Tracking is the Secret to Weight Loss!

Studies from Duke University and the journal Obesity are a few of many that have revealed that tracking your daily food intake can drastically improve weight loss results and increase the likelihood that the weight lost, stays lost. As much as it sounds onerous, tracking helps; and, once you’ve familiarized yourself with it, tracking takes just a few minutes per meal or less than 15 mins a day.

In addition to helping to define a well-formulated low carbohydrate lifestyle, tracking can aid in:

• Balancing macronutrients throughout the day to optimize results
• Combating premature weight loss plateaus
• Avoiding “unplanned exceptions” or helping account for “planned exceptions”
• Identifying and addressing habits that might have inhibited weight loss or led to weight gain

The JumpstartMD Meal program is based on our medically proven approach to achieving weight loss and metabolic health that emphasizes:

• Whole, fresh foods
• Low carbohydrates
• Moderate protein
• Moderate healthy fats
• Smaller serving sizes (to create a “caloric deficit”)

We encourage you to always consume the whole, fresh foods that naturally contain the highest nutritional value per calorie to promote health and well-being. Whenever possible, choose local, seasonal, organic foods, wild seafood and pasture-raised meats to further benefit your health and the environment.

When tracking, it is important to set “goals” for consumption of your macronutrients. Macronutrients are the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats that make up your caloric intake for the day. It is essential to be in a caloric deficit in order to get your ideal weight, but we also want to make sure these calories are made up of a certain percentage of each macronutrient. To ensure you are in a caloric deficit, your JumpstartMD clinician will analyze your basal metabolic rate and prescribe your daily macronutrient intake to promote fat burning.

At JumpstartMD, we believe that all calories are not created equally. Carbohydrates and excess proteins spike insulin (our fat/energy storing hormone) which promote storage and accumulation of fat. The key to facilitating combustion (or burning) of your internal fat reserves is lowering your levels of insulin.

Reducing carb intake prompts your body to switch from burning carbohydrates for fuel to burning body fat for fuel, which leads to weight loss. Beyond that, choosing the nutrient-dense foods we recommend helps promote healthy cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and nervous systems to maintain overall health and wellness.

Eating fats does not spike insulin. It actually can help insulin levels stay stable and aid your body to burn fat as energy and preserve muscle mass, resulting in decreased Body Fat %. Be mindful of your fat intake, have enough to feel satiated, but avoid overconsumption. The goal is to burn your own body fat for energy, in addition to the fat you are consuming.

Protein can be a dieter’s ally when consumed in the proper portion size for you. We need just enough but not too much. Why? You can’t make your muscles bigger consuming extra protein. Instead, the body converts excess dietary protein to carbohydrate which stimulates insulin, affecting weight loss results.

Throughout your journey with JumpstartMD, your Clinician and Health Coaches will help you adjust your macronutrients to stay in a caloric deficit that’s safe and helps continued weight loss in a healthy way. We’ll make similar adjustments on “Lifestyle”, when you are striving to maintain your goal weight, to move you from a caloric deficit to caloric equilibrium. Keep tracking so we know how to help you achieve your health goals quickly and efficiently!