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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>
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
Is Emotional Eating Your Biggest Problem For Fat Loss?
I normally start an Article like this with a funny meme.
You know, a picture of Joey from Friends eating Pizza with a humorous caption to the effect of: “It's not my fault I can’t lose weight…it's my emotions”
But actually I was quite surprised by what I saw when I typed into Google:
“Emotional Eating Memes” because what actually showed up was “Stress Eating Memes”
And I think that is really what is going on with a lot of Emotional Eating.
In this article we will discuss the following:
Is emotional eating something that affects only me?
What is emotional eating and why does it occur?
How do you begin to change your behaviour with emotional eating?
Can I lose weight whilst working on my emotional eating?
Conclusion
Before we go any further I need to run a few disclaimers. I’m a very experienced Personal Trainer in the field of Female Fat Loss.
I am not a Psychotherapist, Eating Disorder Clinician or Doctor of any kind. If you are currently suffering from an Eating Disorder or feel like you might have an Eating Disorder akin to anything like Bullemia, Purging, Anorexia Nervosa or any other kind of Disordered Eating then please contact your GP immediately, or contact the fantastic Charity BEAT: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
Is Emotional Eating something that affects only me?
Many of my clients think that their emotional eating is significant to them, that they are the only person who turns to a Glass of Wine or a Bar of Chocolate to help them feel better about themselves.
And I’m sure you think that about yourself too.
But here's a thought…what if it is more normal than you originally thought? What if more women than you knew were actually emotional eaters…it's comforting right? That you're not alone. That you're not broken. That it's not something that is only wrong with you.
People find a lot more comfort in the knowledge that there is a sense of “normality in numbers”. When a client first comes to my Gym and starts working with me, they are normally nervous as hell…until I tell them that actually everyone is nervous. Everyone in this building is nervous, which is why they are here in the first place. All my clients are scared their first time, but they got through it…and you will too. They then relax, they calm down. It's now not “just them”. They are now not singled out in their minds. Social Psychologist Robert Cialdini in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion says the following:
“Whether the question is what to do with an empty popcorn box in a movie theater, how fast to drive on a certain stretch of highway, or how to eat the chicken at a dinner party, the actions of those around us will be important in defining the answer.”
We find great comfort in following the crowd. But we must always know that the crowd exists first. When you type “Emotional Eating” into Google you get About 397,000,000 results (0.44 seconds).
It's a popular topic. You aren’t alone and it's certainly not the case that you are broken.
In short, …it is a normal behaviour pattern [1].
What is emotional eating and why does it occur?
I couldn’t write a whole article without a meme now, could I?
Emotional Eating is closely related to Binge Eating, however, Binge Eating is classed as an Eating Disorder, and Emotional Eating is not classed as an Eating Disorder due to the fact that as discussed above, we all do it.
I’ve eaten chocolate to feel better, I’ve got horribly drunk after I split up with an Ex and I have also eaten Pizza until my heart is content because something wasn’t feeling right inside of me.
You are jumping straight to the “Eating”And not looking at the “Emotional” with enough scrutiny.
The Pizza didn’t help. Nor did the Alcohol. Nor did the Chocolate.
The reason? The eating wasn’t the reason I needed comfort. The emotion was.
You will go through an emotional moment and then move towards an item of highly palatable, calorific food or drink. We all do it.
How Do You Define Binge Eating? <<< Read my article on how to understand if you are Binge Eating…
What we don’t all do however is look at the reason why we went to the food. You jump straight to the food being the problem because it doesn't align with the physical goals you have set for ourself.
You are jumping straight to the “Eating”, and not looking at the “Emotional” with enough scrutiny.
As a Coach I’m guilty of this as well. In the past, I have only focussed on the “Eating”. Clients tell me that they want to lose weight, and I will jump straight to the calories, without thinking about their Emotional state soon enough, or putting in enough measures to help them make sure that they are working on their emotional environment and behaviour as much as their physical one.
According to HelpGuide.org [2], these are the triggers that cause Emotional Eating:
Stress
Stuffing emotions
Boredom or feelings of emptiness
Childhood habits
Social influences
Then these triggers work themselves into the following cycle:
Its a continuum. It's a cycle that you cannot work yourself away from because you keep returning to the places that the triggers exist, and then you reach out for the food that comforts you.
Emotional Eating also presents very differently physiologically. You get hungry far quicker than normal, it is associated with specific cravings, you then eat quite mindlessly (watching television or a film, flicking through Social Media etc), you are never satisfied once the moment is over, and you experience feelings of guilt, shame and powerlessness when you experience it.
These are all very different to the feeling of physical hunger, which you can be satiated from, it is controlled by hormones (Grehlin and Leptin), it can be held off, you will eat a wider variety of food and you don’t experience such intense or any self-loathing after a meal that is regulated and makes sense to you in the traditional sense.
Its not all negative either. We can also eat emotionally to reward ourselves. Ever gone out for a Cocktail because you got a promotion at work? Or landed a bonus and celebrated with a bottle of bubbly?
These are behaviours that also constitute Emotional Eating.
How do you begin to change your behaviour with emotional eating?
With emotional eating, you must start focussing more on the “Emotional”. You need to develop your ability and practice your ability to manage your Emotional Wellbeing and state.
The reason you Emotionally Eat is not because of your genetics, your physiology or the fact there is something wrong or unfixable about you.
Its because you are stressed and fearful of what is happening to you.
“Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.” — Bertrand Russell
Now there are times that Emotional Eating is totally understandable and you should treat yourself with empathy when it happens. Those moments will be subjective to you.
But you must also develop two other things to get a handle on it.
Emotional Resilience and better coping strategies for when you are stressed.
We can do this by [3]:
Selecting self-efficacy: take ownership of the problem that is causing disbalance in your life, don’t run from it, as you are likely to run towards a less favoured behaviour.
2. Emphasise Empathy: allow yourself to understand what is happening to you and treat yourself with compassion
3. Practising Patience: you can teach yourself to be mindful in difficult situations, and chose to move away from the stressful moment. Give yourself time and space to comprehend what you are going through.
4. Create Capacity: we can choose these moments to work upon our discipline and desired behaviours rather than turn to the destructive behaviour you are trying to move away from
5. Perceiving Possibilities: from all moments of stress and emotional upheaval, there is always an outcome that can be positive. It might be hard to find, but if you can visualise it, and think upon the positive then you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
How Do You Deal with Stress?
There are many positive behaviours you can implement to help you cope with stress in a much more positive way…rather than returning to what you want to conquer.
There are many different types of stress, and each one and each person will need a different response to the stress they are feeling.
But we know the following will help you immensely:
Eat in a more nutritious manner
I’m not saying “eat better” or “eat good foods” or “avoid good foods”. I am saying eat nutritiously. Sometimes that will mean eat a Cookie, a Donut or have an Espresso Martini. But it also means building your plates with protein and vegetables, drinking 3 litres of water a day, make positive choices that align with your goals both physically, emotionally and mentally.
2. Exercise
Exercise is one very important aspect of dealing with stress. Whether that is hit the gym and follow a good Resistance Programme (Grab a Free Month of Workouts right here: Free Month of the Be Confident, Be Strong Programme) or go for a Swim, Jog, Yoga or even just a 10 minute walk. Exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body’s natural painkillers and mood elevators. [4]
Find out why Resistance Training is great for Fat Loss right here: What is the most important thing for Fat Loss…Resistance Training or a Calorie Deficit?
3. Sleep
Sleep is the most powerful tool in your ability to control stress. You need to be getting 7–8 hours a night. When we sleep we allow our brain to process the day you have just experienced and it will give you much better willpower for the day ahead. Think of sleep not just as a restful time to recover from the day, but time to prepare yourself for the day ahead — like warming up before you exercise. Also, make sure you are creating a good sleep environment for yourself. For example, you should limit caffeine at least 8 hours before you sleep, you should reduce screen time as much as possible, and if you have to be on your phone then use your Night Shift Filter to limit your Blue Light exposure (I have mine on all day every day — and its great!)
If you need help sleeping try listening to one of my Sleep Stories:
4. Meditation
Meditation and deep breathing is also an extremely powerful way to manage your stress. A lot of people give up on Meditation as they believe that they should magically be able to quieten their mind naturally. But it takes practice and is something just like fitness that needs to be worked upon. Also by engaging in Deep Breathing you connect with your Parasympathetic Nervous system which produces a relaxing effect [5]. You can also Meditate anywhere in the world, at any time in your life. it doesn’t have to be at Sunrise on a Beach or listening to Birdsong. Although being in Nature is one of the most relaxing things as humans we can do. You can do it on the Tube, or as you are walking. Try some of my 10-minute walking meditations and see how you get on:
5. Connect with others
By connecting with others and talking things through with your friends will help you solve problems and find the answers you need to figure out what is stressing you out. Plus its comforting to talk to those you are close to. Don’t text them. Speak to them or see them in person. Texting is not an appropriate human connection to help with your stress levels.
6. Give to Charity
There are few things higher up that we can do to improve our sense of self-worth than give to charity. When you help someone else, it makes you feel good, really good, and it helps put your problems into perspective a little more.
Can I Lose Weight Whilst Working on my Emotional Eating?
Let me be clear from the off; anyone can lose weight — all you need is Calorie Deficit:
However, if you are aware that you struggle immensely with Emotional Eating, then a calorie deficit will be an extremely hard thing for you to stick to, as you will constantly be stressing yourself out.
Lets run this through an example:
You have started a new diet and exercise programme and are feeling good for the first few days. You have a little bit of a busy day at work, and feel a bit let down by your colleagues. They haven’t done anything wrong per se, but they just didn’t feel supported. Your boss has hit you with a deadline, and although achievable…in truth its the last thing you want to do right now.
You get home and try to talk to your husband or boyfriend about it. He's only half interested, can’t wrap his head around your point of view and just says something like:
“Well just work hard and you will get it all done. Don’t worry about it”
(Men? Am I rite?)
It brings back all the feelings from your day, from your Boss and your colleagues and you then think about dinner. Feeling a bit low, you notice the Pizza in the freezer rather than the Meal Prep you made.
Pizza it is. You indulge in it. You begin to realise what you did and how that behaviour doesn’t match your new “healthy” regime. However, its ok because you know you are allowed flexibility in what you eat — no ones should be that strict on their diet.
However, you still seem hungry after the pizza. It's not quite done its job. You're not satisfied because you need emotional satisfaction, not physical satisfaction.
There’s Ben and Jerry’s in the fridge…
You get to bed. Sleep not as well as you would like, due to the stress from work, and as you wake in the morning you realise the calories you ate last night exceeded your deficit for the whole week. You now start to feel down on yourself again, and despite knowing all you have to do is follow the Four Step F*** It Philosophy as detailed thus:
STEP 1: Acknowledge you went off plan and why.
STEP 2: Say F*** It.
STEP 3: Draw a line under it.
STEP 4: Move on.
You can’t shake the feeling that you have now let yourself down. You feel your stress levels rising again. Work is just as stressful as before and it's now Karens Birthday. There's Krispy Kremes in the office. One or two won’t hurt, and you need it. You’re feeling low again.
And then the stress increases again because you aren’t matching your Diet to your desired behaviours.
And it goes on and on and on. Until you eventually give up on your diet, give up on your exercise and your goals seem further away than ever.
My point here is that you can’t build a house on a foundation of sand and with three walls. A Calorie Deficit is really simple. But it doesn’t mean it is easy, and to attempt to achieve one in order to lose weight and get a bit “healthier” is going to be extremely hard if you aren’t willing to work first on improving your relationship with food.
You can’t build a house on a foundation of sand and with three walls. Your relationship with food must be postivie before attmepting a Calorie Deficit.
You need to first learn to be able to draw a line right under it and truly move on. When you can achieve that as a habit, without guilt attachment and without you feeling like you are a failure, then you will find being in a Calorie Deficit so much easier.
In the midst of all of this to you will have to learn how to balance your hormones to your expectations. I find that my clients eat a little more during certain times of their cycle and that they need more flexibility in those moments. This is another part of your diet you will need to fully comprehend and understand to help you manage your stress a lot better, and therefore your relationship with food.
How Does Your Menstrual Cycle Effect Fitness and Fat Loss? <<< Read my article on this topic right here
Conclusion
Emotional Eating is a normal, human thing to do. We all Eat Emotionally and this can be both in negative moments of our life and positive moments of our life. Understanding this is crucial because it shows that your behaviour of emotional eating is standard practice and that you aren’t “broken” or “need fixing”
A lot of negative Emotional Eating comes from being in as Stressed state. When the hormone Cortisol and Adrenaline are running rampant in your body, you are much more likely to indulge in foods that do not match the behaviours you want to have in order to reach your goals.
If Emotional Eating is a particularly prevalent behaviour in your relationship with food you need to focus your efforts in the Emotional part of the equation. Not the Eating part of the equation.
Look at the things in your life that are causing you high stress and learn better ways to manage that. Through better nutrition, Exercise, Meditation, Connection with others, giving to Charity and getting out into nature.
It is possible to lose weight whilst being an emotional eater. But it is making your journey a hell of a lot harder. Try and work on your relationship with food before you engage with a Calorie Deficit as fixing your relationship with food will make the weight loss journey more successful and more sustainable.
Above all remember the following: You are not alone, and although this all seems quite daunting, you can totally do it. I know you can. And I believe in you more than you probably believe in yourself. If you got this far through the article, this is clearly something you want to understand more and work upon…and you are already ahead of 90% of the people who have read this.
Stop worrying about the food. Start fixing your stress levels and you’ll do just fine.
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
References:
Medainc.org. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.medainc.org/binge-eating-vs-emotional-eating-whats-the-difference/> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
HelpGuide.org. 2020. Emotional Eating And How To Stop It. [online] Available at: <https://www.helpguide.org/articles/diets/emotional-eating.htm> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
Bogdanos, M., 2020. 5 Steps To Help Build Emotional Resilience. [online] World of Psychology. Available at: <https://psychcentral.com/blog/5-steps-to-help-build-emotional-resilience/> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
Publishing, H., 2020. Exercising To Relax — Harvard Health. [online] Harvard Health. Available at: <https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercising-to-relax> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
André, C., 2020. Proper Breathing Brings Better Health. [online] Scientific American. Available at: <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/proper-breathing-brings-better-health/> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
The most Important thing for Fat Loss? A Calorie Deficit or Resitance Training?
The most important thing for Fat Loss? A Calorie Deficit or Resistance Training?
This is a question I have battled with my whole career. As a Personal Trainer, I take money off of people to help them “achieve their goals”. To get them to “where they want to be” or whatever other “….” cliche we want to put in there.
And my conflict often comes from knowing that “Calories are King” when it comes to losing weight…so why do all Personal Trainers insist on lifting weights and exercising as much as they do?
“Eat less…move more”
Personally I detest the above quote…because it oversimplifies something that is just not that easy to figure out. It's a crass phrase that shames those who are struggling with their weight and doesn’t take into account the most important thing about them…their humanity. But this article will change that quote into:
“Eat less...vs…Move More”
and all that goes into that. It started with my client this morning, and we got into this discussion, which inspired me to sit down and write this for you.
So let's break it down, in this article, we will look at:
Why are calories so important for Fat Loss?
Why do we lift weights for Fat Loss?
What role does cardio play? And quick-fix low-calorie diets?
Conclusion
Why Are Calories so important for Fat Loss?
It doesn’t matter what way you spin it. It doesn’t matter how you look at it, and it doesn’t matter how many times your scream the word “Insulin” the facts are the facts. Are the facts.
The only way to lose weight is a Calorie Deficit [1, 2]. I know it's not what you want to hear. But if all things in your life stayed equal then nothing will change. If we then change one factor, that being the number of calories you eat, then you will start to see a difference on the scale. How big a difference will depend on the amount of a calorie deficit you implement.
Sounds a little too good to be true. Just eat less…right? (eye roll)
To understand this a little better, and the importance of a Calorie Deficit you need to first understand what a Calorie is:
Calorie /ˈkaləri/noun
1. The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C (now usually defined as 4.1868 joules).
2. The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1 °C, equal to one thousand small calories and often used to measure the energy value of foods.
So Calories relate to how hot they make water? Which is a very confusing way of looking at the definition. The part of the definition you need to focus on…in terms of your fat loss…is “the energy needed”.
A calorie, all a calorie is, is a unit of measurement, and it measures energy. The same way a mile measures distance, or a litre measure volume, a calorie measures energy.
Our bodies are like engines, and these engines use calories for fuel. If you overfilled your fuel tank at the Car Garage, it would spill over. If you overfill your body with calories…you gain bodyweight.
Therefore the opposite would be true if we reduced our calories. If you didn’t overfill the car at the garage, you would have less fuel in your car…and, therefore, wouldn’t gain as much body fat.
You would also be able to travel less far…which brings up a great point regarding how being in a calorie deficit can affect your ability to keep your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) up as your body will not want you to reduce your calories because our bodies always like the state they are in, as they feel safe in that place…whether or not it might cause health issues later down the line. This is also where the “starvation mode” myth comes into the argument, and yes, it is a myth. But these are all arguments for another day. What we can draw from this paragraph is that it all comes down to balance, and balance is the most important word in the English and Fitness vernacular.
How you balance your calories (fuel) is to reduce to a point, so you can still reach your destination, but don’t reduce so much you have to fill your tank up again.
Now we have a grasp on what a Calorie is, I hope you can see how important it is for your Fat Loss, and why it is the governing rule for Fat Loss.
Why do we lift weights for Fat Loss?
My client this morning that inspired this Article sums this point up so well, I wish I could get him to repeat the conversation we had.
Quite often in my career, I have had clients stay with me for a number of years, despite the fact they aren’t really losing weight. They love the feeling exercise gives them, they love the experience, despite not having the results.
Now three things play into this I believe…
Exercising regularly helps them try and stay in balance when they aren’t taking their food intake seriously enough to get the results they decide. As the saying goes…“You can’t out-train a bad diet”;
They realise that weight training is an investment for their future self;
I’m just tons of fun and they love being around me.
Of these three things, only one of them do we really need to explain. And that's number three.
I mean look at me — fun or what?
Ok.
Fine.
Its two. Number two is what you need to focus on.
Let’s go back to my client this morning. He stated “I am now 16 stone and its not where I want to be” he has trained with me for nearly a year and although he had success in the past…it has wained of late and he realised this. What I found most interesting about the conversation was his next statement: “I’ve weighed this before…but this time I am wearing it better”
And my brain screamed Ah-Ha!
Despite knowing all the theory, knowing all the information that other fitness professionals say and do, and how they all recommend weight training for Fat Loss…I think as professionals we never truly understand it until you see a client go through it.
Like always when a client is in a situation like this, I immediately help them see their successes, and this client has many successes:
Can Bench Press 45kg for 3 sets
No longer has big bouts of back pain
Can do 3 sets of 12 Push Ups with ease
Gets out of breath a lot less
Can run a mile in 9:27
Looks stronger
Has bigger biceps
Prefers his physique
And the last three points are the key here. The last three comments are what justify his comment “wearing it better”.
Some of his weight probably is muscle gain, but if he hadn’t spent a year with me lifting heavy weights week in and week out, working on the areas of his body he felt self-conscious about and doing the work each and every week then he wouldn’t feel as motivated as he is right now to get back ontop of his Fat Loss goals.
The sheer fact he has worked hard and managed to get his body into a place where he is happier with the way he looks, despite gaining a little extra weight recently is truly wonderful, and a testament to his work ethic in the gym. I look at weight training in the Fat Loss field of fitness as the following:
Lifting weights is an investment into your future self to protect yourself from body fat increases. It is not a short term fix to the problem.
Sure. Lifting Weights does burn calories and lots of them. Far more than cardiovascular training because it improves your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)and your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) (how many calories you burn via organ function and respiration) and that is exactly what has happened to my client. He has gained weight a lot slower than he would have, had he not spent the last year working hard in the Gym.
Muscle uses a lot more calories to maintain than body fat. This is why someone who is very athletic can eat the same as someone who is overweight, and they still both lose body fat. The muscle is like a high-performance car that needs just as much fuel as an efficient vehicle with flat tyres. The energy is being utilised far better and for a better outcome.
Therefore if you want solid, future proof Fat Loss then you have to get in the Gym and lift weights…as well as be in a Calorie Deficit. Because of how difficult a Calorie Deficit can be to maintain over a sustained period of time, there will be moments where you slip into higher-calorie refeeds [3] and momentum calories [4], you need to build yourself an insurance policy — and lifting weights is that insurance policy.
Your BMR and RMR is the biggest piece of your Metabolism at 70%. Therefore increasing it will take time because a lot of it is out of our control — namely your Organ size and your height. The portion of our RMR that is under our control is our Muscle Mass and Body Fat Mass— and therefore we are looking for small increments in this field.
As we build a muscle we basically put more Fat Burning Factories known as Mitchondira into our body. Mitochondria are little cells that are known as the batteries of your muscles…and the space we have for them (the bigger the muscle) the more of them we develop. As always…let's refer to an Instagram Post:
Taken from @thegymstarter on Instagram
So think of your Weight Training and Resistance Training as your Pension Fund. Put away 6.25% of your wages every month for your pension when you reach 65 years old you will have a pretty good pot of money.
NB: I’m not a financial advisor so that percentage could be way off
Exercise does burn calories mind you, and a good solid hour in the Gym lifting near maximal lifts and working hard on compound movements will maybe burn 220kcal approx. if you weigh 154lbs and are male [5].
Building on your Metabolism is a great way of insuring your body's ability to not gain fat in the future. But for the present, although you should get started straight away on lifting weights because the benefits are astoundingly worthwhile like:
Improved Joint Health
Improved Mental Health
Improved Social Health
Improved Confidence
Improved Physique (despite not losing weight necessarily)
It will not in and of itself help you lose bodyweight unless you use it as a tool to get into a Calorie Deficit. Each Gym session just helps you get into a Calorie Deficit for that day by about 200 calories…but the yield of that over time, and the way you change your body's composition will and can last you a lifetime…as long as you keep at it.
What role does cardio play? And quick-fix low-calorie diets?
Ahhh Cardio. My dear friend.
And quick fix low-calorie deficits my immortal MLM enemy.
Now knowing all that you know about Calories and Resistance Training, I am sure you are on board, except for one nagging question.
“How come Sally from over the road who runs a 5km every day is losing weight?”
And that is a great question, to which you know the answer: Sally is in a Calorie Deficit.
“So lets go running then?”
Not so fast. Literally. In terms of time spent exercising for calories burnt, yes Cardio, for the beginner is a great option as you do burn more calories by running for an hour rather than lifting weights. But it poses a few problems.
Your body adapts to exercise and the stress you put it under quite quickly. Therefore in order to keep up the level of exercise intensity, you will either have to go faster or for longer on your run. Whereas in the gym you can just add reps and plates…not miles and minutes. And if you are reading this…I’m sure having to add time to your already busy schedule isn’t going to be easy.
Added to that…you are doing very little to protect yourself from your future self. We all know an injured runner who gained weight after they could no longer keep it up..and that's because although the running was great for their Cardiovascular health they didn’t add enough muscle to their body to keep their body an efficient calorie-burning machine.
All the runner is doing is losing weight. Not adding muscle to their bodies, and therefore opening themselves up to injury, and hitting an unbreakable plateau.
Now don’t get me wrong…I LOVE CARDIO. I have run marathons, my best 5km is ~21mins and I am long-legged and cover the ground quickly (it would be even quicker if my ears didn’t flap in the wind so much) and you should totally add Cardio into your Fat Loss Exercise Regime. That doesn’t mean run 5kms if you don’t want to. A brisk walk each day is going to help you get into a Calorie Deficit via NEAT, and its going to help you keep your joints and your heart healthy. It should be part of what you do. But not the entirety of what you do.
And quick fix low-calorie diets?
If it's all about a Calorie Deficit...then it stands to reason you should just drink water and maybe the odd protein shake and reap the rewards. That is one way of getting into a Calorie Deficit yes. But again, it is fraught with issues.
This study from 2012 which looked into “Very low-calorie diets (VLCD) and sustained weight loss” reviewed all of the literature relating to VLCD, and stated the following:
Therefore, the pessimistic 1958 view of Stunkard and McLaren‐Hume ((1)), that most patients will not lose weight, is no longer true. However, their statement that most patients regain their lost weight is still true. Although there are difficulties in comparing studies because of large variations in the design and control of study variables, the overall picture is still very negative [6].
A VLCD will work. In the short term. Most patients will regain their weight. Yes, there will be few, very few that manage to overhaul their lives enough to make a VLCD stick forever…but I highly doubt you are in that category. Just think of the stressors you are under right now, family, work, loved ones etc…
Can you change enough of them…to make sure that this diet is sustainable enough? I highly doubt it, and nor should you have to.
To Conclude…
The answer is, and always will be a Calorie Deficit is most important for you to lose weight.
Exercising not only helps you lose weight in the present moment, although it might not be as much as you first thought, it can also help you maintain your weight loss over much much longer period of time and protect you when your Calorie Deficit does, and believe me it will, go arry.
Exercise also helps you keep an improved physique if you do gain weight again, and it allows you to feel a bit happier about yourself at the higher weight you have become.
And by doing so… you will never have to consider a VLCD, that won’t work anyway, ever again.
Please remember….it takes time. I have spoken quite casually about time in this article, but you need to think in terms of 12–18 months. Not 6–8 weeks.
And thats it. A Calorie Deficit is still the King of Fat Loss, by me, Adam Berry
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Coach Adam
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References:
2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.nature.com/articles/ncpendmet05https://www.nature.com/articles/ncpendmet055454> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Publishing, H., 2020. Heart Beat: A Weight Loss. [online] Harvard Health. Available at: <https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Heart-Beat-A-weight-loss-secret-Calories-matter> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Syatt Fitness. 2020. Creating An Effective Fat Loss Program. [online] Available at: <https://www.syattfitness.com/fat-loss/back-to-the-basics-creating-an-effective-fat-loss-program/> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Syatt, J., 2018. Fat Loss To Maintenance (How To Transfer). [podcast] The Jordan Syatt Mini Podcast. Available at: <https://anchor.fm/jordan-syatt/episodes/Fat-Loss-to-Maintenance-How-to-Transfer-e1httu> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Choosemyplate.gov. 2020. How Many Calories Does Physical Activity Use (Burn)? | Choosemyplate. [online] Available at: <https://www.choosemyplate.gov/resources/physical-activity-calories-burn> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Wiley Online Library. 2012. Very‐Low‐Calorie Diets And Sustained Weight Loss. [online] Available at: <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2001.134> [Accessed 17 April 2020].