Reduce food variety…reduce bodyweight

Reduce food variety, reduce bodyweight, makes sense right? If you have more food to choose from, the more likely you are to try it all.  We have all been to a buffet, because there’s lots to choose from, you are more likely to over indulge and try everything…on average, additional 50-60 calories for each additional food offered, if at least 5 different foods are available.
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This leads onto my next question which I am currently writing a blog on, is IIFYM what it’s cracked up to be.  At first glance If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) is a great concept, the fact you can eat anything you want and still lose weight. The reality is when you are left with a broad spectrum of foods to eat, it can make it harder to manage things. Increased food variety has been shown to increase calorie intake by an average of 29%.  Some of the disadvantaged to a wide food variety include
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🔸Harder to track calorie intake
🔸More likely to over eat
🔸Added stress of knowing the calories of all the different foods
🔸Less structure to your nutrition
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The advantages of reducing food variety include
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🔸More educated on the food you are consuming
🔸More structure
🔸More consistency
🔸Less likely to over eat
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This is not to say IIFYM is bad, I am personally a big fan of it as it’s creates some flexibility with food choices and gets away from the stigma of ‘diet food’. I feel a lot of people could benefit to reducing their food choices, especially if you lead a very busy lifestyle. You can spend more time executing the diet rather than stressing about what you are eating.