If you want to lose weight, you might think counting calories and eating less is the answer. But that’s not necessarily the case, says Terry Fairclough, a top personal trainer and co-founder of Your Body Programme.
As a personal trainer, I’ve been asked many questions about the best diets for weight loss. Should you count calories? How many calories should you eat? Is a low-fat, low-carb, or high-protein diet the best? Should you try fasting or eat small, regular meals throughout the day?
One common mistake is severely cutting calories. While a big calorie deficit can cause weight loss, it’s not the kind of weight loss most people want. Instead of losing fat, you might just lose water and muscle. Our modern Western diet often leads us to overeat, so some calorie reduction could be helpful. However, under-eating is not the best solution for weight loss.
When you eat, your body converts carbs into glucose, a type of sugar that’s our primary energy source. Your body stores extra glucose as glycogen in your liver and muscles. Each molecule of glycogen is linked with two or three molecules of water. When you drastically cut calories, what you’re losing first is this stored glycogen and water, not fat.
Long-term severe calorie deficits can signal your body to hold onto fat and start breaking down protein (muscle). Protein is essential since it helps burn fat even when you’re at rest. Therefore, it’s important to consume enough calories from all three macronutrients – fats, carbs, and proteins.
Surprisingly, fat is a crucial, long-lasting energy source, providing more than twice as much potential energy as carbs or protein. Fat is also stored in muscle fibers and is used during exercise, making it vital for burning more fat. Eliminating fat from your diet can result in not having enough energy to exercise and lose the fat you want to shed.
Cutting calories too much can also lead to nutrient deficiencies, affecting your immune, liver, and digestive systems, and slowing down your metabolism. Problems from under-eating include fatigue, malnutrition, osteoporosis, anemia, depression, hormone-related conditions, and fertility issues. Extreme calorie cuts also stress the body. This stress releases cortisol, a hormone that breaks down energy stores but can, over time, cause the body to retain fat, especially around the belly.
Chronic high cortisol levels slow the metabolism by breaking down proteins, worsening thyroid function, and decreasing digestive efficiency. In addition, poor digestion means you’re not absorbing essential nutrients, affecting your overall health and weight loss efforts.
Lack of sleep is another issue caused by a low-calorie diet. When blood sugar drops, adrenaline gets released to normalize levels, waking you up and impacting your liver, immunity, and productivity, also leading to weight gain.
I have worked with bodybuilding competitors who cycle their calorie intake but many face health issues if done incorrectly. Constantly cutting calories leads your body to “famine mode,” storing any extra intake as fat.
To lose weight healthily, it’s crucial 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 (YBP), we help people determine their calorie needs based on their specific body types. Our approach proves that increasing calories can actually help you lose fat.
Eat plenty of lean proteins like beef, chicken, eggs, fish, and plant-based options like legumes and tofu. Also, include healthy carbs from fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta. Don’t forget to consume healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, olives, and olive oil.
Terry Fairclough is the co-founder of Your Body Programme, Personal Trainer, and Nutritional Therapist, dedicating his career to creating optimal health and well-being.
