Dr. Erica Steele – Are you tired of constantly jumping from one fad diet to another with little or no results? I know, I would be. My name is Dr. Erica Steele. I’m a holistic doctor in family practice. I hold six degrees in my field, all in natural healthcare. I am here to tell you it’s time to say goodbye to those quick-fix solutions and hello, to a healthier, more abundant, holistic lifestyle that will help you achieve your weight loss goals. Holistic weight loss is a natural and effective approach that considers the entire person, not just the physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual, and even ancestral. Sometimes people hold onto trauma from their family lineage, and letting go of that means releasing those unhealthy patterns.
We will look closer at what holistic weight loss is and how you can use these principles to help achieve your weight loss goals. Macronutrients are the three primary nutrients that provide energy to our bodies. That’s carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. We will talk about each one of those carbohydrates as the body’s primary energy source. They can be found in foods like grains, fruits, and vegetables to maintain a healthy diet.
It’s essential to focus on consuming complex carbohydrates, such as your fruits and your vegetables, rather than simple carbohydrates, which are your sugars, pieces of bread, and pasta. Proteins are essential for building and repairing tissues within our body. They can be found in meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and legumes. You want to include sources of protein with each meal and snack. Some vegetarian options, such as lentils or black beans that have lower fat.
You want to focus on consuming lean protein sources. If you eat meat such as skinless chicken or fish to reduce your intake of unhealthy fats. I’m not a proponent of a vegetarian diet, but you can utilize a vegetarian diet. I was raised vegetarian. So, I’m aware of all the health benefits, but from a protein perspective, it’s minimal. You really must watch your protein if you choose to be a vegetarian.
Fats are an essential part of our healthy diet, but it’s important to be mindful of the types of fats and how much we consume; even healthy fats can build up. If you don’t have the activity level to run or workout, the number of fats you’re consuming, you’re going to store it as visceral fat, which is fat around your organs.
Good sources of fat include nuts, seeds, avocado, and olive oil. But again, make sure you watch those numbers. If you want to lose weight, you want at most 20% of your metabolic amount, which is your calories. Avoid consuming unhealthy fats altogether. Those are trans and saturated fats like fried food and processed foods. Those all have those in there. Balancing your macronutrient intake is essential for maintaining a healthy diet and creating a holistic lifestyle. We tend to look at our mindset first and our emotional connection second. Then, we start looking at diet and nutrition because if we don’t have the mindset to sustain ourselves, we will go to our default diet, which is often unhealthy, fast, unconscious, and not fully present. You want to balance your diet with carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. So, in general, a person can consume 45 to 65% of their calories from carbohydrates, 20 to 35% from protein, and then 20 to 35% from healthy fats. That ratio is determined by multiple factors. We look at the pre-patient’s body composition. We look at their visceral fat. We look at their biochemistry. There’s a lot of difference between what they’re digesting and assimilating. This is what allows us to create more of an individualized plan.
Individual macronutrient needs may vary based on your age or gender and physical activity levels. For example, an athlete may require a higher intake of carbohydrates, or they can do a higher grade of fat because they’re going to be burning it off. So why do older adults focus on higher protein intake to support muscle health?
Macronutrients are crucial in maintaining a holistic health, lifestyle, and weight loss plan. Keeping a habit out of the fad diets and being mindful and present to what you’re eating by consuming a balanced intake of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats is a massive step in the right direction if you want to reach your goals.
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