 |
| Protein | 4 |
| Fats | 9 |
| * Alcohol - not a macronutrient, but is important to consider alcohol as it is energy dense | 7 |
Remember - creating a calorie deficit doesn’t mean eating the smallest amount of calories possible!
Eating too few calories can significantly increase hunger, negatively impact health, and is often unsustainable.Your best weight is achieved when you are living the healthiest life you can actually enjoy!
Over the course of the next 15 weeks you will work with your Dietitian to build experiments to minimize appetite, maximize your enjoyment of food, and nourish your body while in a calorie deficit, leading to a happier and sustainable weight loss journey!