In last week's article, I explained to you than Calorie intake was the most important factor in the fat loss equation. It's around 90% of the equation actually. You should be measuring your foods at least until you get good enough at eyeballing it that you can accurately guess what is really on your plate; however, you should keep in mind that not all measurements are created equal.
Weight Measurements Vs Volume measurements
There are two ways to measure food. You can measure by weight with a food scale or you can measure by volume with measuring cups/spoons. When you reach for those measuring cups to measure out your flour, keep in mind that volume measurements are actually intended to be used for liquid ingredients, not solid ones. Measuring solids by volume can be incredibly inaccurate. This is because you can pack more into a measuring cup and it won't be accounted for. Here is an example for you.
In the left picture cup is one cup by weight. In the right picture is one cup by volume. As you can see in the picture. If you were to use the cup on the right, you'd be consuming 203 Calories that weren't accounted for! As an added bonus to using a food scale, you don't have to wash it every time you use it unlike measuring cups. (Plus they are cheap. Check it out here.)
What do you use to cook your food?
Another thing to watch out for is the preparation of food. If you aren't paying attention to details, you can easily add unnecessary Calories into your diet. Let's say you are going to scramble up some eggs. You have both cooking spray and extra virgin olive oil in the Cabinet. This time you grab the oil but you just put 1 tbsp. Now, look at this picture.
By adding just 1 little tbsp, you've added 120 Calories to your eggs. Let's say you use 2 tbsp, which is pretty common. That's 240 unaccounted for Calories added to that meal. If you're in a 500 Calorie deficit, that means you've just cut your fat loss in half! What makes this even worse is that the oil didn't even contribute to fullness.
Thanks for reading guys. I know this one is a little different and short but I took those pictures to show some clients yesterday and thought it would be beneficial for you guys to get to see them as well. God bless you AND your family and I'll talk to you next week!
