I have heard this from many people, and I used to spew this as well. “Calories are calories; if you take in fewer than you use, you should lose weight.” Is this really true, though? Not really, because the body is a complex biochemical system that regulates energy balance through the use of elaborate processes. Eating 200 calories of McDonand’s hamburger is processed very differently than 200 calories of green peppers, and can have a very serious impact on your ability to get healthy.

There are many different things to consider when picking the type of diet to be on. What am I doing? It’s a combination of Paleo Primal with a strong Keto influence. What should you do? That’s entirely up to you, but I would consider the following when trying to decide.

Let’s look at the thermic effect of food.

The thermic effect of food is a measure of how much different foods increase energy expenditure, due to the energy required to digest, absorb and metabolize the nutrients. The more efficient a metabolic pathway is, the more of the food energy is used for work and less is dissipated as heat. Protein, for example, requires a lot more energy to metabolize than fat or carbs. (Source)

This is the thermic effect of different macronutrients (Source):

• Fat: 2-3%.
• Carbs: 6-8%.
• Protein: 25-30%.

So, if we go with a thermic effect of 25% for protein and 2% for fat, this would mean that a 100 calories of protein would end up as 75 calories, while a 100 calories of fat would end up as 98 calories. (Source)

The bottom line is this: if you eat a high-protein diet, you get a metabolic boost, so to speak, of 80-100 calories a day. Protein calories are less fattening than calories from carbs and fat because protein takes more energy to metabolize. Whole foods also require more energy to digest than processed foods.

Another benefit to eating a high-protein diet: Increased protein can lead to drastically reduced appetite and cause automatic weight loss without the need for calorie counting or portion control. (Source) In my experience, cutting out sugar has helped eliminate the cravings, but learning this fact goes a long way to explaining the lack of cravings now.

There’s also something called the Satiety Index, which simply put measures how satisfied you are after eating a certain food or meal. Eating potato chips, ice cream, or even raisins is less filling than eating watermelon, grapefruit, or carrots even if eating the same calorie amount (Source).

Here’s something to consider when considering the type of calories to take in:  low-carb diets lead to more weight loss, often 2-3 times as much! Over 20 randomized controlled studies have compared low-fat and low-carb diets and the findings clearly point to the increased efficacy of the low-carb diet. Now, I’m all about losing weight right now, and with keeping it off in the future, so I think I’ll take the 2-3 time advantage by eating low-carb!

Finally, there’s the Glycemic Index. Foods that are high in GI tend to induce cravings and is generally agreed upon in being bad for you.

In a study that served people milkshakes who were identical in every respect except that one had high GI carbs while the other had low GI carbs, the high GI milkshake caused increased hunger and cravings compared to the low GI shake (Source).

Another study found that teenage boys ate 81% more calories during a high GI meal compared to a low GI meal (Source). Read more at Authority Nutrition

This, coupled with my high-protein diet is probably why I don’t experience cravings at all anymore. Like I mentioned in a prior post, I do get hungry, but typically that’s a sign from my body that I need more calories, not chips or ice cream (which are cravings I used to get from time to time) or the cravings I would get when seeing chocolate or certain foods on TV. Thankfully, I’m pretty immune now.

This is a lot of information to digest. I recommend looking up what you don’t understand. I am not a nutritionist: I’m a guy who was skinny and got fat and is working my way back to being skinny again. I’m not making any excuses for my weight anymore, and I will not accept anything other than success. I hope you adopt the same mindset; it’s the only way to win.