Don’t trust everything you read. Except Here. Trust It All.
Welcome to my Blog. Here you can learn everything you want to know about getting stronger, losing weight and managing your diet, in an empathetic and scientific way.
How To Stay Full In A Calorie Deficit Without Being Hungry
The Calorie Deficit is an incredible tool when it comes to weight loss.
In fact…it’s the only tool.
So if you want to lose weight…you need to understand how to make a calorie deficit as easy as possible for you.
That being said…it isn’t an easy thing to do.
One of the quandaries that dieters are in is how to eat fewer calories overall….and not get stupendously hungry in the process.
And that is the aim of this article. To teach you how to figure out this conundrum - to keep hunger low and intake as high as possible - whilst still being in a Calorie Deficit.
Added to that I am going to share some recipes with you that are from the Recipe Manuals I give to, my clients on the Strong & Confident Program
The recipes are all:
As much food volume for as few calories as possible
Have MyFitness Pal Barcodes for you to track
Tasty as hell
For example…one thing that directly affects your caloric expenditure is indeed your caloric intake.
The simple adage: “Eat Less, Move More” is not only stupid but more and more it’s becoming clearer that you just can’t simplify the energy balance equation to something so base.
Firstly, let me say thank you to you for being here. What I am hoping by the end of this article is that you comprehend more about what a Calorie Deficit looks like in terms of the foods that will make it as easy as possible for you and help reduce your hunger.
Secondly, it would be awesome if we became friends by way of you joining my mailing list.
I will, of course, email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, and sometimes I might just want to know how you are; either way…it would be delightful to connect with you more.
Just send me a friend request by filling out the form below…
Thirdly, please bear in mind that the body is clever…and it has what we call a “Set Point”. This Set Point in terms of your weight is where your body is happiest, and it’s very hard to change….but it can be changed.
Your body loves to be exactly where it is….and moving it away from that point, whether you want to gain weight or lose weight, the body will fight you.
Fight you every step of the way.
(Side Note: Sir Ian McKellen is actually one of the nicest actors I have ever met)
The body won’t fight you because it hates you, or because you are broken.
Your Metabolism is not broken (unless diagnosed by a Doctor and even then…it can still be affected to work for your Fat Loss in nearly all situations)
Don’t believe me? Read this:
Your body fights you, and everybody’s body fights them because of something called Homeostasis - which is your body being in balance hormonally. It likes who you are. Your body just loves being cosy and warm and loves to snuggle you exactly where you are.
Personally, I have been trying to gain weight for about six months now. My body is comfortable and really happy at 80kgs - it’s where I feel best. I feel strong, I feel happy in my clothes and my belly feels normal.
In February I weighed in at 83.5kg. I remember going to a Birthday Party for a 1-year-old and I felt so out of sorts. My body didn’t feel right, my belly felt bloated and although I was at 83.5kg it felt like I was a lot higher weight than that.
It was an abnormal spike, I weigh myself every day, and I knew it was a spike. But I personally felt very uncomfortable. I was bloated and I felt awful for the whole day.
But if I look at my average weight over the last 90 days it is 82kgs - and I feel exactly the same now as I did at 80kgs.
I don’t feel bloated and uncomfortable. I feel exactly the same. I have changed my Set-Point. My Metabolism, Muscle Mass and Diet have all fallen into line with where I am at the moment.
And this happens both in weight gain and weight loss.
It takes time.
It’s not easy.
And there are ups and downs.
BUT
You can change that set point.
This is why Dieting is hard. This is why you might feel incredibly hungry when you are in a Calorie Deficit.
And this is why I have written this article.
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR: How To Stay Full In A Calorie Deficit Without Being Hungry
You can listen to the audio version of this Blog Post on my Podcast: The Fitness Solution
How Much Food Should You Eat In A Calorie Deficit?
This is a crucial question.
Now I am sure you are reading this because you have an understanding of a Calorie Deficit and you probably know the numbers you are trying to work towards.
However, if that isn’t you…before you read this article please head here:
Now. personally, I get all of my clients to set their Deficit into a Caloric Window.
This window is between their Basal Metabolic Rate (70% of their Metabolism) and Goal Body Weight in LBS x 12.
(Provided they have given me a realistic Goal Body Weight - that’s a WHOLE other topic)
Then I encourage them to EAT MORE FOOD.
Many of them, when they start working with me will go for the lowest number…their BMR, because they believe that will give them their results the quickest.
But what you must always remember is:
“If the methods are unsustainable the results are unsustainable”
Therefore I encourage them wholeheartedly to eat more. Eat more food. Higher Volume food so that being in a deficit is as easy as possible for them.
If you want to learn how to lose weight and keep it off forever, then you need to do this too.
Sacrifice quick results.
For lasting results.
By eating more food than you ever have before.
The ultimate goal for your Calorie Deficit is to eat as much as you can within your numbers - that is the aim.
Not to eat as little to survive.
This comes down to the whole thrive or survive mindset - and like always I want you to be your absolute best….not just cling on for dear life.
What Foods should you eat to help with hunger?
Rather oddly.
Over the last couple of days, I have had a TikTok post go very viral.
All on this topic.
The aim of what you are going to eat should be quite clear to you now….
MORE FOOD!
But the question remains…how do you do that without increasing Calories outside your Window?
Don’t Forget To Follow Me On Instagram:
Protein - The Weight Loss SuperFood
The first place to look is here - under this Macro Nutrient.
I’m sure you are aware that Protein is a very important aspect of your diet.
I think the world is coming around to how advantageous Protein is when dieting. But many people do still underestimate how useful it really can be.
It can also be one of the hardest things to increase to adequate amounts. (about 1.8-2g/kg of Lean Body Mass)
It has only 4kcal/g and has a multitude of other benefits when dieting:
Helps maintain muscle when losing weight (i like to think of this as eating muscle to get muscle).
Keeps you fuller for longer - as it takes longer to digest.
Reduces Appetite and Hunger Levels - as it reduces the hunger hormone Grehlin in your body.
My Favourite Sources of Protein (PRO):
Meat per 100g serving:
Chicken Breast: ~30g Pro / 6g Fat / 0g Cho / 165kcal
Turkey Breast: ~28g Pro / 7g Fat / 0g Cho / 189kcal
Steak: ~26g Pro / 19g Fat / 0g Cho / 276kcal
Kangaroo: ~20g Pro / 1.3g Fat / 0g Cho / 102 kcal
Fish per 100g serving:
Tuna Steak: ~29g Pro / 1.3g Fat / 0g Cho / 132 kcal
Salmon: ~22g Pro / 13g Fat / 0g Cho / 208kcal
Dover Sole: ~18g Pro / 1g Fat / 0g Cho / 89kcal
Halibut: ~22g Pro / 2.5g Fat / 0g Cho / 115kcal
Dairy per 100g serving:
Eggs: ~12g Pro / 11g Fat / 1.1g Cho / 155kcal
Greek Yoghurt: ~10g Pro / 0.4.g Fat / 3.6g Cho / 59kcal
Whole Milk: ~3g Pro / 3.4g Fat / 4.8g Cho / 63kcal
Some people find Milk filling, and others don’t. I quite often when I am trying to lose weight am able to survive all morning on two medium Coffees.
YoPro Plain Yoghurt: ~10.6g / 0.3g Fat / 4.4g Cho / 64kcal
Cottage Cheese: ~11g Pro / 6g Fat / 1.9g Cho / 127kcal
Many of my clients really don’t like Cottage Cheese, so I tell them my strategy. Use it instead of Butter in your Sandwiches and Rolls and you won’t even notice it is in there.
Vegetarian Options per 100g:
Tofu: ~11.9g Pro / 7.5g Fat / 0g Cho / 127kcal
Tempeh: ~12.4g Pro / 5g Fat / 0.5g Cho / 112kcal
Seitan: ~25g Pro / 0.6g Fat / 5.3g Cho / 126kcal
Lentils: ~9g Pro / 0.4g Fat / 20g Cho / 116kcal
Supplementation of Protein per 100g:
Isolate Whey Protein: ~ 84g Pro / 3.9g Fat / 1.22g Cho / 380kcal
Quest Protein Bars ~ 35g Pro / 10g Fat / 7g Cho / 302kcal
My Favourite High Protein Meals:
Carbohydrates - The Demonised Food
Let me take a moment to be abundantly clear here.
Carbohydrates do not make you fat.
Sugar does not make you fat.
Carbs are literally a third of your diet and they are mightily important.
That being said some Carbohydrates have this annoying trifecta effect.
They are so damn tasty.
They are can be very high in calories
You don’t get to eat a lot of food for that calorie amount
And remember we are trying to make sure you feel full after eating - not empty. So your best Carbohydrate options will be the ones that are Lower Calorie, Higher Volume and will fill you up for longer as they contain more Fibre too.
I always advise the friends I coach online to lean into their Carbohydrate intake. If Calories are hard to keep down…then changing up your Carbohydrate source is the most powerful thing you can do.
Carbohydrates have exactly the same energy in them as Protein.
Please read that again.
Protein has 4kcal per gram and Carbohydrate has 4kcal per gram.
Irrespective of if you are eating sugar as your Carbohydrate or a Vegetable.
The issue arises when we eat sugar we normally eat an awful lot of it at once, and it makes us want more….which is why we begin to gain weight when we eat it.
My Favourite Sources of Carbohydrate (CHO):
Vegetables per 100g serving:
Sweet Potato: ~20g of Cho / 1.6g Pro / 0.1g Fat / 86kcal
Potato: ~17g of Cho / 2g Pro / 0.1g Fat / 77kcal
Carrots: ~9.6g of Cho / 0.9g Pro / 0.2g Fat / 41kcal
Broccoli: ~7g of Cho / 2.8g Pro / 0.4g Fat / 34kcal
Tomatoes: ~4g of Cho / 0.9g Pro / 0.2g Fat / 18kcal
Bell Pepper: ~6g of Cho / 1g Pro / 0.3g Fat / 31kcal
Interestingly Potatoes rank as the highest satiating food on the planet….according to the Satiety Index - and you can see the difference between Potato and Sweet Potato is negligible - both have their individual benefits.
My other fun fact about Vegetables is that this rule generally rings true: If it grows under the ground it will be slightly higher in calories than if it grows above the ground.
Fruits per 100g serving:
Strawberries: ~8g of Cho / 0.7g Pro / 0.3g Fat / 32kcal
Blueberries: ~15g of Cho / 0.7g Pro / 0.3g Fat / 57kcal
Blackberries: ~10g of Cho / 1.4g Pro / 0.5g Fat / 43kcal
Banana: ~23g of Cho / 1.1g Pro / 0.3g Fat / 89kcal
Apples: 14g of Cho / 0.3g Pro / 0.2g Fat / 52kcal
Watermelon: 8g of Cho / 0.6g Pro / 0.2g Fat / 30kcal
Fruits are incredibly powerful in filling you out and being able to fuel your workouts. I have a Banana before every strength session I do and start most days with fruit and a protein yogurt. Many fruits are so incredibly low in calories which means you can eat an awful lot of them if you need to cure hunger.
Whole Grains per 100g serving:
Oats: ~12g Cho / 2.4g Pro / 1.4g Fat / 68kcal
Brown Rice: ~23g Cho / 2.3g Pro / 0.9g Fat / 111kcal
White Rice: ~28g of Cho / 2.7g Pro / 0.3g Fat / 130kcal
Bulgur Wheat: ~76g Cho / 12g Pro / 1.3g Fat / 342kcal
Quinoa: ~21g Cho / 4.4g Pro / 1.9g / 120kcal
Cous Cous: ~23g Cho / 3.8g Pro / 0.2g Fat / 112kcal
Beans and Legumes per 100g serving:
Legumes: ~14g Cho / 5g Pro / 0.4 Fat / 81kcal
Tinned Mixed Beans: ~22.8g Cho / 8.7g Pro / 0.5g Fat / 127kcal
My Favourite High Carb/Low-Calorie Meals:
Dietary Fats
As we are here let me know touch on Fats.
Fats in and of themselves might not be the satiating for you. It’s quite a personal thing.
Some foods high in Fats like nuts, also contain Fibre just like many of the carbohydrates foods I have outlined above.
However, Fats carry a whopping 9kcal per gram and so when you start to increase these in your diet…you also increase your Calories.
Fats play an essential role in our health - they help the absorption of the ADEK Vitamins. Fats are also very useful for our cognitive function and helping to regulate our Hormones.
Don’t avoid them. But when focussing on Fat Loss make sure that you use them wisely.
I always like to add a portion of Nuts to my Salads and I usually have an Avocado with Salads and whenever I have Beans on Toast.
It seems to keep me going just fine.
Other Foods That Will Help You:
High Protein Bread per 100g:
My personal favourite is Burgen Soy and Linseed Bread: 15.2g protein/287kcal
Helga’s Soy and Toasted Sesame Bread: 15.8g protein/280kcal
These are both great options - as they rank high in the Fibre department too.
Many people believe that “bread is bad” and actually, come to think of it when I first started as a Personal Trainer nearly 7 years ago….I used to say this too.
But I got educated, and am happy to admit that I am on a journey of growth as much as anyone else.
I love these two loaves of bread because, well, it gives you an opportunity to make a more informed choice that will help you. You are always going to eat the bread…so how do you affect the quality of that bread? Well, I think these two do that just brilliantly.
Zero Calorie or Very Low-Calorie Sparkling Water per 100ml:
Plain and simple Carbonated Water is 0kcal per 100ml.
or
Mount Franklin Lightly Sparkling Raspberry Flavour: 2kcal/100ml
I use Sparkling Water all of the time. I use it late at night to help me avoid going for Beer when I am just sick of drinking water - and it’s really effective, it’s really refreshing and I can’t recommend it enough.
Low-Calorie Pasta Alternatives per 100g:
Slendier Spaghetti: 3.9g Fibre/8kcal
The whole Slendier Range is just simply magnificent. The amount of Volume of food you can eat for such little calories - I wouldn’t be surprised if they put conventional out of business very soon.
My fiancee and I use this whenever we make Spaghetti Bolognaise, and honestly…I notice no difference at all.
Low-Calorie Ice Cream per 100g:
Strawberry Cheesecake Halo Top: 5g protein, 15g carbohydrate/132kcal
My Favourite Desserts:
Other Tips and Tricks to Help with Hunger
Brush Your Teeth
It’s odd how brushing your teeth kills your appetite. But apparently, it’s because removing the small food particles in your mouth it stops them from playing tricks with your brain about how hungry you are.
I think there’s also something nice about it that prepares you for bed and you are aware you don’t want to be eating too close to when you sleep.
Mindful Eating
That rage. That rage you feel when you are hungry….
I know you know it well. Because we all experience it.
And then you eat something….
And the rage seems to still be there.
Oh.
Maybe you weren’t hungry, to begin with, hey? (sorry….Australia is starting to get to me).
Being truly mindful in these situations is really helpful. I do think Mindfulness and the whole chat around it at the moment is just vogue…and it’s not really a term I truly enjoy using. But it does seem to sum this up quite well.
When you feel hungry ask yourself: “Am I actually hungry or just a bit bored?”
Boredom eating is a form of emotional eating combined with stress eating - something which I think we all do in truth.
What is really going on here is your inability to work with and process the emotions you are feeling.
It might not be as cut and dry as “hungry vs bored”. You could be anxious, depressed, upset, feeling lonely, or vulnerable.
When you feel “hungry” it’s really important you begin to ask yourself what is truly going on. Have an important and difficult conversation with yourself and see if there are other emotions at play that you need to process.
Slow The F-Down
I’m terrible at this too. I eat far too quickly - and whenever I do I am always a touch more unsatisfied than when I just take my time.
There is also Science associated with taking your time when you eat.
There’s a hormone in your belly called Leptin - and this Hormone tells your brain when you are full.
But Leptin isn’t quick - it takes 20mins for that signal to be sent, and twenty minutes is more than enough time to absolutely eat many many more calories.
Some key strategies to slow you down would be:
Put your fork down between each mouthful.
Don’t watch TV or Sport when you are eating.
Engage in conversation with your family at the Dinner Table.
Don’t “work on your lunch break”
Try it. See how it feels.
Did You Find This Useful?
Thank you so much for reading my article - I really hope you found it helpful.
I work with clients all over the world in my One on One Coaching Program called The Strong & Confident Program.
A New Program Designed To Get You Stronger, Healthier & more confident than ever before.
My aim with the friends I work with is to give them so much more out of their fitness by focussing them on the process of getting stronger and therefore making them more confident.
Just like with this article - where I like to give as much help to you as I can
My approach to online training is no different. The whole program is about you - how best can I serve you, and therefore help you in the best way possible.
If you have enjoyed this article and want to see if a Free Month of Coaching would suit you then please click on the Learn More Button below:
I also have a couple of other articles that might help you navigate your Calorie Deficit:
Again, I hope you enjoy them.
Speak again soon,
Coach Adam
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss? | The Truth of Energy Balance
Without a doubt, I am known as a Calorie Deficit advocate, and I am proud to be one.
I am a believer in the fact that to either gain weight or lose weight you need to understand the principle of Calories In vs Calories Out.
Science is irrefutable on the topic. [1,2]
But what goes into the make up of Calories In vs Calories Out needs far more context.
There are many people out there that simply think “Calories In vs Calories Out” is causing the problem in terms of Weight Gain and Obesity.
The Health At Every Size (HAES) movement, the Body Positive Movement which are both movements I support, would argue against the constant bombardment of the rhetoric of losing weight equals results and that you can’t be healthy unless you are thin, and the problems that are perpetuating in our society, and they aren’t wrong.
Problems that are leading so many people into very dark places with regards to the relationship with the self. And that is simply not good enough.
But they also think that anyone who utters the words “calorie deficit” is a proponent of everything they stand against — and that the two cannot co-exist.
There are many people who think that if you are overweight, you are simply lazy and lack willpower, an opinion that should be abhorrent to anyone who hears it and comes from a place of complete ignorance for what “The Truth Of Energy Balance” really is, combined with a complete lack of empathy for peoples humanity.
Because: “Science innit.”
And here I am.
Someone who loves helping people; someone who is on the side of both people being positive about themselves, and allowing them to work on Goals that they want to achieve. Someone who believes in the Science and a Personal Trainer that feels he is being crushed from both sides. Someone who wants to very much empower people to take responsibility for their health, whilst disarming those who simply place blame on people having never walked a day in their shoes.
Some people think that my approach to educating people on a Calorie Deficit isn’t right or fair for people's mental health and physical wellbeing.
Science says that a Calorie Deficit is required for weight loss.
Science also says that looking at why people eat excess calories is equally important in being able to help people with their weight.
The fitness industry is divided between these two…and I believe in both.
There is a bridge to be built — and if you can understand this bridge when it comes to Energy Balance you too will begin to understand why you may have struggled in the past so much for your fitness success, or why others struggle with it too. I’m not saying that you don’t have to take responsibility for your health, of course, you do.
But when you start looking at the context of what goes into Calories In and Calories Out you can start to work with your environment to help create that change and achieve your goals.
Table of Contents for: Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters To Lose Weight? The Truth of Energy Balance”
You can also watch a summary of this Blog Post right here:
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
What Is The Truth Behind Energy Balance?
There is the science which I touched on above.
The simple fact that Calories are units of measure of energy in food.
In the same way, a Mile is a unit of measure for distance. A calorie is a unit of measure for energy, and if we consume more energy than our body needs it will be stored somewhere.
In the same way that if you travel four miles down the road, you are indeed four miles further on from your starting point.
To adjust this storage of energy your body can indeed work these calories away and if you do this often enough and in enough quantity, you will then reduce the mass of your body.
Hence the energy balance equation of:
Calories In vs Calories Out
Or
“Eat Less, Move More” a phrase that is dogged and plagued with ignorance.
For more information on why Eat Less, Move More is an unhelpful term head here: https://www.thegymstarter.com/blog/2020/7/28/why-eat-less-move-more-is-causing-the-problem-not-curing-it
The energy balance equation is very simple and straightforward, and like with all things simple and straightforward it is going to be fraught with problems.
And this is the truth behind Energy Balance.
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
Calories In is not simply “how much you eat”
To view it thus is to oversimplify your human condition.
And Science supports us here too.
The factors that lend themselves to Calories In are the following:
Personal Economic Factors, Social Factors, Community Factors, Genetic Factors, Medical Factors, and Emotional Factors.
Personal Economic Factors
When the UK Government launched its new “Tackling Obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives” plan there were many people on the telly box stating that:
“It's not more expensive to eat healthily”
Which is a falsehood.
In 2014 the University of East Anglia and the University of Cambridge teamed up with The British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust and produced a paper which looked at the growing price gap between healthy and unhealthy foods in the UK.
They concluded:
“Since 2002, more healthy foods and beverages have been consistently more expensive than less healthy ones, with a growing gap between them. This trend is likely to make healthier diets less affordable over time, which may have implications for individual food security and population health, and it may exacerbate social inequalities in health.” [3]
and the results found:
“In 2012 the average price of more healthy foods was about three times higher — £7.49 for 1,000kcal compared to £2.50 for 1,000kcal of less healthy foods” [4]
There are limitations to this study, namely that foods were judged per 1000kcal, and healthier foods are generally less calorie-dense.
Aside from this, I am writing this article at the end of 2020, which has been a year of great economic unrest and at a time where the poverty gap in most western societies is widening also.
I’ve said this before and I will say it again;
“When someone doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from, they aren’t going to worry about the quality of that meal…they are just going to be thankful they got to eat today”
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
Social Factors
This works both ways.
Having a very active social life can lead to a lack of control over your diet. I think we all find it hard to understand our calorie intake when we are eating out more and enjoying ourselves socially.
But the solution to that is simple in that you can choose to not go out as a way of balancing your caloric intake and the effect it might be having on your physical health.
There is however a flip side.
What if you don’t have the choice, to begin with? What if you never have the option to meet friends and go for dinner? What if you can’t afford dinner out? What if you don’t drive and don’t like getting public transport places? What if you have to stay home to look after the children? What if you are in a controlling domestic relationship and it's just not an option to enjoy yourself in that way because the consequences are too great?
Boredom is a key indicator as a cause of Obesity.
California State University (Edward E. Abramson et al, 1977) conducted a study where they took a group of Obese Individuals and people who are rated as “Normal” on the BMI scale. They were fed until satiated, then asked to complete an interesting and boring task…whilst the food was readily available to them. The results were:
“That the obese consumed significantly more food than normals, and that boredom markedly increases food consumption for both obese and normals” [5]
And then in 2012 another study titled: “Eating when bored: revision of the emotional eating scale with a focus on boredom” concluded the following:
“These results suggest that boredom is an important construct and that it should be considered a separate dimension of emotional eating” [6]
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
Community Factors
In the UK 10.2million or about 1/6th of the population live in a Food Desert.
Defined as the following: “Areas which are poorly served by food stores”
A report by the Social Marker Foundation, funded by Kellogs (make of that what you will), looked at “What are the barriers to eating healthily in the UK?” [7] and it found the following:
For those living in poverty, 15% of all household expenditure is spent on food, compared to 10% of those not living in poverty.
Just under a fifth (17%) of households surveyed as part of this research said groceries put a strain on their finances. For individuals with a household income of £10,000 or less, about two fifths (39%) said groceries were a strain on finances, as did about a quarter (23%) of those with a household income of between £10,000 and £20,000.
Some survey respondents stated that high and unaffordable food prices have led to a range of behavioral responses. Across all households one in ten (10%) said that they had cut back on their own level of food consumption so that others in their family (such as children) can eat. This figure stands at 14% among households with an income of less than £10,000.
A quarter of individuals (25%) said that they felt that healthy and nutritious food was unaffordable in the UK.
Access to food may be a barrier for individuals living in “food deserts” — areas that are poorly served by food stores. In these areas, individuals without a car or with disabilities that hinder mobility may find it difficult to easily access a wide range of healthy, affordable food products
These are just a few of their findings.
The truth of the barriers to eating healthily in the UK is simply terrifying, and I would encourage you to read the rest of the study here.
But Community means a lot more than just your location and access to food.
What about your education? The availability of work? The availability of being able to attend a Gym?
A study in Seoul, South Korea found the following:
“Lower socioeconomic status increases obesity. This is due to the intake of high-calorie and low-nutrition foods or environments that limit time and access to regular physical activities”
and a 2008 study, Frank et al, which was looking at “Walkability in neighborhoods” found the following:
“Male residents of more walkable neighborhoods were less likely to be obese or overweight”
and
“walking was consistently higher for all groups in the more walkable neighborhoods” [8]
Now imagine that for a second; you are more likely to be Obese simply because you don’t feel safe walking in your neighborhood, or your neighborhood isn’t accessible for walking for whatever reason.
This is before we even begin to look at things like education availability, public transport options, healthcare options, and public funding for areas to help with many of these factors.
Quite simply, where you are born and raised, through no fault of your own, could have a huge impact on your susceptibility to Obesity.
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
Genetic Factors
As it stands, you cannot be genetically obese.
Your risk factors towards obesity increase as you age if you have a high-risk variant of a gene called FTO. [9]
This gene exists in everyone, and there are some people in the population who have a high-risk version of the gene and the gene controls your impulsivity, and if you are a carrier of the high-risk version of FTO you might find high-fat food more enjoyable [9].
However, studies have also found that those with this variant of the FTO respond just as well to weight loss treatment as anyone else.
BUT (and its a big but) — carriers of this gene are more likely to store body fat because
“people with two copies of the variant weigh on average 3kg more and are 1.7 times more likely to be obese” [10]
So what does all this mean? Well, firstly it means that for some people, it just is harder to lose weight because the clock keeps ticking, and they are starting from a different place genetically.
But it doesn’t mean that you can’t necessarily take charge of your health and fitness — but aligning your goals to what the scale says might be a foolish way to go about it.
Of the people my cited research included just 20% of them had two copies of the FTO Gene, and 48% carried one copy. Therefore the likelihood of your genetic makeup affecting your bodyweight is the last place to look if you aren’t getting the results you desire.
It does however show that some people need more nuance in their understanding of why controlling calories in is so hard.
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
Hormonal Issues
Then again, there are many other metabolic conditions that might affect your ability to sustain a calorie deficit and therefore lose weight.
Conditions such as PCOS, Thyroid Issues, Hashimoto’s Disease, and Diabetes to name a few.
Again, these conditions are not a life sentence to forever gaining weight, but they do blur the lines for you.
In all the research I have done on Hypothyroidism in relation to weight loss I have found this conclusion:
“In general, 5–10 pounds of body weight may be attributable to the thyroid, depending on the severity of the hypothyroidism. Finally, if weight gain is the only symptom of hypothyroidism that is present, it is less likely that the weight gain is solely due to the thyroid.” [11]
I have personally helped many people with PCOS lose and sustain weight loss, but it certainly requires a different skillset from the client. In relation to Hashimotos, I have never personally worked with someone who has this, however, I am aware of many success stories in this field, as well as those who have Diabetes.
Hormonal issues ontop of everything else might make your weight loss journey a little slower and it might make it a little harder. But it by no means that it is not possible for you.
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
Medical Factors and Weight Stigmatisation in Society at Large
The sheer amount of medical conditions that might affect someone’s ability to stay in a Calorie Deficit is almost never-ending.
This also feeds into the other aspect of the energy balance equation which is Calories Out.
For example, someone who has Arthritis is far less likely to be able to engage in physical activity.
But the bigger issue in the field of Medical Factors is the constant Weight Stigmatisation that those with larger body mass face whenever they are seeing their Doctors.
The first two minutes of this TedTalk demonstrates this very powerfully.
Added to that in a 2015 study looked directly at this and they have stated the following:
“There is considerable evidence that such attitudes influence person-perceptions, judgment, interpersonal behavior, and decision-making. These attitudes may impact the care they provide. Experiences of or expectations for poor treatment may cause stress and avoidance of care, mistrust of doctors, and poor adherence among patients with obesity. Stigma can reduce the quality of care for patients with obesity despite the best intentions of healthcare providers to provide high-quality care.” [12]
The title of the study is: “Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity” [12]
In my opinion, that shouldn’t even have to exist as a study, but alas it does — I suppose Doctors are just human too.
You see this has an impact on the “Calories In” side of the equation because we know that when people are subjected to Weight Stigmatisation it leads to an increase in caloric consumption.
As the following Obesity Research Journal study found in 2011:
Overweight women who watched the stigmatizing video ate more than three times as many kilocalories as overweight women who watched the neutral video (302.82 vs. 89.00 kcal), and significantly more calories than the normal-weight individuals who watched either the stigmatizing or the neutral video
and
These findings suggest that among overweight women, exposure to weight stigmatizing material may lead to increased caloric consumption [16]
Weight sitgmatization happens everywhere. This particular study showed participants a video — and that was a contorlled environment. But it’s a lot harder to control this in the big wide world when you have no say in what you see on Billboards, TV ads, the Media Headlines, Social Media, and the sheer ignorant opinion of others who haven’t read an article like this and really looked at the Science beyond “Calories In vs Calories Out”.
That is a lot of exposure.
In a 2018 opinion article published on the BioMed Editorial Website, they looked at “How and why weight stigma drives the obesity ‘epidemic’ and harms health”
Researchers concluded the following:
“Weight stigma is likely to drive weight gain and poor health and thus should be eradicated. This effort can begin by training compassionate and knowledgeable healthcare providers who will deliver better care and ultimately lessen the negative effects of weight stigma.” [13]
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
Emotional Factors and Disordered Eating
The direct link between Emotional Eating and weight gain is incredibly clear to see. The constant feed in our society of the binge and restrict cycle makes up the majority of my work and the sheer majority of my colleagues work in the Fitness Industry.
This is due to a problem that the Fitness Industry created for itself, in helping the media prioritize the “thin ideal” as a marker of health and we are now walking headfirst into issues such as Obesity as well as many Eating Disorders like Bulimia, Anorexia, and Binge Eating Disorders.
Combined with all of the factors that surround emotional eating and disordered eating you must also look at the past trauma of people who are obese.
For instance, some people use weight gain as a way of making themselves invisible and undesirable to the opposite sex as Justin Faden et al (2012) found that:
73% of patients undergoing psychiatric hospitalization following gastric bypass have a history of sexual abuse. [14]
Then let's look at Mental well-being in relation to Obesity.
A meta-analysis published in 2008 in the Journal of Health Psychology found that:
“Combining data from 16 studies the results confirmed that, after controlling for potential confounding variables, depressed compared to nondepressed people were at significantly higher risk for developing obesity. The risk among depressed people for later obesity was particularly high for adolescent females.” [15]
Which will then lead us to Social Media usage and the effect that can have on Calories In.
The International Journal of Eating Disorders published a study in 2019 and found that:
“A clear pattern of association was found between Social Media usage and Disordered Eating cognitions and behaviors with this exploratory study confirming that these relationships occur at younger‐age than previously investigated.[16]”
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
The conclusion to “Calories In”
I think thus far this article has made it very, very clear that the depth to Calories In is so deep and so great that simply understanding the Energy Balance Equation as “In vs Out” just isn’t enough.
And the terrifying part? I have picked just a few examples. The world is littered with many other aspects of what makes Calories In so complex too. This isn’t the whole picture of the equation. It is merely a snapshot that I can comprehend.
Yes, Calories In will need to be reduced for a successful weight loss journey, but when you view the spider web of what really goes into Calories In you begin to see that there is a whole world of social science and physical science that needs to be understood as well.
This understanding leads to one thing: empathy.
Empathy for the person you are working with and therefore building a bridge to the Calories In, side of the energy balance equation.
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
Calories Out is not simply “how much you burn”
On the other side of the Energy Balance equation, you have Calories Out.
And this is just as complex as Calories In.
The Factors that lead to Calories Out are the following:
Weight Sitgmatisaiton, Fat Phobic Attitudes, A Lack of Self Confidence, Inaccessible Gyms and Arresting Environments, Repeated Failure.
The age-old proverb of “you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” is the overriding theme here.
I have already explored the relationship between poverty and obesity in this article, so let us assume that said person has the finances to join a gym in the first place.
They have the “motivation” to be at the gym and they are there primarily to try and get their weight down and to help with their Obesity.
What kind of experience do you think this person will have? How many other people do you think they will see in the Gym that they can relate to?
Plus the mirrors. Wicklund and Duval in 1971, put together a study upon which they found:
Viewing oneself via mirrors has been shown to increase levels of objective SA (situational awarenss) via self-evaluation, leading to increased awareness of the discrepancy between an individual’s current self and his or her “ideal” self [17]
The mirrors literally stop people from being motivated to workout.
Then there are the machines. I personally find some of the seats uncomfortable on these machines, and I am 6ft 4in and weigh 80kgs.
Then the marketing of the Gym. Everywhere you look there is a poster of a very fit person telling you to simply “get in shape in 12 weeks”.
Like it is that easy.
Add to that the attitudes of people within the Gym. The personal trainer someone might talk to about their goals, and then the very basic nutrition plan you receive that has no preference for food you actually like. Combined with the fact that if you want some more education and someone to show you the ropes, well, that's going to cost you extra on top of your membership.
In researching this article I came across the following study: “Obese persons’ physical activity experiences and motivations across weight changes: a qualitative exploratory study” [18]
This study has stories from people who are obese and have tried to exercise to help with their weight loss.
“I’d been on [another trip] maybe 15 years ago where the hiking club actually left me on a mountain because I couldn’t keep up, and [they] said you can sit here and wait for us to come down and get you, or you can go down by yourself. But you’re not coming with us; we’re not waiting for you anymore.” [18]
This is an actual person who was left on the side of a mountain by a Hiking Group.
Just let that sink in a little bit.
If that was you…how would you feel?
I’m not sure if you have ever seen me lift weights and the faces I pull…but it's not exactly attractive. This is the closest GIF I could find:
Now imagine you are someone who is already extremely self-conscious.
“… It’s kind of intimidating … you’re doing something that’s making your body move in all sorts of ways that is not attractive, and you feel like everyone’s going to see this.” [18]
This is a barrier to “Calories Out” that is very real and very true.
In this study they concluded the following:
“Finding an environment in which participants felt safe and encouraged to be active was extremely important, and instances of such inclusion had major ramifications on social wellbeing” [18]
But I personally think this sums it up the most:
“While participants had pleasure-related reasons for engaging in physical activity, this enjoyment could be overshadowed by the grip of caloric fear or dread of a demobilized future; a need for performative achievement or a thinner body; or the need to be a conspicuous exception to potentially stigmatizing anti-obesity messaging. Focusing on their health and fitness achievements and behaviors may have helped participants cope with their sizes in a stigmatizing climate. However, participants could still be overwhelmed by pressures to always be healthier or more active, and many participants had histories of disordered eating and activity practices.” [18]
Is A Calorie Deficit All That Matters For Weight Loss?
The Truth of Energy Balance
The Conclusion to “Calories Out”
Simply saying “exercise more” is base and unfair to say to humans who have panic attacks when they walk into a gym because of how arresting that environment is.
Telling them to just go for a run, when they already feel very self-aware isn’t helpful either — aside from the fact that running is an extremely hard form of exercise on your joints.
And added to that…listen to this story from Latoya Shauntay Snell who was heckled at mile 22 of a marathon by a man on the sidelines who shouted:
“It's going to take your fat ass forever”
Even people who aren’t struggling with their weight find it incredibly hard to find the motivation to workout and exercise. To simply reduce someone who is struggling as someone who is “just too lazy” is being a complete hypocrite towards your own struggles with being able to maintain a level of physical activity.
Just Do It; Just Don’t Cut It
In Conclusion
Quite simply…you can lose weight without exercise, and if you find exercise extremely triggering there are things you can do to still achieve weight loss goals without exercise.
That being said…I advise against losing weight without exercise.
I also advise against making weight loss the sole reason you want to exercise.
Caloric Control is required when it comes to your Diet in order to control your weight, but giving yourself more understanding and empathy for the context of what that truly means can actually give you a release from the constant wheel house of failure you seem to find yourself on.
What is most interesting in the study “Obese persons’ physical activity experiences and motivations across weight changes: a qualitative exploratory study” is that they identify two other reasons these people want to exercise:
Maintenance of functioning and mobility;
Pleasure derived from activity.
A Calorie Deficit clearly isn’t all that matters when it comes to exercise. The preservation of the self and finding movement as a means of enjoyment can mean so much to a person, far above and beyond what a weight loss success will give them.
The more I look, the more data I find that suggests that learning to fall in love with the movement of your body will make you so much happier than just worrying about losing weight.
“Stop foccusing on Re-duction of the body and start focussing on Pro-duction”
And finally;
These findings imply that to encourage physical activity among individuals with diverse weight histories and attitudes, physical activity messaging and programming may benefit from moving beyond a weight loss focus. Many participants in the present study found physical activity rewarding in itself. Disappointment in weight loss aims could be a disincentive to physical activity. Furthermore, physical activity messaging should feature a variety of bodies and abilities, as should activity venues and classes…An inclusive model of physical activity for people of all sizes would focus on enjoyment, pleasurable accomplishment, and social belonging emergent during physical activity, rather than focusing on possibly unachievable or ultimately exclusionary endpoints.
Personally I quite like that.
An inclusive model of physical activity.
If you put that at the heart of what you do clearly a calorie deficit is unequivocally not “all that matters”.
What’s Next?
I have plenty more articles about weight loss for females throughout this website.
Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
You are also invited to get a bundle of Fat Loss Goodies from me including:
Get yourself a free month of workouts (Home and Gym-based options)
Get yourself a free copy of my e-book ”27 Ways To Faster Fast Loss”
Get yourself a free customized Calorie Calculator
Straight to your Inbox
All you have to do is put your email address in below:
References:
Hall, K. D., Heymsfield, S. B., Kemnitz, J. W., Klein, S., Schoeller, D. A., & Speakman, J. R. (2012). Energy balance and its components: implications for body weight regulation. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 95(4), 989–994. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.112.036350
Fleming, J.A., Kris-Etherton, P.M. Macronutrient Content of the Diet: What Do We Know About Energy Balance and Weight Maintenance?. Curr Obes Rep 5, 208–213 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-016-0209-8
Jones NRV, Conklin AI, Suhrcke M, Monsivais P (2014) The Growing Price Gap between More and Less Healthy Foods: Analysis of a Novel Longitudinal UK Dataset. PLoS ONE 9(10): e109343. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109343
nhs.uk. 2020. ‘Healthy Foods Expensive’ Claim Is Unrealistic. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/healthy-foods-expensive-claim-is-unrealistic/> [Accessed 22 November 2020].
Abramson, Edwaed E., Stinson Shawn G., (1977).
Boredom and eating in obese and non-obese individuals,
Addictive Behaviors, Volume 2, Issue 4, 1977, Pages 181–185 https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4603(77)90015-6.Moynihan AB, van Tilburg WA, Igou ER, Wisman A, Donnelly AE, Mulcaire JB. Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self. Front Psychol. 2015;6:369. Published 2015 Apr 1. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369
Social Market Foundation. 2020. What Are The Barriers To Eating Healthily In The UK? — Social Market Foundation. [online] Available at: <https://www.smf.co.uk/publications/barriers-eating-healthily-uk/> [Accessed 23 November 2020].
Frank LD, Kerr J, Sallis JF, Miles R, Chapman J. A hierarchy of sociodemographic and environmental correlates of walking and obesity. Prev Med. 2008 Aug;47(2):172–8. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.04.004. Epub 2008 Apr 22. PMID: 18565576.
nhs.uk. 2020. FTO ‘Fat Gene’ May Make People More Impulsive. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/news/genetics-and-stem-cells/fto-fat-gene-may-make-people-more-impulsive/> [Accessed 23 November 2020].
nhs.uk. 2020. People With ‘Obesity Gene’ Can Still Lose Weight. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/news/obesity/people-with-obesity-gene-can-still-lose-weight/> [Accessed 23 November 2020].
British Thyroid Foundation. 2020. Thyroid And Weight — The Science. [online] Available at: <https://www.btf-thyroid.org/thyroid-and-weight-the-science> [Accessed 25 June 2020].
Phelan SM, Burgess DJ, Yeazel MW, Hellerstedt WL, Griffin JM, van Ryn M. Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity. Obes Rev. 2015;16(4):319–326. doi:10.1111/obr.12266
Tomiyama, A., Carr, D., Granberg, E. et al. How and why weight stigma drives the obesity ‘epidemic’ and harms health. BMC Med 16, 123 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-018-1116-5
Faden, J., Leonard, D., O’Reardon, J., & Hanson, R. (2013). Obesity as a defense mechanism. International journal of surgery case reports, 4(1), 127–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijscr.2012.10.011
Blaine B. Does depression cause obesity?: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies of depression and weight control. J Health Psychol. 2008 Nov;13(8):1190–7. doi: 10.1177/1359105308095977. PMID: 18987092.
Schvey NA, Puhl RM, Brownell KD. The impact of weight stigma on caloric consumption. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Oct;19(10):1957–62. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.204. Epub 2011 Jul 14. PMID: 21760636.
Wicklund, RA, Duval, S (1971) Opinion change and performance facilitation as a result of objective self-awareness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 7: 319–342. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2055102915598088#bibr54-2055102915598088
Bombak AE. Obese persons’ physical activity experiences and motivations across weight changes: a qualitative exploratory study. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:1129. Published 2015 Nov 14. doi:10.1186/s12889–015–2456–0
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
There quite a few apps out there that can help you track your calories and therefore help you lose weight.
The most popular of these is MyFitness Pal and it is probably the most commonly used around the world.
These apps are helpful yes. But they can also be unhelpful in your pursuit of losing weight for a number of reasons.
This article will show you exactly how to set up MyFitness Pal for your success with weight loss, teaching you what to avoid and how to get around these common potholes that the app has which might hinder your ability to succeed.
MyFitness Pal (MYFP) is a wonderful tool for the vast majority of people and it is a phenomenal database of foods from all around the world to help you track your calories.
But…
Will it actually help you lose weight?
You have probably all seen all over the internet advocates of tracking your calories on My Fitness Pal. Followed by swathes of others who just don’t have success with it.
Like with anything in the Fitness Industry there are pros and cons and especially with My Fitness Pal, there are some potholes in there that they just hope you fall into, especially when it comes to weight loss.
Pros of MyFitness Pal (MYFP) are:
It has a Large Database of Food
The Barcode Scanning is quick and effective
Macro Breakdowns
Graphs for your weight, Macro Intake, and Calorie Intake over meals
You can Build Your Own Meals in a quick and easy manner
A lot of Take Out Food and restruants are in their database.
As you can see, there is a lot to like about MyFitness Pal and therefore it is worth figuring out how to make it work for you.
Cons of MyFitness Pal (MYFP):
It sets a vert aggressive calorie deficit.
It gives you back calories burned from exercise.
It can feel time-consuming when you start to use it.
Eating out in restaurants is hard to track,
It can appear that you are constantly failing,
The micro-messaging via the colors it uses in the App
It can get obsessive for some people.
As I mentioned above let’s work through this cons list and figure it all out to make sure that by the end of this article you will know exactly how to use MyFitness Pal to help you lose weight and make the Cons work a lot better for you and your success.
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR “DOES COUNTING OR TRACKING CALORIES HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT?”
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
My Fitness Pal Sets An Aggresive Calorie Deficit
When you log into MyFitness Pal (MYFP) and set yourself a goal.
It asks you a series of questions:
What is your Goal?
How Active Are You?
Personal Details
More Personal Details
What is your weekly goal? (with a recommendation to lose 0.5kgs per week)
Once you then go through some other legal selection boxes you are congratulated and it says:
You should lose: X kg by X Date
Alarm bells should now be ringing in your head.
This is now setting you up for failure…because in truth an App has no idea who you are, what your life looks like or your ability to actually lose weight.
Added to that…it has no idea if the Goal you have set yourself is actually possible for you.
At this point, I have worked with many many people who tell me that they have a lot more to lose than they really actually do.
In this world of Instagram and Social Media, people are being cheated and lied to, to a point where they will be very convinced that they need to lose a lot more weight than they actually need to or actually can.
When choosing a Goal Weight it is not a good idea to simply chose a number based on a friend or what you think you would like to weigh.
My best advice for this is to choose a weight that you have weighed before, maybe 5-10 years ago, and make sure it’s a weight you feel comfortable at. That being said, if you are a person who carries a lot more weight then you might be able to be a little more aggressive with your goal weight number. But please remember “carrying a lot more weight” is a term used in comparison to the whole of society…not your own personal opinion of yourself.
How Does My Fitness Pal Choose Your Calorie Deficit?
In a nutshell, it deducts 500kcal from your Maintenance Calories — no matter who you are but it is capped for Men at 1500kcal/day. and Females at 1200kcal/day.
In their words: “Our calculator uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equations to estimate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Weight) which is believed to be more accurate than the more commonly used Harris-Benedict equation” [1]
This is a true statement based on being able to predict someone's RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) not actually their BMR. [2]
The difference isn’t that crucial but it's good to note there is a difference between RMR and BMR.
Once the equation has your vital statistics it then asks you for your activity level and uses that as a multiplier to figure out your Calorie Deficit.
For example, you have:
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) = 1300
Activity Level is Sedentary = multiplier effect of 1.2
Maintenance Calories = 1300 x 1.2 = 1560kcal
Then to chose your Deficit it appears that MYFP just deducts 500kcal from your Maintenance Calorie number which would leave you trying to eat 1060kcal a day in this example.
Which is far too low for 99% of the population.
But MYFP does have a “lower cap” due to Government restrictions in the USA.
Let's now take a real-world example of someone. Meet Jacquie.
Let us say that Jacquie is 40 years old, she currently weighs 74kgs and is 5ft 8in tall, and has a BMI of 25.1 putting her in the overweight category but she does weight training 2x a week and works in an office.
Her Goal weight is 70kgs as that lowers her BMI to 23.4.
Her BMR is calculated at about 1600kcal/day.
Then we add her multiplier of 1.2 for her Lightly Exercise Level to get her Maintenance Calories.
1600 (BMR) x 1.2 (Activity Multiplier) = 1920kcal/day or “Maintenance Calories”.
MYFP dictates that we deduct an arbitrary 500kcal which equals = 1420kcal/day.
I actually put Jacquie into MYFP and this is what came up:
As you can see, the way I believe MYFP is working is pretty accurate.
Putting a human being into a straight caloric deficit below her BMR, without any rests or diet breaks scheduled into her plan is in short setting her up for failure.
Personally, I don’t advise any of my friends that I work with online to go below their Basal Metabolic Rate when working on their deficit. Basal Metabolic Rate is defined thus:
“Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories required to keep your body functioning at rest”
Keep your body functioning at rest.
This is literally the minimum amount of calories you need for your body to be able to function daily without any movement.
So if you eat less than this for a prolonged period of time what do you think might happen? You will of course gradually get tired, irritable, your performance in the Gym will suffer and all of this leads to one thing.
Giving up.
Which then makes you feel like a failure.
Which then makes you give up on your goals.
My suggestion is to manipulate the App so that you get a Calorie Allowance number that set to either your BMR or your Goal Body Weight in LBS x 12.
To do this on the app, you need to click on the three dots in the bottom corner called More> Goals > Nutrition Goals > Calorie, Carbs, Protein, and Fat Goals > Calories
Then you can set your Customised Calories based on my suggestions above.
If you need help setting your Calorie Targets then you can grab a Free Customised Calorie and Macro Calculator from my website by clicking here: https://www.thegymstarter.com/free-fat-loss-giveaways
By doing this it will ensure that your Calories are set to a level that will create enough adherence for you so that you can be consistent, still enjoy your favorite foods, and still reach your goals.
I am suggesting taking your Calories up so that you don’t continue on the cycle of overly restricting yourself, then binging and forever treading water with your success.
To find out more about how to set your Calorie Deficit watch this:
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
Calories Burned From Exercise Equation
This is my single biggest bugbear of the whole app. This combined with other Fitness Pros encouraging people to share photos of “Calories Burned from Exercise” on Social Media.
This is a practice that just has to stop.
Period.
Calories Burned from exercise is a near-impossible thing to calculate, and an Iowa State University study found that activity trackers can be up to 60% inaccurate in calculating Calories Burned from exercise [3].
A study by Standford University and The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in 2017 took 60 participants and tested an Apple Watch, a Fitbit Surge, and a few other wearables.
The Apple watch was top of the class when it came to tracking Heart Rate during Exercise and all activity trackers were within the 5% error margin of acceptable.
However, when it came to energy expenditure or Calorie Burned the results were worryingly poor:
“In fact, the study claims that the Fitbit Surge was the most accurate with energy expenditure tracking, with an error rate of around 27 percent. The Microsoft Band came in at around 33 percent, while Apple Watch reported an error rate near 40 percent, though it was consistent” [4]
Added to all of that, the most inaccurate readings come out when Aerobic Exercise is performed — namely Cardio and HIIT workouts.
The one saving grace here is that they are consistently rubbish.
Why is this a problem in relation to MYFP?
MYFP tells you to basically “eat your calories burned from exercise back”.
It calculates the calories you have eaten.
It calculates the calories you have “burned from exercise”
and adds those back into how many calories you should be eating for the day.
So let’s say you can eat 1500kcal a day.
It’s now lunchtime and you have eaten 750kcal at this point giving you another 750kcal until you have hit your allowance for the rest of the day.
You then workout and “burn 350kcal”.
MYFP will then give you that 350kcal back…so you can now eat for the day a total of 1100kcal.
1500–750+350 = 1100kcal remaining for the day
This is what it looks like on the App using my numbers:
In truth, I don’t have 266kcal remaining. I have 261kcal remaining until I hit my target of 2860kcal.
You know that being in a Calorie Deficit is hard work combined with the fact that being able to eat to your Deficit Number or come in below that is hard as well.
You also know that exercise will help you get into your Calorie Deficit.
So why would you eat the calories back from the exercise you just performed?
This will just keep you spinning your wheels.
Personally, I am aware that exercise is more than a method to burn calories, and I would never promote someone going to the gym just to “earn their food”.
Exercise is worth so much more than just a tool to burn calories — it can build confidence, strength, and can give you so much more from life than you ever dreamt of.
But it does burn calories and that can’t be overlooked when trying to lose weight.
Unless you eat back the calories you have burned from exercise.
The other great failing in MYFP with this is that it also gives you calories back from all movement.
Including your Steps.
Now when it comes to a Calorie Deficit the second-biggest portion of your metabolism which will help you lose weight is called Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis or NEAT.
This is 15% of your Metabolism and other than calories in is the single greatest weapon in your toolbox to losing weight.
Unless you are on MYFP — because yes, MYFP gives you these Calories back as well.
You can fix this in two ways:
Just focus on your Goal Calories and your Food Calories when looking at the app and ignore everything else.
Disconnect MYFP from being able to read your Exercise Data. I only know how this works on IOS but you have to go to Health > Click on your Profile Photo opposite the word Summary >Privacy > Apps > MyFitnessPal
Then you can toggle what Data you want it to read and what data you don’t want it to read.
I recommend turning off Steps and Workouts.
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
MyFitness Pal Is Time Consuming
Tracking Calories is something that gets a lot easier over time and MYFP gets better and better at remembering what it is you eat so that it becomes more time-efficient for you to do it.
I can’t deny that inputting all the ingredients in your home-cooked meal into your phone doesn’t take up some time.
But it doesn’t take up A LOT of time either. Not really.
And scanning a Barcode does not take up any time at all.
When I cook and if I am tracking I will get the scales out, and just weigh as I go, and as I am doing that I am cooking and preparing the food.
MYFP becomes laborious when you try to reverse engineer the food that is on your plate.
MYFP also allows you to create Recipes which Bulk Imports your Ingredient List and then you just have to find the right measurement of your food (oz, grams, kilos, cups, ml, Large, Medium, Small) and then select the serving size and the number of servings.
My trick for this is to always try to find a food that is measured on the app in grams, choose a serving size of 1g and then the Number of Servings can equal how much the food actually weighs on the scale.
Stop trying to be perfect.
Your desire to make MYFP perfect is also draining your time.
If you are spending 10mins scrolling, trying to find the right selection of Carrot that you have in your house, you need to assess your priorities.
In truth, no one ever got fat from eating too many Fruits and Veggies so just pick a carrot, get the grams right and move on.
For my friends that I work with Online, they get access to over 250 recipes which all have MYFP Barcodes on them. So you literally just have to scan a barcode which takes less than 10 seconds.
If you have read this and you still feel like it takes up too much time you can adopt this policy with MYFP:
You must track anything you eat with a barcode on it by scanning it in at home or out and about.
You must track down the calories in restaurants you eat (or best guess them) and add 30% to that figure and track that.
Don’t track Home Cooked Meals as long as you have built your meal in this manner: Protein, then Veggies, and then Carbs.
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
Eating in Restaurants is hard to track
Yes. It is.
But that shouldn’t stop you trying.
Many popular chains actually do show up on MYFP, and if they don’t many restaurants publish their calories on their website.
So just head there, find out how many calories the meal you will have has in it, and then input it into MYFP.
If you still can’t find that information…you can only do the best you can do.
In truth, even a restaurant that has published its calories will still be a long way off depending mostly on the Chef they have on that day…and how much oil said Chef likes to use.
If you are eating out more than once a week…the simple reality is that your tracking will be inaccurate and your ability to adhere to a Calorie Deficit will be affected.
Throughout my career, I have come across people who I train that eat out most nights…and trying to get a result for them in terms of weight loss is very difficult, so we look elsewhere. We will work on performance-based goals, track their energy levels, try and improve their sleep and create habits throughout their day that will make them feel better, without them focusing on Weight Loss as a goal.
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
It Constantly Looks Like You Are Failing
MYFP has a lot of trackable stats.
Calories are one piece of the pie. When you look into your Macros you are given targets and a sliding bar of how close you are to hitting your target.
If you go over your target you get a big red minus number informing you that you failed.
These charts are literally impossible to get right.
But that's ok because you aren't trying to be perfect, you are trying to be consistent.
If you go over on your Macros…chill, because you will feel exactly the same about yourself if you go under on your Macros too: you literally can’t win.
So stop trying. Just do your best. And see it as a constant work in process.
When it comes to weight loss and building muscle these are your order of priority;
Calories In
Protein In
That is all you need to worry about. So if you want to play the “perfect” game then just try and do your best on those two markers.
Get as close you darn well can to your Calorie Allowance.
And if you go over by 50–100kcals — that's ok.
If you come in under by 50–100kcals — that's ok too.
Perfection is impossible with this App. I promise you.
The only day you fail at fitness is the day you give up. This isn’t a pass/fail situation. All you ever do in Fitness is learn and from that education, you develop and amend to move forward again.
In truth, we are all beginners.
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
The Apps Use of Colours
If you are “under” your calories MYFP makes the numbers Green.
For good.
If you are over your calories MYFP makes the numbers Red.
For bad.
I’m not sure who needs to hear this right now…but whatever happens with your nutrition it is neither Good nor Bad.
It's just fact.
And every day that passes you get a new opportunity to create a new fact.
But if you keep seeing Red on an App — you are going to believe you are failing. And that might be fine in isolation, but day in and day out it will slowly get to you and make you want to give up.
Added to that Green doesn’t mean good either.
As I laid out above your Calories are always the best guess and MYFP sets them really really low for someone. So for the App to then suggest that you are being Good for coming in under what is an already low number is going to equally lead you to a path of failure.
Because you can’t sustain a Calorie Deficit that aggressive and you will end up overeating pretty quickly.
There is no Good or Bad. And subliminal messaging to that degree is harmful to users of the App.
Try to ignore the colors and just understand that no matter what you log or what the App says you are always trying your best.
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
It Can Become Obsessive For Some People
A large argument I see against tracking your calories is that it can become obsessive for some.
But let me ask you this. Is checking your Bank Account obsessive? Is tracking your income and your outgoings obsessive? Is checking to see how much petrol you have in your car obsessive?
That is all Calorie Tracking should be for you.
It can become obsessive when you directly align it with the success or failure of your goal and don’t keep everything else that goes into a Calorie Deficit in perspective.
It feels like a good time to say this as well:
You don’t have to track your calories for the rest of your life…nor should you want to.
It’s a way of getting yourself educated on what you eat and how that impacts your weight. It's about spending some time understanding Energy Balance, the foods you eat, and how it impacts your life.
I recommend tracking for about 4–6 months.
That should give you enough data to be going on your merry way, and if you ever need to check in again with it in the future you will know exactly what to do and how to do it.
Tracking your calories is something you should use to empower you to be able to learn and manage your food intake no matter what your goals.
It’s not a life sentence. Nor should it be
Does Counting or Tracking Your Calories Help You Lose Weight?
Conclusion
MYFP has its uses and I truly believe it can help you lose weight. If you manage to use it in the manner I have laid out in the article.
MYFP is a business.
And it earns money from you logging in again, and again and again.
Therefore the further from your goals it keeps you the higher the chance it has of you continuing to use it.
The more money it makes.
Just remember the following when you use it:
Set your Calories to GBW in LBS x 12
Ignore Calories Burned from exercise
The more you do it the less time consuming it becomes
It will never be perfect nor should you want it to be
You aren’t failing despite the App trying to tell you that you are
Red doesn’t equal Bad and Green doesn’t equal Good
It’s not obsessive to want to learn more about something — just remember this isn’t a life sentence, this is an education to lead you to be more confident and empowered for the future.
And that’s it!
What’s Next?
I have plenty more articles about weight loss for females throughout this website.
Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
You are also invited to get a bindle of Fat Loss Goodies from me including:
Get yourself a free month of workouts (Home and Gym-based options)
Get yourself a free copy of my e-book ”27 Ways To Faster Fast Loss”
Get yourself a free customized Calorie Calculator
Straight to your Inbox
All you have to do is put your email address in below:
References:
Myfitnesspal.com. 2020. BMR Calculator, Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator | Myfitnesspal.Com. [online] Available at: <https://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator#:~:text=Your%20BMR%20does%20not%20include,commonly%20used%20Harris%2DBenedict%20equation.> [Accessed 14 November 2020].
Amirkalali, B., Hosseini, S., Heshmat, R., & Larijani, B. (2008). Comparison of Harris-Benedict and Mifflin-ST Jeor equations with indirect calorimetry in evaluating resting energy expenditure. Indian journal of medical sciences, 62(7), 283–290. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5359.42024
News.iastate.edu. 2020. Activity Trackers Not As Accurate For Some Activities, ISU Study Finds • News Service • Iowa State University. [online] Available at: <https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2015/08/19/activitytrackers> [Accessed 14 November 2020].
Shcherbina A, Mattsson CM, Waggott D, Salisbury H, Christle JW, Hastie T, Wheeler MT, Ashley EA. Accuracy in Wrist-Worn, Sensor-Based Measurements of Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure in a Diverse Cohort. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2017; 7(2):3. <https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/7/2/3>
How Long Will It Take To Lose A Stone With Diet and Exercise?
In this article, I will tell you exactly how long it will take you to lose a stone with diet and exercise. It's a complex issue and I will hopefully take you through it in a very easy to follow and concise manner.
But before we get started I would like to invite you to become my friend by getting on my list.
I’ll email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, sometimes I might just want to know how the hell you are; either way…it means we can be friends.
Oh, and I will also send you some free fitness goodies too, like a free calorie calculator, a month of in-home and in Gym Workouts and much more…but only when you send me your friend request:
Table of Contents for: “How Long Will It Take To Lose A Stone With Diet and Exercise?”
But first, I want to tell you a story.
Personal Trainers don’t know it all — and that’s ok
This question takes me back years. To a very dear friend of mine who I worked with on the Gym Floor in person.
I am actually Godson to her Nephew, and crucially she is the reason that I am about to marry the most wonderful person on the planet.
This is one of the greatest gifts of being a Coach, that no school or certification can ever tell you. The personal relationships that you build and the way these relationships can transform your life is incredible.
Back to Jess, one of the first friends I ever trained. She turned and looked at me when we were chatting, stressed as anything, and asked:
“How quickly will I lose this weight?”
Now, back then, I didn’t have the knowledge, the expertise, or crucially the confidence to stand back and say to her:
“As long as it takes. It will depend on far more factors than you can even fathom”
So I made the terrible mistake of running to the toilet, checking Google, and coming back saying:
“About 2lbs a week”
If I could have my time again.
It will come as no surprise to you that both Jess and I learned a lot over the course of working together.
And luckily we managed to get her losing weight and she achieved incredible things:
From left to right: Jess’ “Work in Progress Picture 2015–2017, Jess with my Godson on his Christening Day, and Jess on her Wedding Day to Matt (who is another dear friend of mine).
What I adore about all of these photos is Jess’s smile. She was also so full of life, and everything she does she puts her all into. Whether that is being a Teacher for little children, training with me, or now being a mother to her new family that she and Matt have. She is one of the most exuberant and fun people to be around, and looking at these photos makes me well up because being able to experience all of these memories with her as well means so much to me.
What I truly see in these photos is a woman full of confidence and life. And she deserves everything she worked so incredibly hard for, and for her to entrust me with getting her and her husband ready for their wedding was a true honor.
But I did let her down. If I knew then what I know now about how long it will take her to lose a stone my answer would be very different.
It would be what I am about to tell you right now.
So in a vow to never make that mistake again, I am writing this for you.
How to lose a stone with diet and exercise?
I am wholly encouraged that there is a new hashtag emerging on Instagram, and it is the following #caloriedeficitdiet
How To Lose A Stone With Diet
Whether you want Fat Loss or Weight Loss there is only one answer to the question of how you lose weight, and that is a “Calorie Deficit”.
This is the principle that energy in as calories must be lower than energy out, and this will create weight loss for you. You can create a Calorie Deficit in two ways:
Eat fewer Calories
Burn Calories through Exercise
In order to know how many calories is less than your body needs, therefore creating weight loss then use this equation for your “Upper-Calorie Window”
Goal Bodyweight in LBS x 12
For your “Lower-Calorie Window” you need to find out your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR.
To do this you can download any number of Calorie Calculators from the Internet, but the one I think is the best one to use is available right here.
A couple of really quick strategies to help you manage a Calorie Deficit in terms of your Diet would be to do the following:
Eat Protein and Vegetables at every meal
Drink 3 liters of water a day
Snack on Fruit
Track your calories using MyFitness Pal or another tracking app
Avoid excess liquid calories from drinks like soda, alcohol, and very high-calorie smoothies.
Try to limit the number of times you eat out in a week, as when in restaurants you have very little control over the preparation and calorie content of your food.
These are quite general guidelines but they will stand you in good stead as you get started on how to lose a stone with your diet.
I’m not going into to it much more here as I have nearly 10 articles on it on my website, that explain a Calorie Deficit in great detail, what your expectations with it should be, and how to implement my system of a Calorie Window.
If you do need some extra help on it right now then watch this:
How To Lose A Stone With Exercise
Strictly speaking…you can’t. Calories In are what matter when it comes to adhering to your plan to lose weight.
Although, exercise does burn calories, but not as much as you think. In fact, a study [1] took 60 healthy adults and made them wear laboratory devices as well as activity trackers to see how accurate they were. The Fitbit Surge was the most accurate at calculating calories burned at an error rate of 25%.
Yup. It can be up to 25% inaccurate.
This is why you are driving yourself mad by checking your calories burned from exercise on your watch…and you aren’t seeing results.
This doesn’t mean that Exercise is a defunct part of the Energy Balance Equation. There will be some calories burned from exercise…so that’s good, and you are building some muscle on top of that…but again…not as much as you would think.
But exercising gives you so much more than a method with which to burn calories, and this is one of the reasons that weight loss takes so much time.
Lifting Weights, being in the Gym, doing something difficult is a very human thing to do because it keeps you being a productive person.
And a productive person is a person that burns calories. When you exercise regularly this gives you a feeling of wellbeing. It creates momentum for you, and that momentum will lead you to making better choices about yourself outside and inside the Gym.
You might walk more, you might be able to get an extra training session each week, you might just choose to stand on your commute as opposed to sit on the train, or take the stairs as opposed to the escalator.
When you start adding layers of exercise into your life, you will learn the positive effects that will have on your wellbeing…and that is very addictive my friends.
Added to the above, it will help your Calorie Deficit not just by calories burned from exercise, but by exercising more it will guide you into making nutritional choices more aligned with your goals each and every day.
The most important thing to remember when it comes to how to lose a stone with exercise is this one word: enjoyment.
Essentially it doesn’t matter what “mode” of exercise you do, if you aren’t enjoying it you will not stick to it. If you have loved running in the past…then go running. If you enjoy the Gym…then lift weights.
If you want to try something new and think that will be tons of fun…then go do that.
You don’t need permission from me to do any type of exercise, you only need to give yourself permission to focus on exercise that you enjoy.
My preference is weight training in the Gym for those I work with Online as it is more efficient but it is also more accessible. No matter what your ailments you will be able to lift weights to some degree or level. Every exercise can be adapted for your goals and your physiology.
Whereas running is just running. Cycling is just cycling. If you can’t do it…you can’t do it, and that is that.
Here are some Workouts you can do in the Gym which I took from the following article of mine: 4 Gym Based Workouts For Beginners both Male and Female
They are designed to help you burn fat and build muscle at the same time in order to facilitate the Weight Loss you are after.
They focus on what we call Compound Movements. Moving like this will be your best way to get the most out of your training as it will activate the most amount of muscle which will help your Calorie Deficit the most.
What if you are “Skinny Fat”?
Everyone I have worked with when we first started working together wanted to lose weight, and I think in truth this is because that is what you know.
Or rather, you didn’t know that losing weight and losing Body Fat were two different things.
Or, you didn’t think the difference mattered.
I do believe it is important to know the difference between these two things as many people who need to lose body fat, think they need to lose weight.
There are huge swathes of females out there who dislike the way look and feel. The best word I can think of to describe this feeling to you is “loose”. You just feel loose, and you want to feel tight and “toned”. And you believe the answer lies in losing weight.
If you feel like this, you need to decrease your Body Fat, not necessarily lose weight.
You are what we would call “Skinny Fat”.
Which is a term I really dislike, but it is the industry standard. So for you, today, reading this, as it does explain my point I will just go with it.
When you work on losing body fat, you might not necessarily lose weight.
Let me say that again: When you focus on losing body fat, you might not lose weight.
Weight Loss directly relates to the reduction of everything in your body:
Body Fat
Muscle Mass
Water
This is why you lose scale weight when you cut out carbohydrates because, for every gram of carbohydrate you eat, your body will hold 2–3 grams of water.
It’s doesn’t necessarily mean you are losing body fat.
If you aren’t activating and exercising your muscles you will lose muscle density and therefore you might lose scale weight.
When you focus solely on just a Caloric Deficit, without musclar activation then you will lose weight, but you will also lose strength and metabolic performance.
Which can lead you into a very trapped place in terms of your futurre caloric restriction and being able to sustain your Weight.
There is no easy way to directly know whether you are losing body fat or just weight overall. What I would say is this:
If you are feeling a lot better in your skin,
If you feel stronger,
If you feel more confident,
If you feel your clothes are fitting better,
If you feel like you have more energy
If you are finding your Calorie Deficit manageable and sustainable
Then what you are doing is working, don’t oveththink whats happening in terms of the scale and keep going.
If you think you are “Skinny Fat” then you need to focus on getting in the gym and building your body up, in terms of its muscular density is going to have the “weight loss” effect you desire, except the scale might not go down.
To conquer the “Skinny Fat” equation follow these steps:
Increase Calories to 110% of TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)
Strength Train 3–4x a week following a Training Plan
Focus on Performance Goals not Scale Goals
Reduce Cardiovascular output
Look for these markers of progress in your journey:
Are clothes fitting better?
Is the scale not moving down or up too much?
Are you lifting more weight each session?
Are you seeing muscle?
Are you eating enough protein?
Are you having increased energy?
Has your posture improved?
Are you less tired?
Are you more confident?
Do you feel more powerful?
But I Don’t Want To Look Bulky!
You can feel strong and empowered….without looking bulky.
Women have about 15–20 times [2] less Testosterone in their bodies compared to men, but they do make up for this difference in other hormonal aspects of their physiology.
Other hormones that help with muscle building for women is Estrogen [3]. This is a growth hormone that is particularly dominant in the first two weeks of a female’s cycle.
Find out more by reading this: How Does Your Menstrual Cycle Affect Your Fitness And Weight Loss?
Estrogen is great at:
Stimulating Growth Hormone Production
Preventing Muscle Breakdown
Increases Metabolism
This will more or less balance out your inability to build muscle because of a lack of testosterone. The reason you don’t see women with the same muscle density in the Gym as men is because they begin with a much lower (nearly half as much) amount of muscle as men, and can’t gain as much.
The more muscle you build, the less bulky you will look. Muscle on the female body provides definition, shape, and tonality. Therefore the more of it you build, and the less body fat you have (about 20%) you will have that shape and tonality that you desire.
But the path to what you desire isn’t dieting. It is muscle building.
How Long Will It Take?
I have literally just received a DM on Instagram of someone losing 13lbs in 30 days.
This is not what you should expect.
Some of the friends I work with online have taken 2 months to lose 6lbs.
So where does the answer lie?
Whenever someone new applies to work with me via Online Coaching I always ask them this question:
Would you rather:
a) Make very fast progress that you know is not sustainable?
b) Make slower progress that you know is sustainable?
This gives me a guide on where to set their Calories, Training, and how they will need coaching into the future.
I know that most people will want fast progress that will be sustainable, but it doesn’t exist. There comes a point where taking the fast track will always come to a crashing halt, and this could create a very testing path into the future.
Firstly, when you get seduced by fast weight loss, despite knowing that it can’t continue at the Cerebral Level, your imagination will keep saying to you:
“I am different. Look at my results. I am different. I can keep this up”
Your imagination can be your best friend or your worst enemy.
And oftentimes, with people, I have worked with over the years and those who are low on self-confidence, their imagination can be their own worst enemy.
When it comes to losing weight, these two words are without a doubt the most important:
Reality and Perspective
You must always root yourself in the reality of what weight loss is, and the best way to do that is to make sure you have a very realistic perspective.
The reality of weight loss is something you aren’t going to hear, but you really seriously need to listen to this point.
0.5lbs a week is fast weight loss. 1lb a week is terribly fast weight loss.
2lbs a week is beyond epic.
But these numbers can only be seen in this context with hindsight. When you look back over a year you will see an average weight loss of between 0.5lbs and 1lbs a week.
When you are in the thick of it, there is no way that it will be that linear. You will have weeks, sometimes months, when your weight goes up and stays up for whatever reason. You will have moments when it just drops out of control and you will think you are walking on the stars.
Scale Weight by its very nature is erratic.
And with all things erratic we must always give it space and time with which to actually process the results and effect it has had.
1lb of fat is equal to 3500kcal
“A total of 3500 calories equals 1 pound of body weight. This means if you decrease (or increase) your intake by 500 calories daily, you will lose (or gain) 1 pound per week. (500 calories per day × 7 days = 3500 calories.)” [4]
Do this for 14 weeks…magically that is how you lose a stone. Cue eye roll.
This is a conventional stance by many people who are just poorly educated in the field of weight loss. Although I am not denying the science about how many Calories makeup 1lb of weight, what I am calling into question is the lack of understanding this principle has for the human condition and crucially metabolic adaptation [5].
Metabolic Adaptation is the method upon which as you reduce the size of your body, you will need fewer calories to maintain it.
As you lose mass, you don’t just lose Body Fat. You will lose muscle, which will affect your Basal Metabolic Rate, you will also burn fewer calories as you move each day, because you are moving something with less Mass which means you are using less energy with which to do that.
Added to that, sticking to a Caloric Restriction of 500kcals each day for 14 weeks, without any variation on that number is very hard.
Let's look at this in more real terms.
A 40-year-old female who:
Weighs: 182lbs (12st/82kgs)
Height: 176cm (5ft 8in)
Leads a Sedentary Lifestyle
Has a Caloric Need of 1871kcal to maintain her weight.
If you then restrict her to 1371kcal a day (1871–500) in order to achieve this weight loss of one stone you are restricting her to below her Basal Metabolic Rate of 1559kcal a day.
This can then become dangerous and more unsustainable as time goes on due to the fact that you are not eating enough to fuel the basic needs of your body. Your Organs for example.
Five Ways in which restricting your calories to below your BMR level could be harmful are [6]:
It can lower your Metabolism
It will cause Fatigue and Nutrient Deficiencies
It may reduce fertility
It can weaken your bones
It may lower your immunity
And one I will add:
6. It might trigger Disordered Eating habits and behaviors
I’m not in the business of scaremongering, therefore looking at that list, I personally think the most crucial point in terms of your ability to adhere to the Caloric Restriction is number 2.
Fatigue will create havoc in your ability to lose weight. When you are tired you become stressed, leading to a desire for higher-calorie foods [7]. Then you will notice that you aren’t losing weight…and then you will feel like a failure…and then you will be inclined to quit.
Number 6 is also extremely important, as the restrict/binge continuum is something that is more common than you might imagine, combined with the possible effects of this on your Mental Wellbeing also.
If you do experience any behaviors of Disordered Eating please seek specialist help. BEAT is a fantastic charity available here: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
If only you actually implemented a sustainable Deficit in the first place and realized my next point…
Worrying About Time Is Your Enemy
When you focus too much on “how long will it take to lose a stone” you will end up putting yourself in a prison.
What happens is that you focus so much on the weight coming off within this particular, made up out of thin air, time frame…when the scale doesn’t comply because of factors effecting you that you didn’t even dream of when you came up with this made-up time frame, you start to feel like you are failing.
And when you start feeling like you are failing, you will start to give up.
And when you give up…you will never achieve what you want.
When you are truly trying to calculate by what point you need to lose this weight. Ask yourself “why”.
If your answer to why is any of the following:
Because I want to look better
Because I need it now
Because it will make me happy
Because it will make me more attractive
Because Karen at work managed it so I should too
Then you need to understand that the answer to these points lies in taking a lot more slowly than it does achieving it quickly.
Without a shadow of a doubt, if you want to make your Weight Loss successful and sustainable then you need to take it a lot slower than you imagined.
Slower than a 500kcal a day deficit. Slower than 1lb a week. Slower than you might really want it.
Because the chasm between wanting it and achieving it is layered with far more traps and potholes than you ever thought when you first typed into Google: “How Long Will It Take To Lose A Stone With Diet and Exercise?”
I believe the truth lies here:
You don’t actually need to lose a stone or any amount of weight by any particular date in the future.
The stress that a time frame will cause, will undermine your ability to actually lose weight. It also won’t take into account the craziness of this world.
Even if you try to lose weight by 1lb a week…that is still 3.5 months.
A lot of things can happen in 3.5 months, a lot of things that are out of your control, and will wildly affect how quickly you are able to lose weight.
So please, give yourself more time to achieve the weight loss you desire…and ironically it will happen more quickly because you won’t go through cycles of restriction/binge or success/failure/quit.
You will just keep plugging away.
You will learn how to balance your fitness goals with your very busy life.
and
You will find it empowering because you will see progress over a longer period of time which means you will keep going for a lot longer, and get results upon which you never thought possible.
Did You Find This Useful?
I have plenty more articles about weight loss throughout this website.
Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
Added to that it would be AMAZING if you wanted more help from me.
Just can send me that friend request we spoke about earlier…and I will send you lots of help straight away.
References:
Shcherbina, A. et al., 2017. Accuracy in Wrist-Worn, Sensor-Based Measurements of Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure in a Diverse Cohort. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 7(2), p.3. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jpm7020003.
Encyclopedia, M., 2020. Testosterone: Medlineplus Medical Encyclopedia. [online] Medlineplus.gov. Available at: <https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003707.htm> [Accessed 25 September 2020].
Legion Athletics. 2020. The Ultimate Guide To Female Muscle Growth — Legion Athletics. [online] Available at: <https://legionathletics.com/female-muscle-growth/> [Accessed 25 September 2020].
Guth, E., 2020. Healthy Weight Loss. [online] Jama Network. Available at: <https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1900513> [Accessed 26 September 2020].
Darcy L. Johannsen, Nicolas D. Knuth, Robert Huizenga, Jennifer C. Rood, Eric Ravussin, Kevin D. Hall, Metabolic Slowing with Massive Weight Loss despite Preservation of Fat-Free Mass, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 97, Issue 7, 1 July 2012, Pages 2489–2496, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2012-1444
Healthline. 2020. 5 Ways Restricting Calories Can Be Harmful. [online] Available at: <https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/calorie-restriction-risks#:~:text=1.,8%20%2C%209%20%2C%2010%20).> [Accessed 26 September 2020].
Verywell Mind. 2020. How Stress Can Cause Weight Gain. [online] Available at: <https://www.verywellmind.com/how-stress-can-cause-weight-gain-3145088> [Accessed 26 September 2020].
The Best Meal Plan For Female Weight Loss
Welcome! I’m Adam and today I am going to give you the best meal plan for female weight loss.
In all honesty, I was really surprised when researching this article that Females are looking for Meal Plans just for “female weight loss”.
Ladies, what's so bad about the way men eat?
If you happen to be Male and have come across this article, then you are more than welcome here too. The Meal Plan that I will outline will 100% work for you, regardless of your sex.
There is nothing in this article that can’t be utilised by a man, to get just as incredible results in your Weight Loss Journey.
My friends…you are all welcome!
I promise you, at the end of this article, everything will be really clear, you will have a plan and be inspired with the knowledge you need to conquer your female weight loss conundrum.
In this article, I will give you the best meal plan for female weight loss and solve all of your problems and you are going to build your “healthy” meal plan in a really simple step-by-step way.
But before we get started I would like to invite you to become my friend by getting on my list.
I’ll email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, and sometimes I might just want to know how the hell you are; either way…it means we can be friends.
Oh, and I will also send you some free fitness goodies too, like a free calorie calculator, a month of in-home and Gym Workouts and much more…but only when you send me your friend request:
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR “THE BEST MEAL PLAN FOR FEMALE WEIGHT LOSS”
Step 1: Calories For Female Weight Loss
Step 2: Foods You Can and Can’t Eat in your Meal Plan
Let me show you why and how I know this Meal Plan will work for you.
This is me. The photo on the left is from 2017 and the one on the right is from 2020:
As you can see…what I eat keeps me pretty lean. In fact, the heaviest I have ever been was 82kgs and the lightest 78kgs. My body doesn’t change much, because I follow the exact meal plan that you will follow come the end of this article.
But wait…
I’m a Man. And I’m writing about Female Weight Loss…
So let me show you my friend Jennifer. Or Jenny as her friends call her.
Jenny is a wonderful human. I’ve known her a long time from when she used to work out 5–6 times a week where I used to work. She works in TV and Film which is of great interest to me, because of my background in acting, and on top of all of that, she trusted me to coach her daughter too.
Jenny joined my Strong and Confident Program. She had previously tried all kinds of diets. She splashed money on Ketones, on Slimming World and she still struggled to make it “stick”. She has put in so much hard work over the last three months.
But what I am most proud of with her is that she has just kept working. Ticking off the days, and understanding the nature of what and when to eat.
Well, this is Jenny from the 20th March 2020 to the 28th May 2020:
How amazing is that?
Or there is Aisling. Aisling is a little pocket rocket. She is small in stature but huge in personality and so full of life. She is so much fun to train and always gives as much as she can.
But she also loves to party, drink and socialize. She can drink more Ciders than I can even count on a night out. She too fell foul to the Diet Business of Slimming World, but she too has put in the hard work and learned how to create balance in her meal plan for her own success.
These two ladies…and if you go right here you will see female after female conquering their weight loss following my meal plans. I’m not here to WOW you.
All I am trying to do is keep you interested enough to find out what all of my friends who work with me online can and have achieved so that you can believe it is possible for you as well.
Because you are about to learn what the best meal plan for female weight loss really is.
Step 1: Calories For Female Weight Loss
Every meal plan should start with knowing your calorie targets. So the first part is setting you up with what is known as a “Calorie Deficit Meal Plan” or a “Calorie Deficit Diet Plan”.
You could have the tastiest meals, with the best macronutrient split there ever was.
But if your Energy Balance isn’t tilted towards a Calorie Deficit, then you will not create weight loss.
800 calories a day? 1000 calories a day? 1200 calories a day?
Is probably what you are thinking…but I need you to forget about these arbitrary numbers.
Women of the World:
To what I am about to say.
Everybody's calorie needs are different.
Lumping you on some number that is quite honestly just plucked out of thin air isn’t going to help for two reasons:
It could be too few calories leading to over restriction, then failure to adhere, then you eventually giving up on your diet altogether
It could be too many calories, you aren’t in a Calorie Deficit for weight loss and you end up getting no results, which then means you give up because it isn’t working.
How Many Calories Do You Really Need?
Personally, I use the principle of a Calorie Window which I outline in this YouTube Video:
You have an upper guideline and a lower limit. Your upper guideline will be:
“Goal Bodyweight in LBS x 12”
Your lower limit will be aligned to what is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate which you can find out by heading here and downloading my Free Calorie Calculator (many other calculators are available on the Internet too).
Now…this is the important part.
All you have to do is get your calories between these two numbers each and every day. There is an upper guideline because you can go over it from time to time — that’s perfectly understandable.
There is a lower limit because your Calories each day should never EVER drop below your BMR in fact, I would prefer you never tried to just get to this number at all.
And your goal for your meal plan is this:
Eat as much food as you can eat to get as close to the upper guideline as possible..and you will still lose weight.
If you are now saying this to me, I totally understand why:
You will design your meal plans calories to a window because there will be times that sticking to your calories will be just too damn difficult. Times of high socializing for example, or Christmas as another. But I don’t want you to miss out on spending time with your friends and being social.
Coz not being able to do that in the name of dieting will suck.
The closer to your lower limit you get…the harder it will become to do.
And the words “hard” and “diet” never go well together.
Step 2: Foods You Can and Can’t Eat In Your Meal Plan
There are lots of examples of people losing weight by eating all kinds of stuff.
In fact, one of my coaches and friends Jordan Syatt lost weight by eating a Big Mac every day.
He lost 7lbs.
Eating a Big Mac every day.
In your life. I bet there are examples of people you know that have been able to lose weight seemingly eating “whatever the hell they want”.
There are other examples of people eating nothing but McDonald's creating weight loss (this is not what Jordan did by the way).
Is it a good idea? To only eat McDonald's?
Well, I’m not sitting here telling you to go and eat McDonald’s as the staple of your Meal Plan for Weight Loss.
What I am saying is that you need a balance.
The McDonald’s examples are one end of the extremity. The other is trying to “give up sugar”, “eat clean” or “give up carbs”.
Neither option gives you balance.
You want to thrive, not feel deprived. The answer to this lies in the balance.
Therefore your Weight Loss Meal Plan for Females will not list any foods as:
Off Limits
Good
Bad
Instead, every time you sit down to eat, ask yourself this one question:
“Will this food nourish me right now?”
Answering this will always drive you to balance.
Because nourishment means one thing: “The food necessary for growth, health, and good condition” [1]
This means that having a Pizza when you are craving a Pizza and you can’t do anything but think about Pizza…is nourishing you because it is causing you to mentally have a “good condition” and you are looking after your short-term and long-term mental “health”.
Of course, if all you do is eat Fast Food you are going to be neglecting a huge part of your growth, health, and good condition. But we are talking about balance here.
Will this nourish me? This will very often be answered with foods that are more congruent to your goals than against your goals. Foods that are full of nutrients and conform to what you probably think your Weight Loss Meal Plan should consist of.
But it does also mean, sometimes, you are going to need a Glass of Wine and a few crisps.
And that is perfectly ok.
As long as you balance it into your Calorie Deficit as outlined above.
So basically, within reason, there are no foods that are off-limits.
But there are foods that you should put well within your limits, and build your Meal Plan around as much as possible.
Protein — The Weight Loss Super Food
It’s no more a Super Food than anything else. But second to calories, it really is very important in your Meal Plan.
Protein is the most filling of foods you will eat.
Of all of the macronutrients, it will take the longest time to be digested by the body. Which means it keeps you fuller for longer. Which in turn will help you lose weight by bringing down how much you eat.
Protein will also complement your physical training really well. It will help your recovery from strength training and help you build and maintain muscle.
Protein will help your metabolism to burn calories as it has a very high Thermic Effect of Food (TEF).
Sources of Protein
Here is a good list to get started with and some of my favourite options [2]:
Meat per 100g serving (% of protein per kcal):
Chicken Breast: ~30g of protein/165kcal (18%)
Turkey Breast: ~28g of protein/189kcal (14%)
Steak: ~26g of protein/276kcal (9%)
Kangaroo: ~26g or protein/147.5kcal (17%)
Fish per 100g (% of protein per kcal):
Tuna Steak: ~29g of protein/129kcal (22%)
Salmon: ~22g of protein/210kcal (10%)
Dover Sole: ~15g of protein/87kcal (17%)
Halibut: ~~22g of protein/109kcal (20%)
Dairy per 100g (% of protein per kcal):
Eggs: ~12g of protein/144kcal (8%)
Greek Yoghurt: ~10g of protein/58kcal (17%)
Feta Cheese: ~10g of protein/96kcal (10%)
Whole Milk: ~3g of protein/61kcal (4%)
Vegetarian Options per 100g (% of protein per kcal):
Tofu: ~10g of protein/83kcal (12%)
Tempeh: ~20g of protein/194kcal (10%)
Seitan: ~25g of protein/127kcal (19%)
Lentils: ~9g of protein/112kcal (8%)
Fruits and Vegetables
These should be high up in your meal plan. Simply because they are very economic in their calories.
You can eat a lot of food…for not a lot of calories.
With both fruits and vegetables.
Do you remember when I said, you need to:
“Eat as much food as you can eat to get as close to the upper guideline as possible”
Fruits and Vegetables will be one of your biggest weapons in being able to achieve that goal.
Leafy Greens like, Spinach, Chard, Lettuce, Kale, and Romaine Hearts will all become some of your best friends.
Fruits like Berries (all varieties), Apples, Oranges, Watermelon, Peaches, and Pineapple.
I am only listing suggestions here. Filling your Weight Loss Meal Plan with any kinds of fruits and vegetables is going to serve you very well indeed due to the high fibre content they will keep you fuller for longer, helping you to avoid snacking elsewhere in your diet.
Water and other Zero Calorie Drinks
I love water. Sparkling, Still, it doesn’t matter and you need to learn to love drinking water too.
I advise most people to aim for three litres of water a day.
This is literally just their water intake. Try not to include teas, coffee, juice, and anything else you might drink in this total.
Filling up on calorie-free liquid is again going to help do a number of things.
Being well hydrated you will gain energy.
It fills your stomach up and will help reduce cravings.
Step 3: Weight Loss Meal Plan Timing
Do you know what time I eat my lunch each day?
I’m sure you don’t because it is impossible to say. All you have done is read my article, you have never met me, you don’t know my schedule, you don’t know my caloric needs or the goals for my physique.
And because you don’t know that about me, I clearly don’t know that about you.
Therefore anyone who is giving you a Weight Loss Meal Plan based on when to eat your food is not understanding who you are as a human.
You have a family. You may be on a date. You might be eating a friend’s house. You could be working a different shift pattern
There are so many variables that go into when you actually eat. It would be extremely foolish of me, your online coach, to sit here and tell you when to eat your foods.
All you need to remember is this: Eat foods that nourish you at that moment in time and fits into your lifestyle and your caloric allowances.
That’s it. It really truly is that simple.
This way you will feel less stressed, you will be in your own rhythm and will make your meal plan for weight loss work in the best way possible for you.
And that is what it is all about.
I would like to end on one last note about structure. The timing of your food doesn’t matter that much, but the structure with which you eat really does. If you can make sure you are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner each and every day this will really help you with your weight loss.
And if you want to take that one step further, a new study [3] has just been published by the University of Aberdeen which showed that eating a bigger breakfast compared to dinner each day actually reduced cravings and hunger throughout the day, and participants lost weight as their calories were controlled into a deficit.
With all of my clients on the Strong & Confident Program to work on their structured eating as much as possible - and not only do they lose weight, but they also improve their relationships with food as well.
Conclusion
That is it. That is your step-by-step guide to creating The Best Meal Plan for Female Weight Loss.
Step 1: Set Your Calories For Weight Loss
Step 2: Chose foods that ask the question “Will this Nourish Me?”
Step 3: Fit it into your lifestyle with structure in place.
Step 4: Execute the plan
You see, a lot of people would love for me to write a whole bunch of recipes, a whole bunch of macro-calculated foods and tell you when to eat them.
But Meal Plans like this very very very rarely work.
Especially when your goal is to lose weight.
If I sat here and was told you when and what to eat.
You would feel a lot more short-changed and less motivated to actually follow that plan.
Instead, I am telling you how and why you need to find the foods that will work best for you, in your life, with your personal balance within the guidelines of a Calorie Deficit.
That is it.
You can eat doughnuts.
If it fits into your calories.
You can drink Cocktails
If it fits into your calories.
You can eat Pizza
If it fits into your calories.
In fact, even if it pushes you over your calories, and you are having these foods in balance with your goals…then you can eat doughnuts, drink cocktails, and have pizza whenever you feel like it is answering this one question:
“Will it nourish me?”
The more you find ways of fitting in your favorite foods, and being able to live a life congruent to your goals, the more consistent you will be, the more regular your results will become, and the more nourished you will feel.
What’s Next?
Well, I am an Online Coach who has helped thousands of people work through the challenges in this article.
And it would be my pleasure to help you too.
My program is personal one-to-one online training called the Strong & Confident Program.
If you have ever wanted to achieve the following:
✅ Escape the constant dread of dieting?
✅ Release the guilt you attach to eating certain types of food?
✅ Learn to stop worrying about “the pesky last few pounds” and focus on all your body can do?
✅ Become truly happy with what your body is and what is capable of?
✅ Enjoy the feeling of being stronger and fitter as opposed to trying to reduce your size all the time?
✅ Achieve all of this and still lose body fat at the same time without huge restrictions and slavery to a fitness regime?
✅ Do it all on your own schedule, in your own way, with a program specifically designed for you?
Then please click on the button below and fill out an application form to start working with me.
Thank you so much for reading my work, and good luck with your weight loss journey!
I cannot wait to see how you go!
Coach Adam
References for the article: The Best Meal Plan for Female Weight Loss
1. Google.com. 2020. Dictionary — Google Search. [online] Available at: <https://www.google.com/search?q=Dictionary&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONQesSoyi3w8sc9YSmZSWtOXmMU4-LzL0jNc8lMLsnMz0ssqrRiUWJKzeNZxMqFEAMA7_QXqzcAAAA&zx=1600528087652#dobs=nourishment> [Accessed 19 September 2020].
2. Nutritionix.com. 2020. {{Metatags.Title || ‘Nutritionix’}}. [online] Available at: <https://www.nutritionix.com/> [Accessed 19 September 2020].
3. Leonie C. Ruddick-Collins, Peter J. Morgan, Claire L. Fyfe, Joao A.N. Filipe, Graham W. Horgan, Klaas R. Westerterp, Jonathan D. Johnston, Alexandra M. Johnstone, Timing of daily calorie loading affects appetite and hunger responses without changes in energy metabolism in healthy subjects with obesity, Cell Metabolism, 2022.
How To Lose Weight With PCOS Naturally
This is a huge topic. Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Because there are a lot of women out there who are really struggling with it, this means that many many people in my industry have jumped on the bandwagon and have out some really very confusing information about the topic.
Which just makes everything harder.
And I don’t think that is fair.
This has also led to women not only struggling with understanding what PCOS is and how it works, but it also means that they are struggling specifically with their weight with this condition.
In this article, I will tell you how to actually lose weight with PCOS.
You could argue that having specialist knowledge about PCOS is out of the scope of your Personal Trainer.
But there are so many women out there struggling with this, and clearly, the Medical Profession is doing its best, but they are leaving women like you behind on this topic. Partly because many Doctors just aren’t specialized in this condition. Or they aren’t specialized in Weight Management. Let alone combining the two.
And if they are…
Good luck getting an appointment with them.
So here I am.
A humble Fitness Professional who has helped a number of women with this condition (and other hormonal conditions like pituitary issues, thyroid issues, and insulin issues) all lose weight.
But I had to sit down, learn all about the Menstrual Cycle first, then learn about how PCOS can interact with that…and then put it into the context of fitness.
And that is what this article is going to do for you.
At one point, when I was figuring all this out, one of my clients called me “The Menstuaration Guy”
Don’t worry. I’m not changing my brand over to that.
Before we get started, I would love for you to become my friend; as your friend, I will email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, and sometimes I might just want to know how you are; either way…it means we can be friends.
So just fill in the form below and send me a friend request…
Oh, and I will also send you some free fitness goodies to help start our new friendship off on the best foot possible.
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR “HOW TO lOSE WEIGHT WITH PCOS NATURALLY”
If you would like to listen to an episode of The Fitness Solution Podcast on this topic, then check that out right here:
How does Your Menstruation affect your fitness?
In this article, I will keep it short and sweet.
For two reasons;
It's not entirely why you are here (you just need context)
I have already written a very helpful article on this topic right here
Let me start with a graphic:
In short, Week 1 and Week 2 are the weeks upon which you will most likely have more energy and be so much more adherent to your fitness regimen and equally as important, your nutrition.
This is known as your Follicular Phase.
During this phase, you have the highest count of testosterone in your system the closer you get to Ovulation, Day 14 of your cycle, and more testosterone means more strength for working out.
Once Menzies is over (around Day 5) your energy should be high, cravings low and this it the time of the month to really maximize your ability to stick to your nutrition and training plan.
Once you are out of your Follicular Phase and you have Ovulated, then Progesterone kicks in.
This is known as your Luteal Phase.
During this phase, things get tougher. Your body is using a lot of energy each day to help you build your uterine wall to prepare you for pregnancy (even if you aren’t pregnant!).
Because of this, cravings can increase, energy can be lower and adhering to a Calorie Deficit will be all-around a bit tougher for you. During this time I normally suggest increasing calories to your Maintenance Calories.
Read my Blog that has helped hundreds of people establish their maintenance calorie level
Your Luteal Phase comes with it some physical issues in terms of exercise as well. Progesterone can cause a slightly higher risk of injury as your joints might be looser, and therefore I wouldn’t expect you to hit PBs and feel your strongest in this phase. Focus on the quality of movement, not the quantity of movement.
Your Cycle is split into two 14-day phases.
And I think if you want to manage your fitness and fat loss with your cycle, then splitting your training up into two phases could be useful as well.
Phase 1 (Day 1– Day 14): Resistance Training with stronger lifts and more energy (especially Day 7- Day 14) and higher adherence to your Nutrition.
Phase 2 (Day 15 - Day 28): Resistance Training (but no PBs) and Maintenance Calories respecting your body and listening to its energy.
This is all very important to understand as PCOS can cause issues with the regularity of your cycle combined with other physical symptoms affecting the way your cycle might work.
How does PCOS affect you physically?
PCOS can come along with many different physical considerations [1].
An imbalance of the Female Sex Hormones Progesterone and Oestrogen
Increase in Testosterone and Androgens
Insulin Resistance
Cists upon the Ovaries (but this isn’t always the case)
As you can imagine. Each one of these can have a factor in your Fitness and especially your weight loss. I will go into this further in the next section.
But let's see how these conditions can affect you physically outside the context of weight loss.
An imbalance of the Female Sex Hormones Progesterone and Oestrogen
This typically causes a longer luteal phase (Day 15-Day 28) of your cycle where Progesterone is more dominant. This is because the cysts on your Ovaries are not allowing an Egg to be released therefore triggering Menstruation and the release of Oestrogen into the body again. [2].
Basically, your cycle will be all a bit stretched out in the latter part of the cycle
Increase in Testosterone and Androgens
If you have PCOS you will have more Androgens which are sex hormones. The most common Androgen is Testosterone, and this is prevalent in someone with PCOS. Testosterone is thought of as a Male Sex Hormone, although women naturally produce it anyway. Those with PCOS just produce more of it.
The higher amounts of Testosterone will lead to physical factors like acne, more body hair and an increase in weight.
The increase in weight occurs because of the relationship between Insulin Resistance and Testosterone. Testosterone increases your insulin resistance. [3], and insulin resistance can adversely affect your weight.
Insulin Resistance
This is a topic that seems to get hotter and hotter in terms of debate month on month.
If you are Insulin Resistant this could lead to weight gain. This doesn’t mean that because you are insulin resistant doesn’t mean you cannot lose weight.
Now to make this as simple as possible.
Imagine Insulin is a key to your cells. When you eat food this will increase your blood sugar levels, insulin is then released from the Pancreas, and makes your cells to open up to absorb the blood sugar.
Insulin basically tells your cells to let the sugar in your blood into your cells so that it can be stored until you need to use it as energy. [4]
If you are Insulin Resistant your cells can’t open as they are full already and therefore the Sugar gets stored as Body Fat [5].
Cysts upon the Ovaries (but this isn’t always the case)
Despite the name — Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Not everyone with PCOS actually has Cysts on their Ovaries. And this just leads to the mystique of the condition. That being said. It is there, it could be there and it might be affecting you.
From what I can establish the cysts on the Ovaries help delay the release of Oestrogen into your system, which therefore causes a delay in Menzies. This is why many women with PCOS experience a longer Luteal Phase of their cycle. So as you can see there is a lot to consider, and looking at that list it is no wonder that if you have PCOS you can often feel overwhelmed and at a loss about how to then go about losing weight.
If it was me, I know I would feel like the deck is stacked against me. And if you feel like that…then I’m here to tell you that it’s ok. And I am about to lay out an action plan for you that you can follow that will undoubtedly help you achieve your goals.
PCOS Weight Loss Diet and Exercise Plan
In this section, I am going to take each physical symptom of PCOS and give you workable solutions to help you work with your condition as well as move you towards your goal of fat loss. But first I want to show you how possible it is. Here is a graph of one of my friends and Online Clients weight loss journey who has PCOS.
And here is a screenshot of a text conversation I had just this week with one of my clients on The Strong & Confident Program - who has lost weight whilst dealing with PCOS (please excuse my french in this photo — but it’s damn appropriate)
The PCOS condition may make weight loss harder.
But both of these clients have adhered to the overriding principles of Fat Loss: a Calorie Deficit.
That is truly where their results lie, and PCOS can give you some advantages when it comes to losing weight, and it can mean we may just need to manage expectations a little more and adopt more patience and understanding.
But no matter who you are…you can lose weight with PCOS.
Increase in Testosterone and Androgens with PCOS
When I see this as a symptom of PCOS. I see the opportunity.
Testosterone will mean greater strength.
Greater strength will mean the ability to improve on a Strength Training programme much easier.
You need to use this to your advantage. Increased testosterone means you will have more strength and be able to lift heavier weights in the gym.
The extra Testosterone and Androgens are your superpower. You have this extra advantage that other women don’t have. It’s awesome. God has given you some stardust to kick ass in the gym lifting weights.
If you don’t do that…then it’s like being a superhero and not using your power.
Following a programme that is designed to improve muscle mass as opposed to just help you lose weight will achieve three things:
Burn more calories at rest and help you get into a Caloric Deficit
Improve body shape by having more muscle
Will make you feel like a bad-ass because you are lifting weights and taking control of your fitness.
Get A Weight Loss Workout For PCOS here:
Insulin Resistance and PCOS
In my experience, the best way to improve Insulin Resistance is to increase Daily Activity and follow a well-structured training programme.
Insulin Resistance is caused by a number of factors.
The first being a lack of activity. You need to free up space in your cells so that the sugar in your blood can enter it and then be used for energy. One of the easiest and most accessible ways to do that is to move more. Many people who are at risk of the effects of Insulin Resistance are just too sedentary.
They aren’t creating enough space in their cells through movement to allow the next load of glucose to enter the cells.
This is why it then gets stored as fat.
So let’s get moving, and by moving I don’t mean “training”. Prescribed fitness training will, of course, help you, and you should do that (utilising your Superpower) but movement means everything outside of that.
It’s whatever falls under the category of NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) and means:
Walking more
Standing more
Fidgeting more
Stop sitting at your desk for 8 hours a day and start scheduling in some walking lunches. Stand up when you have a phone call. Park your car further away from your office. Stand up on your commute. Climb the stairs when there is an ad break on the telly.
You will hear the term 10k steps a day. And it’s a nice figure. But if you only do 4k a day on average then it’s going to be hard to get to 10k. So try and focus your mind on steady increases over a period of time. Set yourself a bar that is achievable, but not defeating.
Best Diet To Lose Weight With PCOS
There is a whole host of research out there that backs up the fact that if you are Insulin Resistant then you need to use your diet to help you with that. The Diet is there to achieve two outcomes in this order of priority:
Help you lose weight
To keep your blood sugar in check
Weight loss will help you with Insulin Resistance because when you lose weight you will begin to lose fat from around your vital organs. This will then cause a knock-on effect of opening up space for the Glucose in your blood to be stored in the cells.
By reducing higher sugar foods, and moving away from foods that spike your blood sugar to a more controlled Glycaemic Diet you will keep everything more in check and it will allow your body to start normalising the role of the insulin in your system.
I can sit here and list the foods you should eat.
Foods you shouldn’t eat.
Particularly when it comes to dealing with Insulin Resistance
But let's face it. The restriction isn’t going to get you anywhere in a manner that is simple, straightforward and sustainable.
And the number one priority here is to lose weight…that is why you are here reading this.
So the key to doing this is the good old Calorie Deficit (Diet).
Take your Goal Bodyweight..this being a weight you have weighed before, something you know is achievable for you, and/or is something you feasibly believe you can get to.
This isn’t where you end up. This isn’t a pass/fail situation.
Goal Bodyweight is just a guideline for you.
Set your Calorie Deficit by taking your GBW in LBS and x12
This is your Upper Caloric Window. Your Lower Caloric Window should be set at your BMR (Basal Metabolic Weight).
Then you just need to land your calories each day between the two numbers.
This will give you flexibility, and sustainability, and it’s nice and straightforward for you to follow.
Getting your calories into this window will be made a lot easier by eating whole foods, more grains, more protein and more veggies.
Less of the sugary foods and simple carbohydrates will be useful, as they generally pack more calories and contain less volume.
And having a diet lower in more calorie-dense foods will help you control your Glycaemic Levels, but you can still lose weight eating foods you enjoy, as long as you keep within your Calorie Window.
Added to that, by eating more whole foods, and reducing sugar and more simple carbohydrates from your diet you may see an improvement in other symptoms such as Acne.
Ovarian Cysts
If you have this symptom of PCOS then it is likely that the Cysts will cause you to be in your Luteal phase for a longer period of time.
Dealing with everything this brings up is really very personal to each person.
From earlier on in this article, you will have seen that I have suggested the following for this phase:
Increase your calories to a Maintenance Level (find out how right here)
Focus on quality of movement not the quantity of weight in the Gym
You are likely to be a little more restless, tired, and drained during this phase…and the longer that goes on the more difficulty losing weight will be for you.
I’m sure you are very familiar with the usual cravings for chocolate that come along when you are about to Menstruate.
This is clearly going to have an effect on your ability to adhere to a Caloric Deficit.
I want you to avoid feeling like a failure at every turn.
Restricting yourself will lead to a binge.
Trying to do a Calorie Deficit during this time will lead to you not managing it and then again feeling like a failure.
So give yourself permission.
Give yourself permission to increase your calories during this time. Yes, it might slow down your weight loss, but it will be controlled, inside your plan and you will be able to stick to it for a much longer period of time.
This will keep you out of the cycle of trying to diet, and constantly slipping up every time cravings come along.
And besides, if you are still in the gym, with your extra testosterone superpower, then maintenance calories is really going to help add muscle, get strong, and improve your Gym performance.
You may have to be a bit more careful in the Gym during this time due to the effect Progesterone can have on the joints. But that doesn’t mean what you do can’t still be effective.
Does PCOS Make It Harder To Lose Weight?
This condition is always about managing your expectations. Because of the link with PCOS and the thyroid gland, then it does make weight loss harder.
Many people who have hormonal conditions believe that the condition is ceasing their ability to lose weight. I find a lot of these people have “tried everything” as well.
And that’s the problem.
They try. They don’t execute. They don’t “do”.
Doing takes time. Weight loss takes time — a lot longer than you honestly think.
In fact, weight loss is all about managing expectations.
The number of people I see that set their expectations far too aggressively because they come from a point of helplessness, and then end up failing even more because they don’t know what real, true weight loss looks like, is far too plentiful.
I see it with my Online Clients, I see it on Facebook Groups, I see it on Instagram.
If you follow the advice in this article then I have no doubt you will lose weight.
But it will not be fast.
It will not be magical.
It will not be instant.
But that is what we want.
I’m suggesting to you that you should think more about building muscle. I’m suggesting you should increase your calories for at least a quarter of the month.
These two things alone will interrupt your Weight Loss progress in the short term.
But it will allow you to be adherent and consistent in the long term.
And consistency will create results beyond your expectation.
But it might take a year.
It might take longer.
And it will be an up-and-down journey like all things are.
But it is possible I promise you that.
Here is my beautiful fiancee who has been following my online coaching for a number of years now. She focuses on her resistance training. She allows herself freedom with her diet but understands the principles behind what she needs to do.
And she has PCOS.
Her results have taken years. Years of ups and downs. Her physique comes and goes. But she stays the course. She works very hard on herself and is always very aware of what is going on within herself. She can be hard on herself.
To me, she looks strong, empowered and above all she is very happy. I’m so very proud of her. It’s easy for me to say, sat here, as her fiancee, but if you knew how dedicated to herself she truly is, you would be proud of her as well. She makes hard decisions, she allows herself freedom but the real secret to her success.
Is that when she goes awry, she doesn’t focus on it. She draws a line under it and moves on as quickly as possible. Gets back on track, and that is how she has been as consistent as she really should be.
Moreover, if I was to get you to guess her weight…go on…pick a number…right now.
What do you think she weighs?
Got it?
I promise you…it’s more than you are thinking.
The truth is…when this was taken…
She weighed: 77.3kgs
It looks very different from what it actually is, doesn’t it?
This is why having a target weight is important, but allowing yourself to accept the way you look compared to what that number says can make all the difference.
The scale is just one way of judging your progress…and it can very often be misleading between the number and what you see. Your challenge is to really see what you look like without letting the number interfere with your own personal thoughts about yourself.
I’m not saying at any point, you will look like this.
But it proves you can definitely lose weight with PCOS so long as you remain consistent with what you are doing.
I say to all of my friends and online clients who are trying to lose weight, that we don’t need to focus on how much and how fast. We need to focus on consistency and context.
You shouldn’t care if you lose 0.5lbs a week or 2lbs a week.
One is not superior to the other. Because at some point you will both end up at the same place: a feeling of achievement and accomplishment.
There is no rush. The speed at which you lose weight is the speed at which you lose weight taking into consideration all factors like:
Your home life
Your professional life
Your social calendar
Your health conditions
Your finances
Your mental wellbeing
These are all factors that aren’t created equal in anyone's life.
And they are all factors that help or hinder weight loss.
Conclusion
So how do you actually lose weight with PCOS?
Well, my biggest message from this article is the following:
You can do this
You need patience. PCOS can play havoc with your ability to adhere to a Caloric Deficit, not your ability to be in one.
It’s really important that you work with what your body is going through, allow yourself breaks when you need them in the Luteal Phase of your cycle. This might be longer than 14 days but that’s ok.
Allow yourself to be in a Caloric Deficit for your Follicular Phase.
Eat foods that help with your Blood Sugar Levels, not hinder them. But allow yourself some flexibility so that you can stay in this for the long haul. And move.
Get your NEAT up to make sure your cells are burning the glycogen in your blood and in your cells.
And go to the Gym. Get off the Treadmill and Stair Climber. Get under a Barbell. Give yourself goals based on what you can achieve in the gym.
Focus on Production of the body, not reduction of the body.
It will take time. There will be some months that go a lot easier than others. There will be times when you don’t need to increase your calories in your Luteual Phase…and that’s ok.
But above all stop thinking that your PCOS is the reason you can’t lose weight.
I’m no endocrinologist. But whenever I have ever looked into how much weight a hormonal issue can be attributed to and it usually comes out to around 5–10lbs.
Hormones do not cease weight loss.
They just make it a bit harder for you.
And that is why I have written a 3000-word article to try and help you with it as much as I can.
It requires understanding, education, and a plan of action.
And now you have all of that.
Good luck and don’t forget to let me know how you get on!
Did You Find This Useful?
As I mentioned earlier, it would be amazing to become friends with you and I will send as much help as I can about fat loss, fitness and most importantly getting stronger.
Just send me a friend request below:
I hope you found this article useful and that my tips help you improve your eating habits.
I cannot wait to see you again soon…
Coach Adam
References:
Healthline. 2020. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): Symptoms, Causes, And Treatment. [online] Available at: <https://www.healthline.com/health/polycystic-ovary-disease#causes> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Pennmedicine.org. 2020. 5 Myths About Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) — Penn Medicine. [online] Available at: <https://www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/fertility-blog/2020/march/five-myths-about-pcos> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Sensitivity, <., 2020. Testosterone Increasing Insulin Sensitivity. [online] Diabetes In Control. A free weekly diabetes newsletter for Medical Professionals. Available at: <http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/testosterone-increasing-insulin-sensitivity/> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Wa.kaiserpermanente.org. 2020. How Insulin Works With Glucose | Kaiser Permanente Washington. [online] Available at: <https://wa.kaiserpermanente.org/healthAndWellness/index.jhtml?item=%2Fcommon%2FhealthAndWellness%2Fconditions%2Fdiabetes%2FinsulinProcess.html> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Harrar, S., 2020. Insulin Resistance Causes And Symptoms. [online] EndocrineWeb. Available at: <https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/type-2-diabetes/insulin-resistance-causes-symptoms> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
5 Easy Ways To Do A Calorie Deficit Diet Without Working Out
I call these my Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life.
They have been my guiding anchor for the entirety of my career.
And they haven’t ever let me down yet. Every single human that I have worked with has followed this plan and it is responsible for a lot of the results you see here.
Each and every one of the people that I work within my Online Coaching Program gets this as Lesson 1. It is a really simple, easy to follow set of actionable steps you can do every day that will ensure you start getting the results you truly want from your Weight Loss Journey.
But before we get started it would be wonderful if you got onto my email list.
I’ll email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, sometimes I might just want to know how you are; either way…it means we can be friends.
So just fill in the form below and send me a friend request.
Oh, and I will also send you some free fitness goodies to help start our new friendship off on the best foot possible.
When it comes to the Calorie Deficit Diet there is one guiding principle that you must acknowledge before we go any further.
“A Calorie Deficit is simple, but its not easy”
I have written on the topic of what a Calorie Deficit is many times before.
Here in fact: What is a Calorie Deficit Diet Plan?
And you are welcome to read it…once you have finished with this story first.
I am sure I will write about a Calorie Deficit at least once a month for the rest of my life because it is that complex.
Now I need to cue some irony because I am going to try and make the Calorie Deficit as simple, as accessible, and as easy for you to follow as I possibly can.
But please remember this. When you get to the end of the article, you will be pumped, inspired, and excited to get started.
But this is still difficult to adhere to consistently and patiently to allow yourself the real-time that fat loss needs.
This is an amazing starting point, and this should be your constant solid foundation, your comfort blanket for Fat Loss results.
If you want the video version of, 5 Easy Ways To Do A Calorie Deficit Diet Without Working Out, you can grab that right here:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Awesome Rule For Fat Loss Life #2 - Three Litres of Water A Day
Awesome Rule For Fat Loss Life #3 - Protein and Veggies At Every Meal
These are in no particular order of importance. They all require as much time and attention as the next one, and if you favor one over the other then you are very much cheating yourself out of success.
But first let me answer this:
Can You Lose Fat In A Calorie Deficit Without Exercise?
Yes.
In fact, whenever I work with a client online, and they have a weight loss goal, then I encourage them to not view their exercise as a tool to help make that happen.
When you only view exercise as a means to burn calories, you destroy your relationship with exercise, and it is a surefire way to lose all motivation for working out.
If you are trying to lose weight, please view the balance of exercise and diet his way:
You work out to get strong.
You eat to a calorie deficit
If you can do that, not only will your diet improve, but also your ability and desire to see movement for what it is in your life will improve dramatically too.
I don’t encourage clients to just lose weight without any movement, as there are drawbacks related to doing just that:
It could effect your metabolism.
You will lose strength.
You won’t feel empowered in your new body.
You will focus too much just on the scale.
You could effect your relationship with food negatively.
Exercise is a great tool to protect you from all of the above as well, and exercise does not often have to conform to the ideas you think it might to support your weight loss journey.
So please bear that in mind as well.
Now onto the Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life:
Awesome Rule For Fat Loss Life #1
You need to be in a Caloric Deficit.
Every rule hereafter will help you be in a Calorie Deficit.
But you cannot lose body weight, burn body fat, and try to change that scale number if you are not being adherent to a Calorie Deficit.
So how do you know if you are indeed in said deficit?
The crucial understanding for this is the principle of Energy Balance.
This dictates the following:
Energy In = Energy Out = Calorie Maintence
Energy In < Energy Out = Weight Loss
Energy In > Energy Out = Weight Gain
Therefore by understanding this you can manipulate your Caloric Intake to make sure that you keep your calories where you want to achieve your goals.
Personally, I suggest tracking your calories each day using an app like MyFitness Pal.
However there a few considerations you need to have when using MyFitnessPal.
The Caloric Goal it will set you is too aggressive for long term sustainable weight loss. So please ignore it. Instead, use the following formula:
Goal Body Weight in LBS x 12 = Caloric Deficit
2. Calories are the most important for your goals.
3. Secondly its Protein, however, Protein doesn’t have to be your biggest Macro Nutrient. Yes, Protein is important, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the biggest part of your diet. Then your Carbohydrates and your Fats. These are all just targets. Not pass/fail markers. If you don’t manage to hit your targets, don’t worry as long as your Calories are still in the right place.
4. Ignore Calories Burned from exercise. MYFP will take into account the calories you are expending from exercise, and then it will encourage you to add that against your calorie targets. Please do not do this. The whole point of your movement is to help you get into a Caloric Deficit, if you eat it all back…then what are you gaining if you are after Fat Loss? Added to that MYFP pulls in that Data from your smartwatch and these have been proven time and time again not be very accurate at calculating calories burned from aerobic exercise.
5. Remember you will never get it right. It is quite literally your best guess. All the time. Breaking down your homemade meals is a pain and it can become time-consuming and frustrating. Bear in mind you are using it as best guess, that its never going to be perfect will help take the pressure off you.
6. You only have to do it for a month — six weeks. This isn’t, and nor should it be a lifelong sentence for you to track your calories. All you need is to get yourself more calorie educated in two departments: Portion Control and Calories in your favorite foods. Once you have spent time educating yourself on these things then you will have a much better idea of where your calories are at each day.
7. It will take time out of your day. But don’t forget the big picture. 10 minutes a day for 6 weeks is little time invested compared to years of half arsing it and struggling along because you haven’t taken a moment to get educated and understand the process enough.
Don’t Forget To Follow Me On Instagram:
Awesome Rule For Fat Loss Life #2
3 Litres of Water A Day
Water has zero calories in it. As does Diet Soda.
The reason I am saying to you to drink more water is not because of the nonexistent calories in there.
It’s because Water will help you with a number of “negatives” that you might get when you start a Calorie Deficit.
Being in a Calorie can and will cause hunger as well as ever so slightly lowered energy levels.
Being hydrated will without a doubt help you curb your hunger, which in turn helps you stay adherent to a Calorie Deficit.
But it will also give you energy. The difference between you being hydrated and not being hydrated will become clear…when you become hydrated. A lot of people think that 3 litres is too much water, and can find it hard, to begin with. I understand that, so build up to it. Take it steady, and add 500ml of water each day as you build slowly until you hit your 3 litres.
I had a client once who told me she would drown if she drank 3 litres of water a day. She also told me that she would get water intoxication.
I bargained with her. It will feel like a huge change and a large amount of liquid. But you will always look for reasons to not do something. You will always fight drastic measures to a degree. And you are right to do so. But in my 5 years of working with people…I have never had anyone say to me that this is a negative aspect of their work.
I told my client to give it a go, build slowly, and see what happens. She went on to lose 10kgs working with me, and she drank her water.
It's not a magic number. Everybody is different, and everybody is different. But it’s a good baseline. It’s a number that is high enough to make you increase where you are currently at, it’s a good amount so you can get the benefits from it, and is achievable.
Here are some tips to help you get that water intake up:
Start early. Wake up and get 500ml into your system from the off.
Get a water bottle you enjoy drinking from and is at least 750ml big.
Build slowly.
Drink clear water on top of other liquids throughout the day. Don’t include Coffee, Tea, Juice as part of your 3L.
And here is the best bit.
You will be drinking more. Which means you will be going to the loo more.
When this happens and interrupts work etc…
Just remember Elmo…
Awesome Rule For Fat Loss Life #3
Protein and Veggies at every meal
In truth, I don’t care what you eat if you are working on a Calorie Deficit, as long as you are sticking to your numbers.
But…and this is a big wallopping Kim Kardashian “but”
What you eat will make your life on a Calorie Deficit either a lot easier…or a hell of a lot harder.
There’s a fantastically huge amount of people out there who will set your deficit too low, tell you to eat Mars Bars and Donuts, and still lose weight.
Sell you the perfect dream.
You will lose weight, and they will get some great Work In Process Pictures from you. But they quite simply are not caring for your needs, and if you are willing to submit yourself to such torture, then you aren’t caring for your needs either. All these trainers want is a great photo of you, so they can move onto someone else based on your hard work.
Then once it is all done, and the 12 weeks are over…well…they don’t care about how much you have binged, or how you feel mentally or physically. They got your photo that proves they got you a result.
Not quite such a perfect dream is it?
This is why I don’t ever dictate to clients what foods they should be eating…but ask them to stick to some guidelines. And one of these guidelines is the following: Protein and Veggies at every meal.
Build your plate wisely.
I want you to feel the best you can whilst trying to lose weight, both mentally and physically.
This means eating protein because protein is satiating, it will help you preserve muscle and is always a good thing to eat.
There are many theories out there on “how much” protein you need. With this, like everything, do your best.
Whether its 1g per lb of bodyweight. Or 2g per lg of bodyweight.
Don’t lose sleep over it. Just remember, a lot like getting in 3L of water a day, we need you to aim for something more than you are currently doing, and whatever you achieve will be great. The percentage of Protein in your Diet will very rarely be higher than your Carbohydrate intake — that's ok.
Then let's add Vegetables. A good solid source of Carbohydrates, they are extremely nutrient-dense and don’t carry with them lots of calories.
From there…I always say that Carbs can come long for the ride. You can sprinkle in some rice, bulgur wheat, couscous, pasta, bread, or whatever. Sprinkle it in once you have your plate built with Protein and Veggies first. This way you will really give yourself a big tick in terms of portion control.
Awesome Rule For Fat Loss Life #4
10,000 steps a day.
Good old FitBit. Good old activity trackers. Good old 10k steps a day.
I’m sure you are starting to see a theme here.
10k steps a day is not a magic number. If all you do right now is 1k steps a day…then getting you to 10x that is wholly unrealistic.
But the benefits of increasing that are still huge.
The technical reason this is in there is known as your NEAT; your Non-Exercise Thermogenesis. This basically means all movement you do which isn’t prescribed training. Which isn’t lifting weights.
This is the part of your Metabolism that you have the most control over…and is part of your Metabolism that many people don’t pay enough attention to.
For more information on your Metabolism and whether or not it is “broken”. Then read this article of mine that has helped 100s of people understand what to do in order to keep their metabolism burning body fat: https://www.thegymstarter.com/blog/is-your-metabolism-broken
I want you to move more. I want you to allow movement to become part of your life. Whether that means doing the gardening, climbing the stairs at work or parking further away at the Grocery Store…if you do all of them then you are well on your way to increasing your NEAT.
Don’t feel defeated if you don’t hit the magic 10k.
As long as you are increasing and building this up from the moment you started your Calorie Deficit from where it was before…you are winning.
Awesome Rule For Fat Loss Life #5
7–8 Hours Sleep A Night
Sleep. The final frontier.
If you fail to make Sleep something you are willing to focus on when trying to lose weight, then you are basically doing the following to your success:
I fully appreciate and understand that sleep is harder to come by for some people due to little children and young families.
And I empathize. I really do.
But if you want to make Fat Loss as easy as possible then you need to understand that making sleep a priority is really really important.
Without the re-charge. Without the deep NREM sleep that you can achieve you aren’t going to wake up with enough energy for the next day.
And that energy isn’t just to workout.
It comes down to your willpower.
A tired person is a hungry person.
A tired person is a caffeine reliant person.
A tired person is a more stressed person.
A tired person is a person who’s calories will increase.
That's the be-all and end-all.
If you are tired. Your calories will increase.
So how do we manage your tiredness? Well like most things, prevention is better than reaction, and improving your Sleep Hygiene will be a huge win in your column.
I am going to write a list of optimal behaviors for your sleep. You don’t have to follow them all…but again, that's up to you. If you do follow them all you will be in a much more advantageous position than if not. But I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m here to empower you to make the best choices for yourself.
Electronics off at least 60mins before bedtime.
Dim the lights of an evening
No caffeine after midday.
Meditate Daily
Listen to a Sleep Story
Try to get to sleep before midnight
Don’t drink alcohol
Exercise during the day
Get the sun on the skin
To be able to sleep you need to inspire your body to send Melatonin through your body. This comes from the Pineal Gland and is sent through the bloodstream. Melatonin is released when the body realizes it is indeed bedtime, and there are many cues that can occur for that. Having a pattern of behavior really helps your body sense the signals to release Melatonin into your system.
This is why bedtime habits are really important, and in your day defining the difference between Night and Day really helps.
If you start implementing some better habits around your bedtime then you will start to sleep like a baby.
Conclusion
This is it. Five ways to make your Calorie Deficit Diet easy without working out.
And, just because you can lose weight without working out doesn’t mean you should.
The benefits of looking after yourself physically in this manner are far too plentiful for it to be ignored.
If you want the best results possible, then combine this list of Rules with a very well-thought-out Strength Programme.
Stick to what I have outlined in this article and you will do really well.
But remember these five rules aren’t really rules.
They’re more like guidelines…
Did You Find This Useful?
Well, I am an Online Coach who has helped thousands of people work through the challenges in this article.
And it would be my pleasure to help you too.
My program, which is personal one-to-one online training called the Strong & Confident Program.
If you have ever wanted to achieve the following:
✅ Escape the constant dread of dieting?
✅ Release the guilt you attach to eating certain types of food?
✅ Learn to stop worrying about “the pesky last few pounds” and focus on all your body can do?
✅ Become truly happy with what your body is and what is capable of?
✅ Enjoy the feeling of being stronger and fitter as opposed to trying to reduce your size all the time?
✅ Achieve all of this and still lose body fat at the same time without huge restrictions and slavery to a fitness regime?
✅ Do it all on your own schedule, in your own way, with a program specifically designed for you?
Then please click on the button below and fill out an application form to start working with me.
I have plenty more articles about weight loss for females on this website.
Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
Thank you so much for reading my work, and good luck on your weight loss journey.
I cannot wait to see how you go!
Coach Adam
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
Ahhh,
The Ketogenic Diet. Or should I call it “The latest ball ache of Fat Loss Personal Trainers for the last 4 years diet”
I much prefer my name.
I hope you do too.
So let’s get straight into it.
Table of Contents for “Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You”:
1. What is the Ketogenic Diet?
2. How Does the Ketogenic Diet help with fat loss?
3. What Can You Eat On A Keto Diet?
4. Why The Ketogenic Diet is not a good idea for beginners
5. Conclusion
If you want to watch my YouTube Video on this Article then click below:
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
What is the Ketogenic Diet?
The Ketogenic Diet is defined thus:
“The ketogenic diet (or keto diet, for short) is a low-carb, high-fat diet that offers many health benefits.”
And that is misleading for a start.
The Standard Ketogenic Diet dictates you eat 5% Carbohydrates each day, 75% Fat, and 20% Protein each day.
So in truth;
“The ketogenic diet is an ultra-low-carb, extremely high fat diet that might create many health benefits”
It is similar to the Atkins Diet, which became popular in the 90s when people were asked to reduce their Carbohydrate levels very low as well.
In terms of “Health” Benefits:
The studies on this are endless. They really are, and sadly I’m not that clever to know them all.
From what I can see the 20 studies referenced on the Healthline Article, which is the top hit on Google when you search “The Keto Diet” [1] only relate to a “Low-Carb” Diet being compared to a “High-Fat Diet”.
These studies comprehensively come out in favor of a Low Carb Keto-like Diet:
These 20 Studies that are cited for these “Health” Benefits are skewed as the comparison fails to look into the third option of an overall balanced diet.
There is one Study that takes people onto a Mediterranean Diet as a third option and in that study, the Low Carb Group did lose more weight than the Mediterranean Diet, and although the Low Carbohydrate Group did lose more weight, they also regained weight over 2 years more quickly. All three groups stayed under their starting weight. [2]
Only one of these studies ran for longer than 12 months, with the majority of them falling between 12 weeks and 6 months, that particular study by Gulbrand, et al 2012 concluded the following:
“There was no difference in weight loss or common risk factors between groups. There was a significant improvement in glycemic control at 6 months for the low carb group. However, compliance was poor, and the effects diminished at 24 months as people started to consume more carbs.” [3]
It is also the only study out of the 23 where the Low-Fat group lost more weight than the Low Carb Group.
This is not a coincidence. The longer the study…the less magical the Keto Diet would appear to be.
Weight loss is where we see the “Health” Markers improve particularly when it relates to Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, PCOS, and Acne. Combined with how the Diet helps those with Diabetes and Pre Diabetes in terms of improving Insulin Sensitivity. You can achieve weight loss without a Ketogenic Diet.
There is one area of study and health the Ketogenic Diet can be used effectively and I will not argue a point against that, and that is in its use with people who are Epileptic. I would say this, however, if you want to work on Epilepsy with the Ketogenic Diet then speak to your doctor first about this and do not just take my word on the matter. I’m not a physician.
The Ketogenic Diet is, therefore, a very restrictive diet that has a lot of evidence to support its abilities in improving health and weight loss for many individuals.
Over a short space of time.
It works upon the science whereby taking Carbohydrates out of your Diet you “switch” the energy source of the body from burning Carbohydrates and Glycogen which is stored in your Muscles and Liver to burning Fat via something your body now produces called a Ketone.
When your body has no Glycogen left to fuel your body it starts producing Ketones which are then used as energy as your body must run on something.
It's like a Hybrid Car changing from Electric Power, as there is no charge left, to Petrol as you have a tank in reserve.
Do you remember that scene in Men In Black in the tunnel when the car stops being just a car…
This is what people who are “Keto” will tell you its like.
You hit the red button and become a fat-burning machine.
You have probably read this section and thought;
“Adam, you’re meant to be telling me why I shouldn’t do this diet…right now it sounds almost too good to be true”
When things sound too good to be true…guess what…
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
How Does The Ketogenic Diet Help With Fat Loss?
In two words: Calorie Deficit.
Now the Keto Bots will be out in their droves telling me it’s so much more than a Calorie Deficit because you are changing the way your body burns energy and you get this, that, and the other.
To be honest…I switch off when I hear Keto Bots bigging up the Diet because it is a Calorie Deficit at work…and if they are willing to deny that then they clearly know nothing about how energy balance works.
It would also be pertinent right now to point out that Carbohydrates store water. For every one gram of Carbohydrate, the body will store 2–3g of water. Therefore it stands to reason that if you reduce your Carbohydrate level you will of course lose scale weight. This is not body fat that you are losing on the scale…it is simply water weight.
It is also a big reason weight loss happens so sharply in the early stages of a Keto Diet. But becomes wholly unsustainable when the scale stops going down and your motivation to keep avoiding the biscuit tin is starting to wain.
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
What Can You Eat On A Keto Diet?
Here is a list of foods you cannot eat on a Keto Diet:
Sugary foods: Soda, fruit juice, smoothies, cake, ice cream, candy, etc.
Grains or starches: Wheat-based products, rice, pasta, cereal, etc.
Fruit: All fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries.
Beans or legumes: Peas, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc.
Root vegetables and tubers: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc.
Low-fat or diet products: These are highly processed and often high in carbs.
Some condiments or sauces: These often contain sugar and unhealthy fat.
Unhealthy fats: Limit your intake of processed vegetable oils, mayonnaise, etc.
Alcohol: Due to their carb content, many alcoholic beverages can throw you out of ketosis.
Sugar-free diet foods: These are often high in sugar alcohols, which can affect ketone levels in some cases. These foods also tend to be highly processed. [1]
Before I continue…can I just refer you to this: “Fruit: All fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries.”
Keto is very often referred to as a “Healthy Diet”. At what point is removing fruit from your diet going to improve your health? Especially when we call into question how you are going to get enough Fibre into your Diet on this plan.
One article upon researching this piece for you said this:
“A poorly planned keto diet is at risk of being deficient in fiber,” says Dana Elia, RDN, an integrative and functional medicine dietitian in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. [7]
I mean, sure you can supplement it in…spending more money on this “healthy” diet. Or you could just pick up an Apple. I’m not here to tell you what to do…I’m just presenting the facts.
Now I hope you are thinking about the following in terms of what is forbidden:
Here's a list of foods you can eat:
Meat: Red meat, steak, ham, sausage, bacon, chicken and turkey.
Fatty fish: Such as salmon, trout, tuna and mackerel.
Eggs: Look for pastured or omega-3 whole eggs.
Butter and cream: Look for grass-fed when possible.
Cheese: Unprocessed cheese (cheddar, goat, cream, blue or mozzarella).
Nuts and seeds: Almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, etc.
Healthy oils: Primarily extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil.
Avocados: Whole avocados or freshly made guacamole.
Low-carb veggies: Most green veggies, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.
Condiments: You can use salt, pepper, and various healthy herbs and spices. [1]
When you compare the two lists, it should come as no surprise to you that you will be in a Caloric Deficit.
It’s not rocket science. You are being expected to almost cut out one entire food group: Carbohydrates.
By cutting out a Macronutrient you are going to be reducing your overall caloric intake.
You have literally cut the food you can eat down by a third.
We also need to address the Caloric Content of the food you are eating.
For your information:
Protein = 4kcal per gram, Carbohydrate= 4kcal per gram, Fat = 9kcal per gram
So by cutting your Carbohydrate intake so low over the course of your diet you are eliminating 4kcal for every gram of that food you eat.
And because Keto is a “High” Fat Diet you are replacing that with foods that are 9kcal per gram. Except that you aren’t. You will not be able to eat anywhere as much Dietary Fat as you can Carbohydrates in a balanced diet. It's just not possible. Even with a 5kcal advantage.
So how can I sit here and advocate it actually is a Calorie Deficit at work?
Well for starters you have very definite Bright Lines at work here. The Diet dictates that you can’t eat: Sugary Foods, Fruit, Mayonaise, and Alcohol. As an example.
There are really simple, really straightforward rules at play here.
Let’s say in a week you were to eat: 2 Mars Bars (460kcal), 7 Bananas (735kcal), have 4tbsp of Mayonnaise (360kcal) with your dinners, and 3 glasses of 175ml Red Wine (480kcal), 3 bags of crisps (552kcal), 1 can of Coke(138kcal).
I think that’s a very fair assessment of some of your “extras” you have each week.
You are therefore cutting away 2,725kcal each week.
To make that back up in the food that is Keto Friendly you would need to eat:
100g of Cheddar Cheese (402kcal), 2 Chicken Breasts (568kcal), 4 Large Eggs (312kcal), 200g of Turkey Breast (294kcal), 2 Avocados (320kcal), 4 Red Peppers (148kcal), 300g of Salmon (618kcal)
This is 2,662kcal.
That is EXTRA to what you would “normally” eat. This isn't what you would normally eat. This is on top of your Keto Meal Plan you have been given.
So without even trying. From just “cutting” away Carbohydrate from your Diet you are saving 2,725kcal a week.
That is a Caloric Deficit of 389kcal a day.
You will lose weight if you have a deficit of 389kcal a day. Especially as your Water Weight drops off as well.
And because what you can and cannot eat is so strictly defined, then it seems easier to adhere to in the early phases of starting your diet.
Remember those 23 studies? They all proved that this is a Diet you can adhere to for results for up to 3 months very effectively.
But what about the Ketones burning your fat away?
Look, as much as I would adore having a car that had a red button in it that made it fly, the truth is it doesn’t exist outside of Alien Films starring Will Smith.
I am not denying the scientific proof of Ketosis occurring. Clearly it does exist [4]. And I am not denying that when your body uses Ketones for fuel, it doesn’t burn fat from the body.
What I am denying is that the Ketones are the full picture. They are not the holy grail of Fat Loss that Keto Warriors would have you believe because, in order to get to that point, you will be in a Caloric Deficit first.
A Caloric Deficit will and always is the number one place for Fat Loss to happen in the body.
A huge argument in favor of the Keto Diet is that you are eating more satiating food. A diet higher in protein is always going to make you feel fuller for longer…and therefore you are going to be less hungry throughout the day. [5].
Which therefore means you are going to be consuming fewer calories throughout the day.
The Healthline article I have cited [1] previously states this:
“What’s more, the diet is so filling that you can lose weight without counting calories or tracking your food intake” [16]
Then when you click on the [16] you find a study that concludes the following:
“In the short term, high-protein, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets reduce hunger and lower food intake significantly more than do high-protein, medium-carbohydrate non-ketogenic diets”
In. The. Short. Term. [6].
Like any diet, in the short term, it will lead to weight loss.
For a number of reasons but mainly due to the fact you are excited, fully motivated and you currently have no cravings for the foods you are not allowed to eat.
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
Why The Ketogenic Diet is not a good idea for beginners
By now, I am hoping you have a great idea of what the Keto Diet is.
Diet Culture
A restrictive diet that is sold to you on the premise of not telling you the full truth of how fat loss works.
It's like all diets in that sense. Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Atkins, those MLM Diets.
They keep you at arm's length of the truth, and that is what makes you part with your money. You aren’t clear on the process, and someone comes along with a “magic solution” you will happily pay to find out what that is.
Throughout this article, I have referred to the Short Term effect of the diet, and its evident success in that field.
You need to remember that long term, Fat Loss doesn’t happen quickly.
As my friend Jared Hamilton says:
“Fat Loss is like pregnancy, it takes 9 months for anything incredible to happen and you can’t speed it up”
I’m going to take a punt here and say that you are reading this because you are wanting to figure out how to lose weight, and you have heard the Keto Diet might be a good idea for you.
So you are doing some research.
Now if you have never lost weight before, then please understand this.
Weight Loss takes a long time. Much much longer than you ever thought it did.
Instagram and Personal Trainers don’t tell you this, because it's not a sexy sell. If I told you to lose the 2 stones you so desperately want to lose it is going to take you a year…you are going to very quickly reconsider your financial commitment to that project.
And your belief that you can do it over such a long period of time.
So all the “good news” about Keto and most other diets in truth…although Weight Watchers generally comes out on top more often in these circumstances…is focussed around those magic 12 weeks.
The 12 weeks you could sustain it for.
The 12 weeks you could avoid eating a Mars Bar or drinking an Espresso Martini.
The 12 weeks that you might just about be able to avoid a social situation that is going to compromise your adherence to your diet.
You see,
This is the issue.
Abstinence is a wonderful, truly joyous principle.
But it is an incredibly hard thing to adhere too.
Willpower is finite. And life will throw things at you that challenge you willpower for your Diet, every day.
You will be able to find the energy to not eat bread, for about 3 months.
But you won’t be able to do that for a year….especially if you are just starting out.
In my experience, people who are new to fitness and fat loss often have behaviors that need figuring out first. Before being able to enter into a very restrictive diet, they need to work on their behaviors around food so much more.
In my time spent as a trainer, I have dealt with behaviors that have led to weight gain in clients such as, Binge Eating, refusal to eat vegetables, emotional eating, overcoming PTSD, overcoming stress-induced depressions, anxiety, depression, disordered eating and very low self-esteem.
I perfectly understand that not all people have these behaviors in their lives, but if you have just one of them then moving to a very restrictive diet is not going to help you overcome the root causes of why you have come to fitness and dieting in the first place.
We must always address the root cause.
Not the symptom of the root cause.
Sticking a Keto plaster/band-aid on the wound that is left by disordered eating is only going to heal a small part of the issue.
With so many people who follow a diet, they are a cause and product of eternal failure.
Social Situations
Let's use the Keto Diet as our example here:
Step 1: You get invited out for a meal out with friends on a Friday night.
Step 2: You are now faced with two choices:
a) Cheat on your diet at the restaurant
b) Stick to your diet but not enjoy yourself with your friends as they want a bottle of wine to share
It doesn’t matter what choice you make the result is negative:
a) You have now failed at your diet.
b) You didn’t enjoy yourself with your friends socially.
The options you are left with are aways failure and unhappiness.
You might be able to stomach a social situation like this once, twice, possibly three times in a space of two months. But sooner or later it will catch up with you.
My Experience
In my life, there has been three types of people who peddle the Keto Diet.
Type 1 — The Financially Invested.
Most people who I come across who advocate the Keto Diet have a financially invested reason to do so. They have either built their brand on the Keto theme, are part of a pyramid scheme to sell Ketones, or they have some other thing to gain by selling you a quick solution for weight loss without telling you how Fat Loss truly occurs.
Type 2 — The Quick Fix Client
This is the person who has started the Keto Diet. They are fully sold on what it is and are completely unaware of the issues they are about to walk into. They have usually paid a Type 1 person for the Keto Meal Plan that they are on. They have also had bad previous experiences with dieting, have tried a few diets that didn’t work all for the same reasons that the Keto diet won’t work long term for them. They may be week 2 or 3 in, and it’s all going very well for them.
If you talk to them again in 8–9 weeks, it’s soon become another diet that was too unsustainable for them to follow.
Type 3 — The Anomaly
To every diet, there is someone who it has worked for…the issue is when this person sells it as the ultimate truth that will work for everyone. In my experience, The Anomaly has had previously very good results with very restrictive diets, maybe they have an athletic background or no known behavior issues with food previously.
If you look back on your experience with this diet, the sources that you have used to find this article…do any of them fit those three profiles?
If so…then please…just start with a Calorie Deficit as outlined in this video…and when you know you can do that…you can consider moving into something more extreme like a Keto Diet.
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
Conclusion
Aside from telling you to stop eating Fruits, which to me is just crazy talk. How can a diet promote health and tell you to avoid eating “All Fruit except for some berries”?
The biggest reason that I do not think beginners should use a Keto Diet is that you aren’t knowledgeable enough about the topic. You don’t know how hard restriction like this truly is, or how Fat Loss truly works.
All of the studies that advocate a Keto Diet for Fat Loss are all based on very small time frames in terms of lasting, sustainable fat loss.
If you are a beginner in Fitness and Fat Loss it is my duty to give you the best chance of long term success.
I know it might not be what you want to hear, but it is this message that must be shouted the loudest because it is this message that will protect you from the cycle of yo-yo dieting and constant failure around food and your bodyweight.
The Keto Diet locks you into a prison. One that is based on results before sustainability and at some point will compromise whether or not you want to stick to your diet or enjoy yourself.
It is possible to lose weight, stick to a diet, and enjoy yourself.
But in order to do that, you must give yourself more time, and take the pressure off of your shoulders.
Stop thinking 12 weeks.
Start thinking 12 months.
And you will be able to lose weight with a Caloric Deficit, enjoy your favorite foods, and no longer fail at your goals.
And that should be all you want from your diet.
Shouldn’t it?
Did You Find This Useful?
I have plenty more articles about weight loss and Dieting throughout this website.
Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
You are also invited to get a bundle of Fitness Goodies from me including:
✅ Get yourself a free month of workouts (Home and Gym-based options)
✅ Get yourself a free copy of my e-book ”27 Ways To Faster Fast Loss”
✅ Get yourself a free customized Calorie Calculator and Macro Calculator
✅ Get yourself 56 Home Bodyweight Workouts
Straight to your Inbox
All you have to do is put your email address in below
References:
Healthline. 2020. The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner’s Guide To Keto. [online] Available at: <https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
New England Journal of Medicine. 2020. Weight Loss With A Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, Or Low-Fat Diet | NEJM. [online] Available at: <https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0708681> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
Guldbrand, H., Dizdar, B., Bunjaku, B. et al. In type 2 diabetes, randomisation to advice to follow a low-carbohydrate diet transiently improves glycaemic control compared with advice to follow a low-fat diet producing a similar weight loss. Diabetologia 55, 2118–2127 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-012-2567-4
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ketosis. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis#:~:text=Trace%20levels%20of%20ketones%20are,carbohydrates%20to%20metabolizing%20fatty%20acids.> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
Westerterp-Plantenga MS, Nieuwenhuizen A, Tomé D, Soenen S, Westerterp KR. Dietary protein, weight loss, and weight maintenance. Annu Rev Nutr. 2009;29:21–41. doi:10.1146/annurev-nutr-080508–141056
Johnstone AM, Horgan GW, Murison SD, Bremner DM, Lobley GE. Effects of a high-protein ketogenic diet on hunger, appetite, and weight loss in obese men feeding ad libitum. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87(1):44–55. doi:10.1093/ajcn/87.1.44
Migala, J. and Kelly Kennedy, R., 2020. The 10 Best Sources Of Fiber On The Keto Diet | Everyday Health. [online] EverydayHealth.com. Available at: <https://www.everydayhealth.com/ketogenic-diet/diet/best-sources-fiber-on-keto-diet/> [Accessed 1 September 2020].
7 Things Stopping Your Calorie Deficit
The epitome of Weight Loss.
The foundation of all that you need to lose weight.
Martin MacDonald once said:
“Weight Loss is as simple as “Calories In vs Calories Out” but “Calories In vs Calories Out” just isn’t that simple”
And he is right. He is as right as they come. We have all heard the saying to lose weight you just need to eat less and move more but if you have any concept of how hard weight loss can be you will realize that this phrase is just short-sighted and far too simplistic for someone who needs help.
Because eating less is a very difficult thing to do consistently enough when you want to lose weight.
So here are 7 Things Stopping Your Calorie Deficit:
1. Not Eating Protein and Veggies At Every Meal
Oh, golly. The first one is really about eating Vegetables.
COME ON ADAM
But this is hella important.
Protein is a truly wonderful Macro Nutrient for many reasons…but why I am always preaching about why you should have it in your diet is because it fills you up. Your body takes a much longer time to digest protein than any other Macronutrient. This basically means it will keep you fuller for longer [1]. The way in which this works is it helps keep Grehlin at bay. Grehlin is your hunger hormone that tells your brain you want food.
So keeping that happy is a good idea.
As you already know from my Article on your Metabolism that you have read haven’t you? Good. Great. Well as you know Protein has a higher Thermic Effect of Food as well and therefore will burn more calories when it is being digested than other Macronutrients.
I personally would suggest you aim for 2g per kg of bodyweight each day.
AIM FOR…
That's a lot of protein if you have never tried before, but it will inspire you to start eating more and trying to get it increased. Which is what we want.
Read My Article that has helped 100s of people understand more about their Metabolsm right here: Is Your Metabolism Broken
What about the V-word then? The dreaded Mushroom. Seriously…is there a vegetable worse than a Mushroom?
Vegetables are Calorie Friendly foods. They have far fewer Calories in them than other foods, and therefore you can eat far larger portions of them. Which again keeps you filled up for longer.
For example….
100g of Spinach contains 24kcal
100g of Oven Chips contains 202kcal
100g of Chicken Breast contains 165kcal
So as you can see…you can eat A LOT more Veggies as oppose to anything else at the same quantity.
2. YOUR DOING TOO MUCH HIIT
Let me be clear…I love running and Cardio Exercise. I love lifting weights.
I very rarely get less than 10k steps in a day and I promote walking and cardio work to everyone in The Fitness Collective.
And all my clients follow Strength Training protocol.
However…HIIT has been known to damage your ability to control your Calories. Studies have shown that those who participate in HIIT might burn a few more calories in the session, but they then have a much higher appetite after the exercise session will then consume up to 350kcals more than someone who has followed a traditional Strength Training Programme. You also think that you have worked so hard you are entitled to be more relaxed around your diet. [2, 3]
It can sound so enticing when you hear about the idea of High-Intensity Interval Training. The idea of burning more calories in less time in the Gym. Who wouldn’t want that?
But in truth…let's say you do one 30min HIIT Session. That’s all you will do because of how exhausting it is.
Whereas if you did a Strength Training you might spend an extra 10–15mins in the Gym…but you will end up burning more calories overall for your workout.
Added to this many of the headlines regarding HIIT relate to a comparison against Steady-State Aerobic Exercise eg Running a 5km. [4]
Not a Strength Training Workout.
3. YOUR FOCUS IS IN THE WRONG PLACE
If you have been looking at my work for a while I would fully hope that you're a true member of team Calorie Deficit.
And by that, you know the only way to create Fat Loss is understanding your Energy Balance.
Calories In vs Calories Out
Now if you are starting your weight loss journey, or have tried in the past I am almost certain your top priority was activity.
Get a Gym Membership
Get a Personal Trainer
What Workouts to do?
Go for a run
etc etc
Your focus was on Calories Out.
If you send the word focus to the other part of the equation so that you begin to address your Calories In…
The Calories Out will take care of themselves.
I’m sure you have heard the old adage…you can’t out-train a bad diet. But the truth is you can’t out out-train a calorie-dense diet.
There is no good or bad…but if you are making the Calories Out your priority and focus…you will find a Calorie Deficit very difficult to create.
I’m not saying don’t exercise. Training is very important for your Health and your global wellbeing…and it will help you burn some calories and improve your body composition so you begin insuring yourself against future fat gain. But you must pour your focus into your Calories In.
4. YOUR CALORIE DEFICIT IS TOO BIG
You have to trust me here.
Your Calorie Deficit is too big. As in…you are allowing yourself too few calories.
If you have been at this for a while and you see initial results and then they stop you have probably set your Deficit to too low. What then happens is you end up in a cycle. You have a deficit, you maintain that for a few weeks maybe a month, you have seen some good results, but its hard work. You get tired, grumpy, and sick of tracking all foods and you just run out of steam. You then stop thinking about your calories and they start creeping up. You start eyeballing your portions and the calories start sneaking in more and more before you know it…you are no longer in a Deficit.
And all this has happened because your initial experience in the Deficit was far too hard.
By beginning with a smaller Calorie Deficit and allowing yourself to eat more within that Deficit you will find it far less restrictive and far more sustainable.
Yes…the results might not be as fast as you honestly want. But they will last a lot longer and you will still be able to have a night out with the girls.
I call that a Win Win Win.
If you want to find out how to set your Calories in a sustainable way then watch this:
5. YOU WANT IT TO HAPPEN TOO QUICKLY
Quick question…
What do you think a decent amount of weight to lose each week is? Say you went to the gym two to three times, started eating a little more nutritiously and made health a little higher on your priority list…
What would you expect to lose each week?
Was your answer 2lbs a week? Maybe 3–4lbs a week?
No, I didn’t read your mind. I just know that you think 1lb a week for weight loss is too slow. Despite the fact that 1lb a week is incredibly realistic, incredibly sustainable, and would signify incredible progress.
By wanting more…you are damaging your chances of success. By wanting it to happen quicker you are damaging your chances of success.
Why the rush? Why the sudden it must happen in 3 months?
You need to take a long hard look at your health and you should want to incorporate it into a part of your life…just like work, finances, socializing and family. It should be part of what makes you up…not what defines you for three months and then not for another 6 years.
Look, it's perfectly OK to be in Year 7 of your 5 Year Plan.
Because really…if you have balance and have found a system that is working, even if it is slower than you initially wanted then what does that matter? Really?
And if you need proof of 1lb a week being normal weight loss…not slow weight loss…then watch this:
6. YOUR NIGHTS OUT
I’m not here to tell you to stop socializing. I really am not. Really.
Because you are a human being. And you have friends and family and you have to live your life right? And if I told you to not go out and enjoy your life you would just ignore me anyway…and rightly so.
The issue here really comes when you drink to excess. Although alcohol does pack a punch in terms of caloric value (about 9kcal per gram).
I will always allow my clients to do what the hell they want…but consider this little story of a night out and let me know if it resonates with you:
Night out with alcohol.
Get a kebab on the way home.
Eat toast when home…put kebab under bed
Eat kebab for breakfast because you are hungover.
Lay in bed all day feeling sorry for yourself.
Try to cheer yourself up with a Domino’s (other Pizza is available)
Eat half of that.
Still not moved all day.
Go to sleep
Wake up….eat the rest of your cold pizza
Feel a little better.
Get a text from a friend about going out.
Feel like you need to feel like you have actually done something this weekend.
Meet up with said friend…
Have a drink or five.
Get a kebab on the way home.
Eat toast when home…put kebab under bed,
Eat kebab for breakfast because you are hungover.
Spend all day in bed and get no steps in.
Take about 3–4 days to regain your energy levels from lost sleep and feeling groggy
Finally, get back on track maybe Friday.
Then its the weekend again…
I have done this. If I haven’t done all of this (like a Kebab for Breakfast) but I have definitely noticed the huge drop in discipline, activity and focus after a night out.
When you see Trainers on Instagram piling on the “Weekend Calories” bandwagon…its not because we don’t like fun.
Its because you see it as one night out.
We see the effect it has on everything for the next three to four days.
7. YOU SPEND TOO MUCH TIME LETTING THE SMALL THINGS STOP YOU DOING THE BIG THINGS
Here is a conversation I had on Instagram with someone this week. This was someone who is at the moment doing Keto. By her own admission, she knows it is unsustainable due to the extremely low carb intake it requires.
When I asked her what she would then move into this was her response:
Now her suggestions aren’t that far off.
Other than the fact Protein itself doesn’t increase muscle mass. You can’t just eat Protein and magically grow muscles. To magically grow muscles you need anabolic steroids…which I do not recommend.
However, she has a Fat Loss goal. She would prefer to spend time figuring out the new regime of Intermittent Fasting, counting her Carbs and Fats, and then making sure her protein has gone up proportionally as well.
Maybe it is just me…but I read that and thought…BLIMEY. That's a lot of words. A lot of figuring out. When really all she would need to do is operate a system like my Five Awesome Rules For Fat Loss Life and its all taken care of.
This girl has missed the point, and its not her fault. But she has got bogged down on the small things.
Other examples are things like:
Cardio or Weights?
Bike or Treadmill?
BCAAs or Protein Powders?
Keto or Intermittent Fasting?
Macro Splits?
What Vitamins to take?
Normal Potatoes vs Sweet Potatoes
I’m sure you get the point.
You could spend all day thinking about this…and not actually go to the Gym…or move.
Or track your calories.
There's a massive reason most of my message is always about the same few topics…because those are the big things that make the biggest changes.
If you really want to start getting results, and getting them fast…stop worrying about the small stuff that will give you 10% of the result.
And do the Big Stuff that will give you 90% of the result you want.
You will thank me.
Oh and if you want the Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life…its right here:
Did you find this useful?
You can Join The Fitness Collective which is my Membership Group. In there I give Monthly Updates, Live Q and A’s, I provide you with new workouts each and every month, and write guidance on your fitness journey.
To find out more about The Fitness Collective you can click here: The Fitness Collective
Please share this with your friends and anyone else you may know who is worried about training in a gym, and feel free to follow me using the links below…
And if you want to get updates on when I publish new articles, publish new podcasts or anything else then please remember to sign up below
And above all remember this…for as long as you are trying your best no one can ask for more from you.
Coach Adam
What is a Calorie Deficit Diet Plan?
Recently on Instagram, I have been getting this question A LOT. And I mean a lot.
The pattern of behavior is thus:
I post up a picture asking what do you need help with?
I then get a response from someone saying “How do you lose belly fat?”
I respond with this:
And I then get a reply to that picture saying:
“Can you please tell me the diet of a Calorie Deficit?”
For a while this would stump me, I’d sit there thinking what do you mean?
There’s no rule of it in terms of a diet. You just have to set yourself up with a Calorie Deficit and away you go.
Then after this happened maybe 30 times.
I realized something.
Something crucial.
These people believed that a Calorie Deficit is some kind of restrictive diet like a Ketogenic Diet or an Atkins Diet. It finally all clicked together in my mind.
People want me to be able to tell them the ratios of Macros, the foods you should and shouldn’t eat and set them up with a little packaged diet which they pay me upwards of $200 for and away they go.
And if that's you, I’m sorry. I would love to take your money. But it's just not how weight loss should work.
You see…the world has hated on you and your struggle with weight so much it has led you to believe there is a secret out there that you can pay someone like me to give you and you will find the answer to your problems.
It's the world of BoomBod or now worse Skinny Jab. The world of MLMs dominating the past decade with questionable nutrition and awful science all in the name of capitalism.
And it's got to stop.
As always in this article, I am going to take you through the not so magical facts of what the Calorie Deficit is.
So you can understand it, begin to implement it and above all start to really learn the science behind every fat loss diet out there.
Now before we get into this article, I wanted to ask you something.
Do you want to be my friend?
If it is a yes, then it would be wonderful if you got onto my email list.
I’ll email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, sometimes I might just want to know how you are; either way…it would be delightful to connect with you more.
Just send me a friend request by filling out the form below…
Oh, and I will also send you some free fitness goodies to help start our new friendship off on the best foot possible.
Table of Contents for: What Is A Calorie Deficit Diet Plan?
What is a Calorie Deficit Diet Plan?
Principle — What does a Calorie Deficit actually mean?
Calorie Deficit is the term used, to sum up a negative energy balance in the body.
The energy balance equation is this:
Calories In = Caloires Out = No Weight Change
Caloires In > Calories Out = Weight Gain
Calories In < Calories Out = Weight Loss (A Calorie Deficit)
Theoretically, I’m sure that makes sense to you, and the next question you may have would be…what actually is a Calorie.
I’ve said this before…and I will say it again because it cannot be said enough. A Calorie is a Unit of Measurement used to measure the energy in food.
The actual definition is this:
Calorie: noun
Thermodynamics.
a: Also called gram calorie, small calorie. an amount of heat exactly equal to 4.1840
joules. Abbreviation: cal (usually initial capital letter) kilocalorie. Abbreviation: Cal
Physiology.
a: a unit equal to the kilocalorie, used to express the heat output of an organism and the fuel or energy value of food.
b: a quantity of food capable of producing such an amount of energy.
But think of a Calorie like this:
A Mile is a unit of measurement of distance. A Calorie is a unit of measurement of food.
Run 26.2 miles you have run a Marathon.
Eat an additional 7000kcal in your diet you will gain 1kg.
Eat 7000kcal less in your diet and you will lose 1kg.
That's it.
Now that we understand what a Calorie is. We can begin to see how the manipulation of this can lead to weight gain or weight loss.
For the purpose of this article…let's continue to look at weight loss.
A study published in 2011 stated this:
American Dietetic Association (ADA) has noted that achieving a negative energy balance is the most important factor affecting amount and rate of weight loss over time (2)
It also stated this:
The results of this substudy indicate that increases in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy, as part of a calorie-controlled diet, help both achieve and maintain weight loss (2)
(That second one is just good advice which is why I put it in here)
Combined with always remembering the following quote:
Now that you know what a Calorie is, and what the actual definition of a Calorie Deficit is combined with some good old dietary advice we should now begin to look at why you should use a Calorie Deficit if you want to lose weight.
What is a Calorie Deficit Diet Plan?
Why should you use a Calorie Deficit?
Despite in the previous section of this article I have stated clearly that the only way to lose weight is a Calorie Deficit I feel we need to drill down on the practical and emotional side of it a lot more…and why I believe that operating under the term a Calorie Deficit to lose weight is and will always be your best option of obviously losing weight…but also how you frame your weight loss journey.
Every diet in the world that perpetuates Weight Loss operates a system that is designed to get you into said “Calorie Deficit”.
Make no mistake. Science is clear. The studies are clear. And I cannot be clearer.
The only way to lose weight is with a Calorie Deficit.
I can hear your brain rattling around these questions as you read:
“So what about Keto? What about Atkins? What about Slimming World? What about MLM Companies? They all tell me I can lose weight and I never hear of them talking about Calories”
They are being disingenuous.
If a company out there is taking your money to help you lose weight and they aren’t telling you this stuff about a Calorie Deficit…they are trying to keep you away from the truth…so that you keep giving them money.
They are blurring the waters with words like Syns, Points, and No Carbs. They are scared you will figure it out on your own and no longer hand over your cash to them to be shamed in front of a room full of people for gaining some weight.
Which is always going to happen if you only weigh yourself weekly.
Read My Article that has helped 100s of people improve their relationship with the scale right now:
Do You Have Scale Anxiety? Improve Your Relationship with the Scale
But they don’t tell you this.
Because it elevates them in your mind. It doesn’t put them in service to you…it puts you in service to them. Despite the fact most people who run these “groups” have no background in coaching, nutrition or actually helping others…they just got it together themselves and believe its as easy for others as it is for them.
And that's just being short-sighted.
By educating yourself on the science, the facts, and what is actually going on when you lose weight you are taking ownership of what you are doing.
You are not giving your power away to someone else.
By calling the method to your Fat Loss what it is…and allying yourself to the concept, science and truth of a Calorie Deficit you will be empowering yourself.
If you are reading this and you have got this far into the article you have probably experienced feelings of disempowerment before. Something like…
Step 1: Tried a diet,
Step 2: Got some results,
Step 3: Had to cease the diet due to its restrictive nature…and well…donuts.
Step 4: Lost results
Step 5: Felt like a failure.
Step 6: Gave up on yourself
Yes.
Yes, I did say donuts.
But please stay focussed.
Now if you have gone through that 6 step process in the past you know what I mean when I say “give away power”.
And that feeling of powerlessness is horrible. It undermines everything you do and above all how you feel about yourself.
And that's not good enough. Defining yourself by your diet will lead to failure when you eventually feel the need to change or move away from the said diet.
And this is the difference between them and I.
I take you to the root. The root of all Fat Loss/Weight Loss diets. A Calorie Deficit.
And when you have a trifecta of knowledge, education and power…that's going to make a difference to you.
All of these diets do one thing. They change how. How you get into a Calorie Deficit.
Which is the next part of this Article…
You see:
The Ketogenic Diet
Fewer Carbohydrates. When you cut out such a big macronutrient from your diet you will obviously be cutting down on Calories. But it's very restrictive and has many drawbacks.
A Canadian study in 2018 on the Ketogenic Diet has concluded this:
Ketogenic diets can help patients lose about 2 kg more than low-fat diets do at 1 year, but higher-quality studies show no difference. Weight loss peaks at about 5 months but is often not sustained. Individual weight change can vary from losing 30 kg to gaining 10 kg with any diet. (4)
I have a YouTube Video on the Ketogenic Diet if you would like to find out more about it.
Slimming World
Group about 20 calories together and call it a Syn (yup. They actually are going with a word that micro messages the following meaning: “an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law” (3)). They also let you eat as many free foods as you want, banking on the fact that “no one has ever got fat from eating too many fruits and vegetables”
At this point we should mention the following statement:
“You don’t have to count calories but all calories count” — Jordan Syatt
A study in 2015 had this to say about Slimming World:
“In the present audit mean weight loss was 3.9 kg, 37.7 % of the whole population and 75.7 % of the higher attendees lost ≥5 % during the first 3 months of their engagement in a commercial weight management programme. . These data show that by supporting citizens in the self-management of their weight, commercial weight management programmes have the potential to help decrease the prevalence of obesity and incidence of its costly co-morbidities, improving citizen health and helping to reduce the burden on national health care systems.” (5)
This study was also funded by Slimming World and only focusses on the first 3 months of someone's journey.
When you expand to a 12-month look at the results, from an independent source: The British Journal Of General Practice, they state this:
“In the short term all commercial weight-loss programmes appear to result in similar weight loss but the NHS alternative appears to produce less weight loss. At 12 months Slimming World led to greater weight loss but the differences between commercial programmes was small and of minor clinical importance.” (6)
Weight Watchers:
Very similar to Slimming World. They group calories together and allot your points based on your physiological factors. If you go over your points you are being incorrect. If you stay under you are being correct.
Interestingly of the same study cited above, Weight Watchers is the most effective Commercial Weight Loss system over 3 months. But the same conclusion is drawn over 12 months:
“The differences between commercial programmes was small and of minor clinical importance.” (6)
Juicing
Well when all you are doing is drinking juice…I think we can clearly see a Calorie Reduction at work here.
MLMs:
Getting you to drink super blends of Protein Shakes so you don't eat meals but rather drink them and surprise surprise…they have fewer calories in them than actual food.
I could go on.
But all of these diets manipulate the “How” of getting into a Calorie Deficit.
Without telling you that's what you are doing to lose weight, which is why they get short term results. But when you don’t know what you are doing and life gets on top of you, and you then have to stop attending weekly meetings, you can see how you will then regain weight after.
Depending on how these diets manipulate one aspect of a Diet, usually by restricting certain Macronutrients, depends on how restrictive and unsustainable it becomes.
In my experience, the Ketogenic Diet is far far far too restrictive and therefore has a high rate of success followed by failure.
My Calorie Deficit approach gives you flexibility.
Flexibility for a number of things:
Party Time
Dinners Out
Weddings
Holidays
Birthdays
Your favorite foods
It doesn’t give you a free pass. But it does give you the flexibility to be able to incorporate all of this into your life. Because a lot of those things will be and should be important to you.
What is a Calorie Deficit Diet Plan?
How do you set yourself up on a Calorie Deficit?
Now that you have a fantastic understanding of what is at play here…
It would be remiss of me to not leave you with some actionable advice.
Now if you want to start this Calorie Deficit thing. I refuse to call it a Diet…because I think we can both agree it is all diets.
Then you need to know how to do it.
Its a numbers game…and simply put I like to use this method to help you calculate how many calories you can have in a day.
Take your Goal Bodyweight (GBW) in LBS and then x12
For example: 150lbs x 12 = 1800kcal a day
Simple? You may be looking at that figure and thinking that's way too high, no diet has ever recommended I eat that much and still lose weight.
I use this figure as your “Upper Window” for your Deficit.
You can use your Basal Metabolic Rate as your “Lower Window” for your deficit.
I am giving you the gift of time. There should be no rush with you losing weight. Surely changing habits, changing lifestyles, and understanding how your food affects your weight and how you can be in control of that relationship is more important.
Here's a YouTube Video I have done explaining all of this a lot more clearly:
If you would like a Free Calorie and Macro Calculator PLUS a whole Weight Loss Bundle sent straight to your email then click here:
I would then follow this up with implementing my Five Awesome Rules For Fat Loss Life as a great place to start for getting yourself into a Calorie Deficit.
Now you just have to be patient.
A colleague of mine called Martin Macdonald once said this:
“A Calorie Deficit is a simple as “Calories in vs Calories Out”, the thing is Calories In vs Calories Out just isn’t that simple”
And he's right. There are so many factors that go into the food we eat.
Emotional Factors, Economical Factors, Ethical Factors, and figuring out where we stand on such fluid things can be hard.
One day you may well feel amazing and be able to stick within your numbers wonderfully. On other days you won’t, and you need to understand that navigating and understanding all of this is not as simple as sticking to Syns or counting your food as Points.
It’s not a Diet like what you are used to seeing. It’s not a diet that has any other parameter other than making sure you are in your numbers.
That’s the magic.
Do I want you to eat fruits and vegetables? Yes.
Do I want you to eat protein with every meal? Yes.
Do I want you to also be able to enjoy some time off and have social occasions? Yes.
Do I want you to be able to eat Pizza? Yes.
You see…what I have described above is how you fit a diet into a balanced well-rounded life.
And that's what you should want for yourself…really.
What is a Calorie Deficit Diet Plan?
Conclusions
Now I have spent a fair amount of time in this article trying to put a Calorie Deficit into perspective for you.
But the truth is this.
If you want to lose weight and you want to go forth with a Ketogenic Diet then do that.
Or Slimming World. Or Weight Watchers.
But promise me one thing.
You will only continue to follow these plans if they make you happy. If you aren’t happy then please stop.
Happiness will lead to enjoyment, which will lead to adherence which will lead to results which will lead to motivation.
That's a good train to be on.
It's my belief that only focussing on the term Calorie Deficit for your weight loss will make you happy, because you have the power, knowledge and education behind what you are doing.
But if being in a Calorie Deficit isn’t bringing you results, and isn’t making you happy then stop doing that too.
Because life is too short for you to not be happy.
A Calorie Deficit is and will always be the only way to lose body fat. How you get into that…is up to you as long as….
…..say it with me…
It makes you happy.
Did you find this useful?
I have plenty more articles about weight loss within this website.
Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
You are also invited to get a bundle of Weight Loss Goodies from me and send me a friend request…
Get yourself a free month of workouts (Home and Gym-based options)
Get yourself a free copy of my e-book ”27 Ways To Faster Fast Loss”
Get yourself a free customized Calorie Calculator
Straight to your Inbox
And as I mentioned before….it would be awesome to chat further as friends…
All you have to do is put your email address in below:
References:
www.dictionary.com. 2020. Definition Of Calorie | Dictionary.Com. [online] Available at: <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/calorie> [Accessed 11 June 2020].
Champagne, Catherine M et al. “Dietary intakes associated with successful weight loss and maintenance during the Weight Loss Maintenance trial.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association vol. 111,12 (2011): 1826–35. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2011.09.014
www.dictionary.com. 2020. Definition Of Sin | Dictionary.Com. [online] Available at: <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sin?s=t> [Accessed 11 June 2020].
Ting R, Dugré N, Allan GM, Lindblad AJ. Ketogenic diet for weight loss. Can Fam Physician. 2018;64(12):906.
Stubbs RJ, Morris L, Pallister C, Horgan G, Lavin JH. Weight outcomes audit in 1.3 million adults during their first 3 months’ attendance in a commercial weight management programme. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:882. Published 2015 Sep 10. doi:10.1186/s12889–015–2225–0
Madigan, Claire D et al. “Which weight-loss programmes are as effective as Weight Watchers(R)?: non-inferiority analysis.” The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners vol. 64,620 (2014): e128–36. doi:10.3399/bjgp14X677491