Written by Dr. Gaia Domenici, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise
Have you been trying to lose weight for some time without seeing results? Have you been experiencing energy crashes and lack of focus affecting your performance at work? Have you been feeling constantly fatigued, demotivated, or even a bit depressed?
If you answered “yes” to at least one of these questions, then this post is for you. Part of the reason why your diet has been stalling, your mood has been low, or you have been underperforming might be found in certain dietary habits. Such habits, however, are easy to correct. Keep reading to find out why this happens and what you can do to break the cycle.
1. Salad for Lunch
Unsuspected culprit, your diet's and performance's number one nemesis is your daily salad bowl. This happens in 2 different scenarios, each of them leading to the same result. Let us have a look at both of them, and let us explore some simple adjustments you can make to prevent the worst:
a. Not tracking what goes into your bowl. The first reason why replacing your lunch with a salad bowl might be counterproductive is because salads are hard to track: calories are calories, regardless of their sources. Whilst wholesome foods are packed with micronutrients (minerals and vitamins) and are better assimilated than refined products, they are utilised by our body to produce energy (measured in calories). When calories are consumed in excess, the non-utilised energy is stored as fat, and this is why we gain weight. Fatty foods such as olives, seeds, nuts, cheese, avocado, oil, hummus, etc., are particularly dense in calories (1 g of fat producing 9 kcal). Such foods are also very common in salads. Therefore, considering that 1 tbsp of nuts or seeds (approximately 23 g) produces about 150 kcal, it is easy to over-consume calories when portions are not measured. In fact, you might be tempted to think that, because “it is only a salad,” you are “allowed” to treat yourself to extra cheese cubes, croutons, olives, or dressing. However, those extra toppings will up your calories so much that you might as well have had a portion of lasagna or pizza. In the short term, overconsumption of calories makes you feel sluggish and lethargic and kills productivity and vitality: here is why you cannot seem to “function” properly without your mid-afternoon coffee. In the long term, consistent overconsumption of calories leads to weight gain. While you should not only be enjoying the food you eat but also adopt an intuitive approach to eating, you should also be mindful of your portions, especially when you are on a fat loss journey or have a mentally demanding job.
b. Keeping your salad too light. The second reason why salads might be sabotaging your diet is that you are having a side dish for the main course. If you make your salad too light (not providing your body with adequate energy), you will get hungry again within a couple of hours. Not only this, you will most likely experience energy crashes, brain fogs and blood sugar fluctuations. As a consequence, you will find yourself snacking uncontrollably. Similar to the previous scenario, a lack of tracking might lead to overeating and weight gaining. If you enjoy a salad for lunch, make sure it contains a balanced ratio of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats) to sustain you with adequate energy. For example, toss in some fruit (such as mango, papaya, pineapple, berries, or tomato), and always include some protein (like tuna, salmon, chicken, turkey, beef, pork, tofu, or tempeh) and fats (such as olives, nuts, seeds or cheese). Foods such as eggs, lamb and salmon are high in both protein and fats, while avocados, coconuts and hummus contain both carbs and fats: when portions are controlled, these foods come in handy to provide you with adequate energy and nutrients. Ultimately, a balanced ratio of macro and micronutrients provides you with the right energy to carry out important tasks at work and contributes to boosting your mood.
2. Cereal Bars for Snacks
The second, unsuspected culprit of your not losing weight and underperforming is cereal bars. These are often advertised as “healthy,” as they are made with whole grains and fruit. However, a careful read of the ingredients list will bring a few things up:
a. Most of those bars contain refined sugars (such as glucose-fructose, dextrose, or sucrose) and vegetable oils (for example, sunflower oil, canola oil, safflower oil, or palm oil). Some of such bars might even contain trans fats (hydrogenated oil) – a type of fat only partly occurring in certain foods (such as lamb or beef), and mostly manmade by adding hydrogen molecules to vegetable oils to change their structure and make them more stable. Consumption of refined sugars, vegetable oils and artificial trans fats has been associated with insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes (you can read more in detail here, here and here). In the short term, effects relate to energy crashes and blood-glucose fluctuations, leading to false hunger signals and, therefore, overeating.
b. Cereal bars present a poorly balanced macronutrient profile. Indeed, they tend to be high in carbohydrates but fairly low in protein and fats. However, protein and fats are the macronutrients giving you the sense of satiety while eating a meal and making you stop when you feel “full.” Therefore, snacking on cereal bars alone might lead to overeating, as one bar might not satiate you, so you might feel the need for an extra, unplanned pick-me-up.
c. Being mostly made of processed ingredients, cereal bars tend to be fairly poor in micronutrients, except for the “enriched” ones. These latter bars, however, are artificially enriched with lab-made vitamins and minerals, not guaranteeing their optimal assimilation. When we feel hungry, we need energy from not only macronutrients but also essential compounds from micronutrients so that the body can operate optimally and energy can be produced efficiently. A diet that is poor in micronutrients makes us feel fatigued or even lethargic; in the worst cases, unmotivated and depressed. Moreover, metabolism is regulated by vitamins and minerals; when these are inadequate, nutrient assimilation is faulty. Consequently, we feel hungry even though we have just eaten, simply because we are unable to assimilate the food properly. As you can guess, this leads to digestive issues and, once again, potential overeating.
While added sugars have been shown to cause insulin resistance, natural sugars occurring in fruit, vegetables and honey do not seem to cause any issues in healthy individuals. Therefore, to provide your body with the same amount of energy without all the side effects, try replacing your bar with a piece of fruit or some vegetables (for example, a banana, 1 cup of blueberries, or 1 cup of carrot sticks), and making your meal more balanced and micronutrient-rich by adding some protein and fats from real foods (for example, 1 cup of Greek yogurt and 1 tbsp of macadamia nuts, a piece of cheese or 2 tbsp of homemade hummus).
3. Low-Carb Snacks
The last reason for your diet failing and your brain struggling at work might be an unjustified carbohydrate restriction. Here is why:
a. Carbohydrates have been recently demonised as your diet's worst enemy. However, while carbohydrates are technically a non-essential nutrient (as the body can survive by manufacturing glucose from protein and fats through a process called “gluconeogenesis”), they are also the body's favourite energy source. Indeed, differently from fats and protein, carbohydrates can be utilised to produce energy as soon as they are digested, namely, when they are broken down into glucose molecules. As already said, it is a caloric surplus that leads to weight gaining, not a high carbohydrate intake. The glucose molecules that are not utilised by the body are turned into fat (lipogenesis); however, if you are within or below your calorie maintenance balance, your body will use stored fats to produce energy when no other sources are provided. Therefore, even though some of your ingested carbs are stored as fats upon digestion, an equal amount of calories will be produced out of adipose cells later on; so you will not experience any weight gains. While research has shown countless health benefits relating to short-term ketosis, none of such benefits concerns weight loss in non-insulin-resistant individuals unless on a caloric deficit (you can read an extensive review here). Hence, there is no point in restricting your carbohydrate intake to lose weight unless you have insulin-resistance issues.
b. Many snacks that are labelled as “low carb” are in fact high fat. Whilst fats are essential nutrients (meaning that the body needs them to survive), fatty foods are twice as high in calories as high-carb foods, so they can easily lead to over-consumption. Indeed, 1 g of fat produces 9 kcal, whereas 1 g of carbohydrate or protein produces about 4 kcal. Moreover, protein has the highest thermic effect on your digestion (meaning that part of the calories is used to digest the food itself) and unprocessed carbs tend to be high in water and fibre. Therefore, over-consumption of high-protein meals and unprocessed carbs is even harder than over-consumption of high-fat foods. Think about it this way: 1 tbsp of almonds has the same amount of calories as 1 large banana. While you could quickly grab a banana and have it on the go, will 1 tbsp of almonds be enough to make you feel like you are having a snack?
c. Your brain runs on glucose, which can be manufactured by the liver when not supplied by food. However, unless you have been following a strict ketogenic diet for enough time, chances are your body is not efficient at producing and utilising ketone bodies to spare glucose for the brain. As a result, if you have been excessively restricting your carb intake, you might be experiencing brain fogs and a lack of focus. If this is the case, balancing out your meals by adding unprocessed carbohydrates (such as fruit, vegetables and even some grains) will solve the problem.
To Conclude
When you cannot lose weight and are underperforming at work, the quickest solution to both problems is to look at your diet and make it as balanced and unprocessed as possible. Here you can find several balanced meal examples for all tastes. If you want to take your nutrition knowledge to the next level and cut back on processed foods, even more, make sure you grab a copy of my recipe ebook, Nourish Your Body Realise Your Self: The Guilt-Free Cookbook: it will teach you all the principles of nutrition, and how to create a diet that works for you and makes you achieve your goals.
Ultimately, let us not forget that a sedentary life also contributes to weight gains, fatigue and a lack of purpose: the more you move, the more energy you have to keep moving and thinking. Moreover, as better explained in this post, an increase in muscle mass enhances your basal metabolic rate (BMR), making you burn more calories at rest. Therefore, you want to combine your nutrition with physical activities that you enjoy and regular strength training. This combination will unlock your full potential, making you achieve your dream body, athleticism, and work-related goals.
Dr. Gaia Domenici, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Gaia Domenici, also known as 'The Strongest Shield-Maiden', is a certified Nutrition and Health Coach, Strength and Conditioning Coach, Personal Trainer, and published author, with a Ph.D. in Philosophy.
After spending a decade juggling between gym and academia, Gaia realized that body, mind, and spirit are a whole, and, as such, they need to be trained together. So she founded 'Fitnosophy: Build Your Body Realise Your Self', a platform to share the spiritual meaning of fitness, and the impact of a strong body on a meaningful life. Following the sense of void and uncertainty left by the 2020 pandemic, Gaia founded the 'Shield-Maiden Tribe', a community in which women from across the world can share their inner and outer strengths, and nourish their Inner Warrior, empower each other, and grow stronger together.
Since 2018, Gaia has coached countless clients and athletes worldwide, helping them get in tune with their Inner Warrior, and achieve physical, mental, and spiritual goals.
