If you want to lose weight, you might think the key is to count calories and eat less. But according to Terry Fairclough, a personal trainer and co-founder of Your Body Programme, that’s not the whole story.
As a personal trainer, I’ve heard many different opinions on the best diet for weight loss. Should we count calories? Should we go low-fat, low-carb, or high-protein? Should we fast or eat small, regular meals? While all these methods can have their place depending on body type, goals, and activity levels, one rule is universal: under-eating is not the answer.
We all know someone who starts extreme calorie counting to get ready for beach season, assuming the weight will fall off. While a calorie deficit might lead to weight loss, it doesn’t necessarily result in fat loss, which is what most people are after.
Nowadays, the Western diet is often larger than needed, so some people might benefit from a slight calorie deficit. However, many believe severely under-eating is the only way to lose weight. That’s simply not true.
When we eat, our body converts carbs into glucose, our main energy source. Unused glucose is stored as glycogen in muscles and the liver, and each glucose molecule holds onto two to three molecules of water. If calories are cut, the quick weight drop is often water and glycogen, not fat. Long-term calorie deficits can actually cause the body to hold onto fat and break down muscle instead.
Muscle is biologically active, meaning more muscle helps burn more fat at rest. That’s why it’s crucial to consume enough calories from all three macronutrients: fats, carbs, and protein. And don’t be afraid of fat; it’s an essential, long-lasting energy source. Fat provides more than twice as much energy per gram compared to carbs or protein and is stored within muscle fibers for easy access during exercise.
Cutting calories and nutrients too much can lead to deficiencies, affecting every system in the body, particularly the immune, liver, and digestive systems, leading to slower metabolism and health problems.
Issues from under-eating include fatigue, malnutrition, osteoporosis, anemia, polycystic ovaries, depression, and fertility problems among others. Severe calorie deficits stress the body and cause it to release cortisol, a stress hormone that breaks down muscle for fuel. While short-term stress might result in weight loss, chronic stress makes the body store fat, especially around the belly.
This stress slows metabolism, encourages fat storage, and can mess up thyroid function, further impacting metabolism. It also reduces digestive function, meaning we don’t absorb essential nutrients properly, affecting training and weight loss attempts.
Sleep can be disrupted by low blood sugar, causing adrenaline spikes that wake you up and affect liver function, immunity, and overall productivity, potentially leading to weight gain. Bodybuilding competitors often cycle calories, but many face illness from incorrect approaches.
Constantly cutting calories can derail metabolism to the point where losing weight feels impossible. The body, stuck in “famine mode,” stores any surplus as fat.
The key is to eat the right number of calories, carbs, fat, and protein for your body type, goals, activity level, height, weight, and age. Your Body Programme can help you determine these needs. Nourish your body, maintain a healthy metabolism, and avoid extreme restrictions.
My program, which doesn’t restrict calories, has shown that increasing calories can actually help lose fat. Eat plenty of lean proteins like chicken, beef, eggs, and fish, or pulses, legumes, tofu, and tempeh if vegan. Include healthy carbs like fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta. Don’t forget healthy fats from avocados, nuts, seeds, olives, and olive oil.
Terry Fairclough, a personal trainer and nutritional therapist, co-founded Your Body Programme. When not writing notes on his hand, he enjoys weightlifting.
