If fat loss is your goal, then you may have tried various diets and ways of eating in your efforts to lose body fat. You may have been successful in some of your attempts only to regain the weight you lost plus extra. How frustrating! Let me let you into a little secret, it’s not your fault. Our body chemistry, inherited from our ancestors, is pre-programmed to do everything it can to not lose body fat, and if we do, to do everything to regain it. In ancient times our ancestors would have periods of famine and times when food was abundant, and their bodies would store fat during the feast times to cope with the famine. When we deprive ourselves of calories our bodies think we are in a famine and do not give up fat easily. Even when we do lose body fat, when you start to increase calories again your hunger hormone, ghrelin, goes into overdrive in a bid to make you regain the body fat. In addition, your fullness hormone (leptin) is suppressed so that it takes more food to make you feel satisfied. This explains why we often regain what we lost plus more.
This is not to say that body fat loss is impossible, but it is a fine balancing act. The NHS recommends that you have a calorie deficit of 500 calories in order to lose 1-2lbs per week. They give a figure of 2000 calories for women and 2500 calories for men for weight maintenance, meaning women would need to eat 1500 calories a day and men 2000 calories a day to lose weight. These calorie requirements are not set in stone as they vary depending on how tall you are and how much you weigh and your age (we need less calories as we age). If this amount of calorie deficit leaves you feeling deprived and hungry then ultimately you are more likely to ‘fall off the wagon’. It may be appropriate to have a smaller calorie deficit of just 250-300 calories over a longer period of time for more sustainable fat loss. Coupled with regular exercise, body fat loss should be achievable over a longer period of say 6-12 months depending on how much you want to lose. If you think about how long it took you to gain the body fat, this will give you an idea of how long you can expect it to take to lose it. If you go on a fad diet, that is restrictive, you may lose weight quickly, but this is not advisable. Losing weight quickly usually means that we are not only losing water weight but also muscle. This should be avoided at all costs because muscle is our friend in terms of keeping our metabolism working efficiently. Muscle is metabolically active even when we are at rest meaning we will burn calories more easily, so losing weight slowly is the best approach to make sure we are only losing body fat.
We start to lose muscle naturally from about our mid-thirties so it’s important to consume adequate protein, approximately 0.8-1.2g per kg of body weight, throughout the day to slow this process down. (Download my free Ebook for a guide on protein content of food -click here) This is particularly important during perimenopause and menopause to ensure that we keep our metabolism working efficiently. In addition, it is vital that we do some sort of resistance exercise such as lifting weights, using resistance bands or our own body weight, to keep our muscles strong and to build muscle. This will also help to prevent us from having falls as we get older.
Although I have been referring to calories this does not mean you need to religiously count calories. Indeed, calorie counting apps are often inaccurate. Also, be aware that UK food labelling by law has a margin of error of 20% either plus or minus in terms of calories. In addition, if you eat a diet consisting of mainly ultra-processed foods (packaged foods made from substances extracted from food such as fat, starch, added sugar and containing additives), you are more likely to utilise all of the calories than if you followed a wholefood-based diet. Put simply, the more processing that a food undergoes, the easier your body will be able to extract the calories from it. Not that I wish to over demonise ultra-processed foods, because we all lead busy lives, and they can be convenient when we are time poor. However, these types of foods are cleverly manufactured to be highly palatable meaning you are more likely to overeat when consuming them. In a recent study, participants were given diets of ultra-processed foods or whole foods matched for calories, sugar, salt, and fibre, and told to eat as much or as little as they wanted. Those eating ultra-processed foods ate approximately 500 calories more than the whole foods group. This shows that if you include more whole foods in your diet such as fruit, vegetables, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, small amounts of dairy and lean unprocessed meat, you will feel more satisfied and be less likely to overeat. Eating a whole foods diet ensures that we get adequate dietary fibre (30g per day) which not only keeps our bowels functioning efficiently but also feeds our gut bacteria. There are trillions of bacteria living in our small and large intestines that utilise the fibre we eat and synthesize hormones, neurotransmitters, vitamins, and amino acids. When we eat insufficient fibre, these functions cannot take place leading to increased disease risk and difficulties with our metabolism. Therefore, eating insufficient fibre has a direct impact on our metabolism and therefore our efforts to lose body fat will be hampered.
Of course, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach when it comes to fat loss, and it may take some trial and error before you find a method that suits you. What is important is that you don’t feel deprived whilst you are trying to lose body fat. You must factor in some treats and meals out to make sure that you are more likely to succeed. This could be a couple of squares of chocolate per day, a couple of glasses of wine at the weekend and a takeaway once a month for example. It’s important that you factor in treats that make you feel satisfied so that you will be able to maintain a sustainable approach. This includes not cutting out entire food groups from your diet such as carbohydrates which have had some bad press recently. Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred source of fuel and give us energy. This is particularly important on days when we are physically active. One mistake I see often with my clients is under eating and over exercising in a bid to lose weight. This will be counterproductive as you need energy to move your body and will ultimately slow your metabolism down. Rather than cutting out carbohydrates from your diet, try replacing refined white carbohydrates with wholegrains and maybe eating a smaller portion. They will keep you feeling fuller for longer and add fibre to your diet which is great for your gut microbes.
As soon as you have reached your desired body weight it is important not to return to your old habits. Doing this will mean that your efforts will have been in vain as the body fat will creep back on again. You will be able to increase your calories slightly just take care not to eat too many high calorie foods and drinks such as cakes, sweets, pastries, crisps, alcohol, fruit juice, fizzy drinks, and fast food unless as an occasional treat. Remember that it takes times to form a new habit and a slow sustainable approach is likely to be more successful in the long run, just making a couple of changes each week or two. Ultimately, food should be enjoyable and if you embark on a restrictive regime, you are likely to get stuck in the diet cycle, and nobody wants to or should live their life like that. The key is finding an eating pattern that keeps you feeling satisfied that you can maintain for life and that keeps your body healthy and your weight stable.
Comments