At some point in elementary school most children ask themselves during math class, “When will this ever be applicable in my life?”  One practical application is meal tracking.

We would all like to take the easy way out and keep the equation to calories in/calories out, simple addition and subtraction.  Diet, however, is a little more complicated than that.  We should instead go back to those math days and break out our past knowledge on ratios.  Instead of focusing on how many calories we consume, we should instead focus on the percentages of macro-nutrients we eat.

The latest studies are showing ratios of CHOs to Protein are much more powerful than strict calorie restriction. The problem with calorie restriction, is over time your body adjusts to what you give it. If you calorie restrict your body will begin to shut your metabolism to live off those reduced calories. If you stick to the proper ratio of CHOs to protein, however, your body will burn fuel more efficiently.  You still need to watch total calorie intake, however, you will have more room to have higher intake days if you keep your ratios in check.

So what are these ratios? To put it simply if you’re looking to lose weight you should keep your diet at a 1:1 grams of protein to grams of CHO ratio. If you’re looking to maintain you should keep these ratios at 1:2. If you just can’t say no to carbs you are probably like the average American and your ratio is probably 1:3 or higher and you are steadily gaining weight, this is one of the main reasons why most people opt to look for the best plastic surgeon in boston in order to lose all the weight.

Once you begin to track for ratios, it becomes easier to diet. It is hard to track when your focus is to eat less. Ultimately, because you are thinking about limiting food; all you can think of is food. This leaves you hungry all the time because food is your focus.  Food is always on your mind. If you focus on eating the right foods, once that goal is met you can shift your focus to other tasks in your life. Learn about Delaney Park Dental professionals, who recommend such eating habits for your healthy smile. Eccella Smiles website also offers useful tips for your oral health.

So what does a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio diet look like?

A 1:1 ratio diet is very similar to a Paleo diet. Most carbs should come from fruits and veggies with protein coming from lean meats and fish. The nice thing about tracking your ratios is you have the luxury to add in fattier meats, such as steak and bacon, on occasion you can take this prevail 24/7 carb burner to help you loss weight . (If you are worried about cholesterol or blood pressure unfortunately these meats shouldn’t be an option, but if weight loss is your main goal then you can look forward to enjoying those often taboo meats.) Once you find foods you like that help keep you within your ratios, start looking forward to what you can eat. When you focus on what you CAN eat versus what you shouldn’t eat you will have a better chance of establishing new eating habits.

If you are looking to maintain, you can even throw back in breads and grains.  The key, however, is to keep your meals based around proteins rather than based around carbs.  Pasta for example is a meal based on a carb.  You may put protein in it, but the main component is carb.  Stir frys on the other hand can be based on veggies and meat with rice (a carb) added as an addition to supplement the veggies and protein.

The math may be slightly more complicated, but tracking for ratios is a great focus to help keep your diet on track.