How Can You Eat A Lot Without Getting Fat

It’s simple logic: the more food you put into your mouth, the more you’re likely to get fat. This notion, without establishing certain assumptions, can be insanely flawed. Hence, it becomes the ground for many individuals to lessen their eating frequency, or even practice intermittent fasting, so they can minimize their food intake. 

Sadly, this leads to meal deprivation and even extreme eating disorders, which do more harm than good to their health.

Yes, a person eating two slices of cakes is more likely to get fat than a person eating just a slice. This is on the assumption that: 

1. they have the same maintenance calories; and 
2. each slice contains the same amount of calories

Let’s change the scenario and specify other assumptions. Say there are two identical twins, Tiffany and Bella. Hypothetically, they have the same maintenance calories.

Tiffany ate two slices of cake made of almond flour and stevia as its sweetener. Each slice contains 100 calories, hence she consumed 200 calories in total. On the flip side, Bella ate just a slice of chocolate cake with shiny sprinkles, and a generous amount of icing on top. One slice of her cake contains 400 calories.

We can obviously pinpoint the reason why Tiffany, who ate two slices of cake, will be less likely to get fat than Bella, who just ate one slice of cake, if they’ll continue to sustain these food choices and eating habits in the next 3 months.

It’s the calories.

At the minimum, if one is truly conscious about his weight and how it is affected by his diet, determining his daily maintenance calories is a must and a starting point. From there, he can plan his meals ahead and have more intelligent food choices without even reducing his meal frequency!

Low Satiety, Calorie-dense Food

There are foods packed with lots of calories even in small quantities. Hence, they rapidly consume your daily caloric budget. The saddest part is they won’t make you full in just a serving. And when you’re trapped by their inviting taste, you don’t want to stop eating. 

Examples of calorie-dense foods that are less filling are your usual potato chips, soda, and nuts.

Do you feel full when you finish eating the entire bag of your favorite potato chips? Check the label and you’ll be surprised you’ve already consumed a whopping 300 calories!

But would you be even more surprised if I tell you that you get the same amount of calories or even less with 100g of cooked sweet potato plus 100g of plain roasted chicken? Yeah, these two -- combined!

High Satiety, Low Calorie Food

People get intimidated when they are introduced to the concept of having a daily caloric budget, thinking they have to eat less and deprive themselves from eating. But it is just about choosing intelligently and allocating your budget to foods that are highly satiating and with less calories.

In general, foods rich in protein such as lean meat and eggs are highly satiating. Meaning, as you finish your meal, you feel full and you’re more likely to survive to the next meal without getting hungry too soon.

Talking about carbs, while many might think they are the real villain in your diet, there are carbohydrates that will respond to your hunger real quick without hurting your calorie budget. And the best part? They are filling! Examples of these are oats and brown rice. 

Carbs that are hurting your caloric budget are those coming from sugary drinks, beverages, and pastries. Examples are Oreo Cookies, a can of Pepsi, and Donuts.

Some Wise Alternatives

Now that you know the concept of satiation and calories, we can deduce that skipping meals and depriving yourself from eating are not necessary to either maintain or lose weight.

But what are the foods that you should be eating, you ask? Well, here are some of alternatives for you:

Bacon vs. Chicken Breast. If you’re looking to meet your protein requirement for a day, bacon might not be a wise option as it already contains 500 calories per 100 grams! You may want to replace it with 100 grams of chicken breast that only contains 170 calories. Same amount of serving, but drastically different in calories.

Oreos vs Strawberries. 3 cookies of Oreo already contain 200 calories. Will you feel satisfied after eating just 3 cookies? I doubt it, even if you partner it with a glass of fresh milk that will add up 150 calories. If you’d like to satisfy your sweet tooth, fruits like strawberries can be your wise choice. 100 grams of strawberries just contains 33 calories. So even if you eat a kilo of it, you’ll just consume 330 calories. 

Potato Chips vs. Plain Air-popped popcorns. A cup of your favorite potato chips contains 150-200 calories. If you are just bored and want to munch something crispy and salty on your mouth, air-popped popcorn can be your wise option as one cup of it just contains 40 calories.

Ice Cream vs. Greek Yogurt. One cup of strawberry ice cream can contain 250 calories, where a cup of plain greek yogurt can only contain 100 calories. Missing strawberries? Even if you add 5 pieces of raw strawberries on top of your plain greek yogurt, this can still be a wiser and healthier option than the ice cream.

Just a Tip

Not everyone will be dedicated and diligent to check the calories of the food that they’ll eat. Sure! Counting calories is mundane and arduous. If you’re really dedicated to stick to healthier and wiser food options, just ask yourself a simple question: is this man-made or nature-made?

If it’s nature made, like a plain chicken, or a freshly sliced pineapple, it’s a good option.

But if you turn that chicken into adobo, or Cordon Blu, or you create a cake out of that pineapple, then expect you would consume more calories.

Bottom line? Choose the food that is nearest to its original state. When someone says it’s a carrot cake, can you still recognize the carrot in it? How comparable is it to its original state? 

Conclusion

Sure, dieting for weight loss is not easy. But it also doesn’t mean suffering. You don’t have to torture and deprive yourself from eating because you can eat just as frequent as usual for as long as you’re dedicated to choosing wiser and healthier food options. 

Weight loss is a journey worth telling to everyone to inspire and empower them, and you don’t want pains and sufferings to be the highlight of your story.