If you’re trying to lose weight, you might think you need to count calories and eat less, right? Well, not exactly, says Terry Fairclough, a top personal trainer and co-founder of Your Body Programme.
As a personal trainer, I’ve come across many opinions and questions about what the best diet is for weight loss. Should we be counting calories? How many should we consume? Is a low-fat, low-carb, or high-protein diet the answer? What about fasting or eating small, regular meals three times a day?
Creating a huge calorie deficit may help you lose weight, but it won’t necessarily help you lose fat, which is the real goal for most people. The Western diet is often larger than necessary, so a slight caloric deficit can help some people who have been overeating. However, many people mistakenly believe that eating significantly less is the only path to weight loss, but that’s not the case.
When we eat, our body converts carbohydrates into glucose, a key energy source. If the body doesn’t use this glucose for energy right away, the muscles and liver store it as glycogen, with water molecules attached. When calories are cut, what we primarily lose is this stored glycogen and water, not fat. Over time, extreme calorie restriction can make the body hold onto fat instead and start breaking down protein.
Protein is biologically active, so having enough of it helps in burning fat, even at rest. That’s why it’s crucial to consume an adequate amount of calories from a balanced mix of fats, carbs, and protein. Cutting out fats isn’t the answer either. Fat provides more energy than carbohydrates or protein and is stored efficiently in our muscles. During exercise, this stored fat turns into fatty acids, which transfer to muscles for fuel. So, we need fat to maintain energy levels and effectively lose the excess fat we don’t want.
Moreover, slashing calories and limiting nutrient intake can lead to deficiencies, affecting the immune, liver, and digestive systems, potentially causing health problems and slowing down metabolism. Problems like fatigue, malnutrition, osteoporosis, anemia, hormonal imbalances, and fertility issues could arise from under eating.
Plunging into extreme calorie deficits also stresses the body. Increased stress releases cortisol, a hormone that breaks down energy stores and, in the short term, can cause weight loss. However, long-term elevated cortisol leads to fat retention as the body tries to preserve energy in the form of fat. This also slows metabolism and can result in more belly fat.
Under eating impacts digestion and nutrient absorption, affecting your overall health and weight loss results. Poor sleep can also occur when blood sugar levels drop, further complicating liver detoxification, immunity, exercise, and productivity, potentially leading to weight gain.
I’ve met bodybuilders who cut calories to get lean and then reincrease their intake post-competition. However, doing it incorrectly often leads to illness. If you keep reducing calories, you’ll hit a point where your body breaks down, impairing metabolism, and making weight loss feel impossible because the body stores any extra calories as fat due to constant calorie cutting.
The key is to eat the right amount of calories, fats, carbs, and proteins suited to your specific body type, goal, activity level, height, weight, and age. My programme, which doesn’t restrict calories, has repeatedly shown that increasing calories can aid in fat loss.
Ensure you’re consuming enough lean proteins, healthy carbs from fruits, veggies, sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, and wholewheat pasta, as well as healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil.
Remember, you have just one body, so nourish it properly to keep your metabolism running smoothly.