Week 15 - How Dense Can You Get?

An interesting week on the scales where the debate between focussing on the weigh in day or average weight for the week continues.  This morning I recorded a 1.6kg loss on the day.  This was very surprising given that I was expecting around 500 grams.  Funnily enough, 500 grams was my average weight loss this week.  What may sound strange is that I would prefer the 500 grams at the moment.  I am mindful that dropping weight too quickly at this stage will mean that most likely I am sacrificing muscle density.  Which of course is inevitable to some degree but not the outcome I am looking for overall.

The most probable cause of my big drop today was lack of proper rehydration after my training session last night.  I don't know about everyone else, but, I sweat a lot and pumping water back in at a ratio of 1.5:1 (as in 1.5 litres for every 1 litre of sweat lost) as instructed by the Dietician, is a hard thing to do when you can drop 2 litres of fluid in a single tough training session.  So I'll expect a correction tomorrow and hope that I can come close to today's weigh in next week or I could be facing my first gain!  Regardless of that, I weighed in at 101.6 kg today, which is 17.8 kg lighter than I was at the start of February.  I am a little sad and proud at the same time to confess that I am also now in the order of 40 kg lighter than I was at my heaviest a couple of years ago.  At the same time I am very happy that those days are behind me.  At some stage I'll put up a comparative "before and after" photo, but, maybe only if I get enough requests....

Anyone heard of calorie density?  I first came across the concept on the website I use to keep a food diary.  Whilst on the topic of a food diary, I can really recommend both keeping one and the CalorieKing website.  As I understand it from various sources, an incredibly high percentage of people who not only succeed in weight loss, but, also maintain the loss longer term, track their food intake in something like a food diary.  The CalorieKing website is a free resource that not only helps you record what you eat, but, has a massive database of everyday foods that you can search and click to add to your food diary on the site.  It also tells you the all important macronutrient content of the food and even the micronutrient content if you are interested in diving a little deeper.  Even if you don't go to a dietician, the site also gives guidance on daily calorie and macronutrient intake based on your current age, height and weight as well as your weight goals.  I have adjusted my macronutrient targets based on my Dieticians recommendations, but, I can confirm that when I followed just the website's suggested approach I have lost up to 30kg in a previous effort.  Unsolicited plug ends here!

Hmmm..Bang for your calorie buck?  I think not!

So calorie density.....also known as energy density as per the article written by Dr. Barbara Rolls, Energy Density and Nutrition in Weight Control Management, is a pretty simple concept really.  The foods that we know are bad for us have more calories per gram in them than the foods that we know are good.  Well the theory is a little bit more detailed, but, that is the basic premise as I read it.  Dr. Rolls describes the importance of understanding the energy density of the foods we in when trying to lose weight.  She explains that 1 gram of fat has 9 calories in it.  Whereas 1 gram of protein has only 4 calories.  So a diet that lowers your fat intake will obviously help in the weight loss department given that what we are really talking about in a balanced diet is meeting our nutritional requirements within a given number of calories that will sustain a healthy weight.  Too many of calories will result in the body storing fat in commensurate levels to the amount of calories we consume in excess of our body's needs.  Conversely a net deficiency in the caloric intake for any given day will result in the body diving into fat reserves to burn as the fuel needed to sustain life.  So basically, eat a few less calories than you need and you will drop some kilos.   PHEW.....I should have issued a big word alert for that lot.  Didn't know I had it in me did you!

Of course a balanced diet does include the right mixture of those all important macronutrients and fat is one of them, along with protein and carbohydrates.  What I take away from the calorie density story is that if you measure food by weight, then foods with a high fat content have more calories per gram.  Well derrrr....The other big thing in the theory is about water content.  The killer thing about healthy foods that have lower calorie density (that is less calories per gram of food) is that they tend not to be as filling as foods with a yummy high fat content (Did you know that fat aids your taste buds in tasting food?  Hence fatty foods tend to taste better.).  Of course you can eat more of the good foods I guess.  For example, 1 medium sized orange is 68 calories, whereas 1 of those 'fun size' packet of chips has 104 calories.  Which one is going to make you feel fuller?  The 20 grams of chips?  Or the 230 gram orange?  But, if you want to be really smart about it, eating foods with low calorie density and high water content is the key to feeling fuller and consuming less calories.  Dr. Rolls study results showed that by adding water to foods you can reduce their calorie density and feel fuller.  She found that it wasn't even about drinking the water, it was actually about incorporating it into the food!  The study showed that people felt fuller after adding water directly into say a casserole, rather than by drinking the same amount of water from a glass and then eating the casserole.  Pretty interesting huh?  Well I thought so anyway.

If my summary of calorie density is about as clear as caramel mud cake (oh so yum), my fully endorsed site of the week, CalorieKing, has a good summary here - LINKY.  If the concept grabs you, the food database on the site also rates the food in it by calorie density.  So when you check on the food you are about to eat, you can tell what bang for your buck you are getting so to speak.  The more stars, the better it is!  Seriously, I only plug the website because it has helped me so much in tracking what I eat and to educate myself as to what I can eat each day to hit my calorie and nutritional targets.  I cannot keep it all in my head after all!