Would you rather be automatically fat (without trying) or automatically lean (without trying)?

The key is to get the "invisible" calories out of your diet. What I call "invisible calories" are the refined substances added to pretty much every recipe you see these days, and certainly every meal you have at a restaurant. And yep we're talking mostly concentrated carbohydrates (table sugar) and concentrated fats (vegetable oils).

In addition we want to eat whole foods as close to their natural state as possible. That kicks out that other refined substance we see everywhere, flour.

But for this blog we're going to focus on where the calories are highest and the most hidden of all, which is oils. On a volume basis they are the most calorie dense substance we consume, by far. Seen this?



Calories from oil are insidious for several reasons:

1) they are the most concentrated calories we consume.

2) Oils have either very little or no taste. Compare for example the taste of any oil to a ripe peach. One taste is "huh?" and the other is "wow!" Even olive oil, which has a bit of residual flavor, is relatively tasteless. Compare olive oil to an olive. That's what I'm talking about...we don't even know they are in our foods because we can't taste them, they are so "hidden" we can't detect them. Sugars at least we can detect, we know they are there, helping us to avoid that particular category of (empty) calories.

3) And yet, even though they have no taste, we are "attracted" to them. How does that work? We are "hard wired" to be attracted to concentrated calories. Why? Ever notice animals in nature tend to be lean? Calories are scarce in nature, all animals (us included) are instinctively attracted to denser calorie sources. You think we humans have "lost" our instincts? Next time you step on the scale think about that again.

Instincts, BTW, are not bad, they are the reason we survive at all! But it helps to realize in this environment of food from factories the critical importance of understanding instinct, and how we are "driven" by it. ("The Pleasure Trap" explains the problem and solution to this modern conundrum beautifully.)

One can consume a diet chock-a-block full of hidden calories and still be a lean person...if, that is, you are one of those people who "live" in a gym, or run 10 miles a day, or...you get the picture. Ever notice what happens to those people when they stop burning so many more calories than the rest of us? Yep. Burp.

People who eat lean stay lean no matter what. It is "the secret" (but it's not really a secret is it?). The point of the title of this blog is being lean is not a matter of "work" it is a matter of choice.

So how do we protect ourselves from invisible calories? Start by becoming more aware of what's hiding in your foods. And recognize that culturally, collectively, we are clueless (doesn't mean we have to be individually!), and restaurants are dangerous places where we have to pick and choose carefully from amongst landmine menu choices.