If you want to lose weight, you might think the key is to count calories and eat less, right? Not necessarily, says Terry Fairclough, a personal trainer and co-founder of Your Body Programme.
As a personal trainer, I’ve heard all sorts of opinions and questions about the best diet for weight loss. Should we count calories? Go for a low-fat, low-carb, or high-protein diet? Try fasting? Or maybe eat small, regular meals three times a day?
While all these methods can have their benefits depending on your body type, goals, and activity levels, one thing you shouldn’t do is under-eat.
We all know someone who starts counting and seriously cutting calories to get fit for the summer. Sure, the weight might drop off, but that doesn’t mean they’re losing fat, which is what most people aim for.
The Western diet today is often much larger than needed. Many people need to cut down on calories a bit because they were overeating. However, I’ve noticed that when people want to lose weight, they often think they have to under-eat, which is not true.
When you eat, your body converts carbohydrates into glucose, a type of sugar that fuels your cells. If your body doesn’t need the glucose immediately, it stores it in muscles and the liver as glycogen, which holds water. When your body needs a quick energy boost but lacks glucose, it breaks down glycogen into glucose to fuel your cells.
So when you cut calories, you end up losing stored carbohydrates and water, not fat. In fact, long-term calorie deficits can make your body hold onto fat and break down protein instead. Protein helps fuel your muscles, even at rest. That’s why you need a balanced intake of all three macronutrients – fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.
Cutting out fat completely is also a mistake. Fat is a crucial and long-lasting energy source. It provides more than twice the energy of carbs or protein. During exercise, your body breaks down fat into fatty acids, which fuel your muscles. Without enough fat, you won’t have the energy to burn unwanted fat.
Restricting calories and important nutrients can lead to deficiencies and affect your health, including your immune system, liver, and digestion. This can slow your metabolism and cause various health issues like fatigue, malnutrition, osteoporosis, anemia, depression, and hormone-related conditions.
Extreme calorie cutting stresses your body. It releases cortisol, the stress hormone, which can lead to weight loss initially but causes issues long term. High cortisol levels make your body hold onto fat, slow metabolism, and can even contribute to thyroid problems.
Under-eating can also affect digestion and the absorption of vital nutrients, impacting your training and weight loss results. Your sleep might suffer too; low blood sugar triggers adrenalin, waking you up and affecting your daily function and productivity.
While some people, like bodybuilders, restrict calories temporarily to get lean, it’s not sustainable. Constant calorie cutting can make your body go into “famine mode,” storing any extra food as fat.
The key is to eat the right amount of calories, carbs, fat, and protein for your body type, goals, activity level, height, weight, and age. At Your Body Programme, we help people figure out their calorie needs based on their specific body types.
Make sure you’re eating enough, including lots of lean proteins like beef, chicken, eggs, and fish. If you’re vegan, go for pulses, legumes, tofu, and tempeh. Include healthy carbs like fruits and vegetables, sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta, as well as healthy fats like avocado, nuts, seeds, and olive oil.
Eating a balanced diet without heavy restrictions not only helps you stay healthy but also supports metabolism and long-term weight loss goals.
