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Why “Eat Less, Move More” Is Causing The Problem, Not Curing It
It’s incredibly frustrating.
When I hear the term “Eat Less, Move More” I am reminded of my days as a Football Referee. Days that were hounded with the extreme oversimplification of the “Offside Law” combined with incredibly subjective biased opinion in favor of someone's team compared to the opposition.
The truth is…90% of Football Fans do not know the Laws well enough to comment.
And the second I, a very qualified referee, a man who had studied the topic for years and years and had exercised the Laws of Football with Authority at least 3 times a week in front of crowds of fans and pitches full of players, the second, I tried to re-educate people on the issue at hand, I was in the wrong.
I was the bad guy. Because my opinion didn’t fit their very bias narrative.
Truth and facts are irrelevant in situations like this. If the said person had an opinion on it, no matter how wrong, offensive, and downright out of order that opinion was, the truth just did not matter.
And the same can be said for the term “Eat Less, Move More”.
Because we all have a body…because we all spend a portion of our lives being aware of our “Body Weight” people think that they know how it works.
Without study, or reading the literature. Without actually coaching someone.
It isn’t good enough. And all you are doing is causing the problem, not curing it.
You see, Obesity isn’t the problem of the person who is Obese.
It’s the problem of society.
And terms like “Eat Less, Move More” are causing that problem within society even more. To those who believe this is all weight loss is and that it is the “Final Solution”, you could not be more wrong.
You are overlooking far too many other factors that are interwoven into the fabric of society, things like Depression, Poverty, Lack of Job Security, An Economy that prays on keeping people feeling inadequate.
“Eat Less, Move More” is a form of Weight Stigmatization, make no mistake.
Weight bias is defined as negative attitudes towards, and beliefs about, others because of their weight. These negative attitudes are manifested by stereotypes and/or prejudice towards people with overweight and obesity. [1]
I am not denying the fact that in order to lose weight you must be in a Calorie Deficit and this is the foundation for “Eat Less, Move More”.
But as Martin MacDonald says:
“A Calorie Deficit is as simple as Calories In vs Caloires Out, its juts that Calories In vs Calories Out just isn’t that simple”
And it really really isn’t.
Listen more about Body Positivity on The Fitness Solution where I chat with Amy Snelling all about Body Positivity right here:
Why “Eat Less, Move More” Is Causing The Problem, Not Curing It
Why it is more than simply to just; “Eat Less”
When you Fat Shame. When you tell someone to just stop eating…
Have you considered the following:
1. The person might actually be using their weight as a defense mechanism due to previous sexual abuse.
Justin Faden et al (2012) put together a study that found:
73% of patients undergoing psychiatric hospitalization following gastric bypass have a history of sexual abuse. [2]
and
As these patients undergo weight loss, they may experience significant psychological distress [2]
2. The person due to their Obesity is bored as it’s very difficult for them to be anywhere other than home?
California State University (Edward E. Abramson et al) 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.[3]
3. Where they live is causing their obesity and impacting their food choices?
A study in 2009 looked into the relationship of where people live and the foodservice outlets that were in their neighborhood and concluded:
The lower the ratio of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores to grocery stores and produce vendors near people’s homes, the lower the odds of being obese. Thus the proximity of the obesogenic environment to individuals appears to be an important factor in their risk for obesity. [4]
Furthermore, we live in a very stressful environment.
Now more than ever.
In the UK alone we are predicted to lose 6.5million jobs due to the current pandemic, according to the University of Essex [5].
Whenever the TV or Radio or Paper is turned on, something that someone who is bored is more than likely to do…not only are they exposed to more stress, but they are also re-exposed to more weight stigmatization via these media outlets. Ever heard the term “Obesity Crisis”?
If someone said to me the condition of my body is a “crisis” then I would be in panic mode. It would be full-blown stress…and stress leads to calories.
To then avoid this stress from mainstream media they might turn to Social Media, which might also help curb this boredom. Social Media is another stressful place to be…looking at images of people who have the ideal body which may well trigger someone into a cycle of emotional eating or binge eating which in turn results in an increase of calories. As the person looking at their feed will just feel totally inadequate.
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.[6]
And I haven’t even mentioned Poverty. It’s extremely easy for someone who has never had to worry about where their next meal is coming from to spout the advantages of eating a nutritious meal. However, someone who is worried about where the next paycheque is coming from, or keeping a roof over their head, or even whether they will have a meal to eat or not, is not going to worry about the quality of that meal.
You have no right to tell someone who is in poverty what food they should be eating. All you should be doing is worrying about whether they have food or not in the first place.
Jesus didn’t feed the 5000 to a Chorus of “What about the Mercury levels” and “Carbs make you fat because of insulin”. He fed them to a chorus of pleases and thank yous, of gratitude and helpfulness.
As opposed to telling people to “Eat Less”. How about we give them something to be thankful for instead so that they can see hope and love in the world.
Listen to this Episode of The Fitness Solution to really comprehend an awful lot more about why Eat Less, Move More is a term that harms more than it helps:
Why “Eat Less, Move More” Is Causing The Problem, Not Curing It
What about “Move More”?
When you Fat Shame. When you tell someone to just get off the couch…
Have you considered the following?
The person might not be able to get off the couch without help.
The person might be embarrassed to get off the couch in front of people, let alone exercise in public.
The fact the person managed to get onto the couch is their huge win for the day, and just getting out of bed was as hard for that person as they could be dealing with poor mental health.
I think it's a little too obvious for me to sit here and tell you that Obese people struggle with exercise.
Because in fact, it’s not even the physical act of exercising alone that is the main struggle.
In the Gym, working as a Personal Trainer I have had at least three clients tell me that they can’t work out in front of the mirrors because they can’t stand to look at themselves.
And this feeling is backed up by a study by Wicklund and Duval in 1971, upon which they found:
Viewing oneself via mirrors has been shown to increase levels of objective SA via self-evaluation, leading to increased awareness of the discrepancy between an individual’s current self and his or her “ideal” self [7]
These clients weren’t overweight, or obese.
I have had clients squeeze my hand so tight it was painful when they first walked into the Gym because of how scared they were, and then ask that we go for a walk instead and “maybe next week I will feel a bit better about that environment”.
Again, these clients were not overweight or obese.
But it’s how they felt in society.
Now imagine how they might feel if they were overweight or obese.
Actually, it's hard to because you can’t imagine actually being in the gym as an overweight or obese person. I know I can’t. I can’t even pretend to comprehend how they feel. It’s literally beyond my comprehension…and I would consider myself very empathetic to other people's feelings.
But again the Science backs us up here.
A study at Syracuse University in 2008 found a correlation between Weight Stigmatising someone and their motivation to exercise.
These findings suggest that weight stigma (through its impact on avoidance motivation) could potentially decrease physical activity levels. [8]
We all have a sport we dislike participating in. For me it was Rugby…when I was growing up I really didn’t want to get hurt when playing. I felt too small…too weak and far too intimidated to step foot on the Rugby field.
What was your sport? Running?
Imagine if the world told you that the only way to stay alive was to go for a run every day.
Would that inspire you to run...or would it fill you with dread and fear? With worry and again….stress?
We all skipped Gym class at school. And it wasn’t because we were playing truant…it was because that day you were told you were going to get beaten up by your bully, or that you looked fat in your PE Skirt, or that you were so rubbish at Sports the Teacher would just stand next to you blowing his or her whistle whilst screaming at you to do one more burpee.
You skipped that class.
Because the environment wasn’t one that you enjoyed.
What's the difference?
Conclusion
Throughout the article, I have put some words in Italic Bold. The purpose of that was to create this list:
Weight Stigmatization.
Weight as a defense mechanism.
Is bored.
Where they live.
Stressful environment.
Totally inadequate.
Poverty.
Without help.
Might be embarrassed.
Dealing with poor mental health.
Can’t stand to look at themselves.
How scared they were.
How they felt in society.
When you see this list, you can see how complex a web Obesity is. This is without even looking into the Medical side of the condition and how that might affect someone's ability to work on their weight.
The cure to Obesity does not lie in a poorly educated Personal Trainer, Doctor, Government sitting there and telling someone to “Eat Less, Move More”.
To treat Obesity is to treat society. Is to overhaul our economy, our Media, our Health Care messaging around the issues.
When you look up the causes of Obesity on the NHS website it states:
“Obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little” [9]
It’s not good enough.
When you look at the list of causes of Obesity I have outlined in this article do you really think the mantra that the NHS is putting out there is truly good enough?
It's too simplistic. It’s too shameful. And the world needs to do better.
Last week I was lucky enough to have a discussion on my Podcast, The Fitness Solution, about this with someone who was on National Media here in the UK as she said: “I will not work with Fat people”.
The discussion we had was one of great respect and education. We moved the dial forward in her mind and her attitude towards what she said and what she will say in the future.
They are hard discussions. The problems are beyond complex and that can mean that it can almost be too overwhelming to try and tackle and change.
It’s easy to say that a Calorie Deficit is a way forward and that can be summed up simply by “Eat Less, Move More”.
But if it was that simple it would have worked by now. To say Eat Less, Move More is to bury your head in the sand, its to lack empathy, understanding, and the desire to actually create change.
My wish for this article is that whenever you see someone post the words “Eat Less, Move More” you just send this to them.
We need more discussion around these topics, and we need more empathy for those who need it most because that is the only way we will ever get on top of Obesity and truly help those who need it.
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 fintess 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:
Euro.who.int. 2020. Weight Bias And Obesity Stigma: Considerations For The WHO European Region (2017). [online] Available at: <https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/noncommunicable-diseases/obesity/publications/2017/weight-bias-and-obesity-stigma-considerations-for-the-who-european-region-2017> [Accessed 28 July 2020].
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
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.Spence, J.C., Cutumisu, N., Edwards, J. et al. Relation between local food environments and obesity among adults. BMC Public Health 9, 192 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-192
The Independent. 2020. More Than 6.5 Million Jobs ‘To Be Lost In UK Coronavirus Lockdown’. [online] Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-lockdown-job-losses-unemployment-recession-university-essex-study-a9472966.html> [Accessed 28 July 2020].
Patricia A. Cavazos‐Rehg, Ellen E. Fitzsimmons‐Craft, Melissa J. Krauss, Nnenna Anako, Christine Xu, Erin Kasson, Shaina J. Costello, Denise E. Wilfley, Examining the self‐reported advantages and disadvantages of socially networking about body image and eating disorders, International Journal of Eating Disorders, 10.1002/eat.23282, 53, 6, (852–863), (2020). Wiley Online Library
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
Vartanian, L. R., & Shaprow, J. G. (2008). Effects of weight stigma on exercise motivation and behavior: a preliminary investigation among college-aged females. Journal of health psychology, 13(1), 131–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105307084318
How To Count Calories
How To Count Calories
There I was on Instagram doing my daily video asking my audience what I might be able to help them with…and I got this response:
“I don’t know how to count calories…can you help me?”
Well, of course, it's my pleasure to help anyone if I can. But with this message, I felt like the person sending it to me felt guilty that she didn’t know how to do this — which is absurd. Why would you know how to do this if it's not something you have looked into how to do it. In the fitness industry, we spend a lot of time talking about things which we know…and we don’t do a great job of informing people about actually how to do what we talk about. This is for one reason…many people in this industry want to make them seem like they have a secret you don’t have…thus you will part with your cash in order to get said secret. It's nonsense. Nothing makes someone actually want to invest in you more than you empowering them to solve problems themselves. Helping them when they think they will never be able to figure it out.
Therefore this article is here to:
Explain why you should count calories
Show you how to count calories
Make you aware of the positives and negatives of counting calories
and
4. Send you on your way feeling empowered to take control of this part of your Fitness Journey.
Why You Should Count Calories
Most Diets you have ever heard of, will in some way do two things.
Count your Calories
Get you into a Calorie Deficit or a Calorie Surplus
For the purposes of this article, let's just use the premise that you want a calorie deficit to lose weight. Whether you followed Slimming World, Weight Watchers or Atkins they all incorporate a “system” for counting your calories. The issue with these diets is they also encourage you to develop very questionable relationships with how you view your food which in the long run creates a very messy relationship between you and your diet. They also use this calorie counting system to restrict your intake of calories…hence getting you into a Calorie Deficit.
These companies have clearly realised that part of a successful Fat Loss diet is that you manage to get the dieter to learn how to restrict their food, and thus get results.
Have you ever heard the phrase “what is measured can be managed”?
Well, that is why you should count your calories if you want to lose weight. We need to keep track. And that's it. Keep track of the amount of energy you are eating.
That's all a calorie is: A unit of energy.
In the same way, a mile is a unit of distance. A calorie is a unit of energy.
And in the same way, you are tracking how far you are running or walking, or how much you are lifting…you must also track how much you are eating.
You wouldn’t step foot into the Gym and not take note of how heavy the dumbbell you are lifting is, would you? So why are you not treating your food the same?
Emotions. Which I empathise with…(and if you need help with that then please read my article titled: How Do You Define Binge Eating?)…but that's not for this article.
It is also my belief that counting calories is important as we habitually wildly underestimate how many calories we are eating. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (1) and an article published by Public Health England (2)both state that participants under-report their calorie consumption.
This is why I believe it is very important for you, if you want to begin to lose weight to start counting your calories as accurately as possible. In the Western World we are so poorly educated on this subject…it leads to a huge overconsumption of caloric intake. We just have very little idea on two things, how many calories we actually require each day (our Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and how many calories are in our foods.
There is:
97kcal in a Cappuccino from Starbucks (Tall)
130kcal in a bag of Salt and Vinegar Walkers Crisps
214kcal in a large glass of Red Wine
1064kcl in a 200g bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk
1720kcal in a medium Dominos Pepperoni Pizza
Now imagine you had some garlic bread with the pizza or a dash of syrup in your cappuccino. Maybe had two glasses of wine not just the one…you can see how the little bits here, the little bits there add up.
And if you don’t track that…you can begin to take away from all of your hard work in the gym.
That being said…
“All calories count, but you don’t have to count all calories” — Jordan Syatt
You can get into a Caloric Deficit without counting calories, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t educate yourself on them. Learning how many calories are in the foods you eat is a simple and easy way to make sure you can keep track, even when you aren’t “tracking”.
How Do You Count Calories?
Great question.
Before we get into this…I want you to know that at times it's not easy to be very accurate. It used to drive me bonkers, the few times I have counted calories that it was never perfect. So right off the bat…i’m telling you this is NEVER an exact science.
In fact, even the calories published on packets are not 100% accurate. The FDA in the US allows up to 20% deviation on what the packet might actually contain either way…
So how do you get around this? Well, you give yourself a nice long time frame to lose weight…you experiment and keep making little changes until it starts to work for your goals.
Personally, I recommend to my clients to download the app “MyFitnessPal” although some clients have had great success with FitBit Tracking too.
With MyFitness Pal you set up your Goal Weight…and it will give you a Daily Amount of Calories that you can consume.
Then throughout the day you scan barcodes, type in and figure out what you are eating in order to find out how many calories you are eating. It has an extensive list of food stuffs in its library and there are few things in this world that aren’t on there. Including Restaurant Menus, Cocktails and your favourite Fast Foods.
But figuring out portion sizes can be difficult.
There's another catch with MyFitnessPal if you want to lose weight…and its this:
Image from @thegymstarter on Instagram
MyFitnessPal gives you back Calories burnt from exercise as per your exercise tracker (the red arrows on the illustration above). Fitness Trackers don’t accurately calculate the number of calories you have burned through exercise and therefore the number of calories MyFitnessPal says you can have back is not going to be accurate.
Added to that…if you have increased your movement…and burnt some calories…why would you then want to eat that back?
You are just undoing your hard work.
What If The Food I Eat Is Home Cooked and Doesn’t Have A Barcode?
Tracking Home Cooked food is terribly irritating on MyFitnessPal. As you will have to weigh all your food, every ingredient and figure out how you cooked it because how you cook food changes its calorie content…there becomes a lot of barriers in place which will stop you from tracking your calories.
And as you may well know…my number one rule for Fitness is enjoyment. As enjoyment leads to adherence. And if there are lots of barriers in place you simply will not remain adherent to what you are doing…because its no longer enjoyable…but onerous.
Luckily for you, I have a Fat Loss My Fitness Pal rule in place for this very problem.
If you are eating home cooked food, or whole foods nearly the whole of the time, that sticks to the rule of Protein and Veggies at every meal…and Carbs come along for the ride (one of my 5 AwesomeRules for life) then it is my belief you don’t have to track that food.
But…
And its a Big But…if you eat anything with a Barcode on it…you must scan and track that.
If you are finding you are getting to within 60% of your Calorie allowance (the Goal Number on the image above) from Barcoded Foods…then it is a fair statement to say that you are eating over your calorie allowance.
This means that if you have a calorie allowance of 1500kcals a day and you are eating 900kcals worth of Coffees from Costa, Wine, Crisps and Dip, Sodas, Chocolate or Sandwiches from Pret then I think we can assume you are going over your calories each day.
So the Big Food Number on your MyFitnesPal should read no more than 900kcals (60% of your Daily Caloric Allowance) in this example.
YOUR BMR or GOAL CALORIES — Know Your Numbers
I set all my clients up with a calorie target of two numbers.
A Lower Limit
An Upper Limit.
The lower limit is set to their BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) which is the number that dictates how many calories they burn just by being them. Their Digestion, Respiration, Minimal Daily Movement all leads us to this figure.
If you want to know your BMR then email me a request and I will tell you how to get a number (adam@thegymstarter.com)
The upper limit is normally their Goal B/W ins LBS x12.
This figure is always higher than we expect and scares a few people. But if you are consistent with your training and your NEAT especially, then it will work fine for you.
I ask all my clients to try and make sure that each day they will fall somewhere between these two numbers, and by doing so…they will over a course of time…lose weight, and keep it off.
One last important point…
I heard this from Susan Neibergall on my Podcast: The Fitness Solution (listen on iTunes here). Susan said that the aim of being in a Calorie Deficit isn’t to see how little you can eat…but to see how much you can eat within that number.
That's the challenge.
It's not about restriction.
It's about abundance within your limits. Imagine you driving a car, and you are coming onto a Motorway, you know that your limit is 70mph on the motorway…you are going to drive damn near to that number. You aren’t going to travel on the motorway at 40mph because you want to get your destination as quickly as possible, and you know that going that slow…when everything else around you is going that quick…is damn dangerous.
Yout might cruise at 60/65mph…but no slower.
What Are The Positives and Negatives of Counting Calories?
The positives are the following:
You can educate yourself on the calories you are eating each day and see how that is effecting your Fat Loss Journey
It gives you a way of looking at food as just energy. Not good or bad foods…it just is literally a combination of calories formatted in a certain way for you to consume.
It is time-restricted. This is not something you need to do for the rest of your life. Once you get a handle on the foods you like to enjoy…and learn how much energy is in them then you are free to roam the world and keep looser tabs on what you are doing. Then if things go array…you have a tried and tested format to help you get back on track.
It will lead to results. If you track accurately…it will lead to results for you.
It allows you to stop being a Dieter. You can finally walk away from Slimming World and Weight Watchers and actually learn that food is just food…and if it fits inside your number…then you can eat it. It basically gives you guilt-free freedom.
Read number five again.
I know I spoke about negatives a the top of this section…and there are a few. But what I really mean are pitfalls. There are common mistakes that people make when tracking calories which will drastically hinder their progress.
Again, let me call on Instagram:
Image from @thegymstarter on Instagram
As you can see there are plenty of ways that this method of tracking your consumption can let you down, and therefore will hinder your progress.
I can only suggest avoiding these mistakes and you will be able to remain accurate with what you are doing.
The other negatives associated with Calorie Tracking is thus:
People can become obsessed with it.
People don’t want to see the truth.
Point 1: They can be completely obsessed with their numbers and that can totally impact the way they view their food.
What I would say about this is the following. We may all know someone who is “obsessed” with their numbers. But in truth, that is one person out of many more that you are focusing on. You are looking for the anomaly to prove your point. Far more people casually track their calories in this world, than get obsessed with it. Don’t use one person to prove your already biased opinion.
Point 2: It can be scary. If this is something that you believe you have had a handle on your whole life, but know the scale has never actually told you what you want to hear…then being accountable for what you are putting in your mouth can be a very scary moment. Seeing it in black and white…is, without doubt, a bitter pill to swallow. But if you can make your peace with that right now, then it will pay dividends, compared to you regretting not being able to when you are 55 and need a hip replacement.
To Conclude
For me the answer is simple: Track Your Calories
Its not a life sentence. You don’t have to do this for the rest of your life. But if you can accurately track for a month or so…then you will learn so much about your food you will be able to take so much more control over what you are eating.
Numbers are King. You need to know your numbers to succeed. Your Upper Limit, Your Lower Limit and hit between those each day for a long period of time…and you will succeed.
Eat as much as you can within your numbers. That's the goal here. To eat as much as possible…not as little as possible.
Stick to the 60% rule don’t let MyFitness Pals annoyances stop you from succeeding. Learn to work with it, rather than against it, and you will find success.
Guilt-Free Freedom this is your goal. To learn to enjoy all foods so long as they work within your numbers. Foods are not good, or bad. They just are.
And thats it.
How To Track Calories by me,
The Gym Starter…
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Sources:
New England Journal of Medicine. 2020. Discrepancy Between Self-Reported And Actual Caloric Intake And Exercise In Obese Subjects | NEJM. [online] Available at: <https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199212313272701> [Accessed 9 April 2020].
Ons.gov.uk. 2020. A Government Statistical Service Perspective On Official Estimates Of Calorie Consumption — Office For National Statistics. [online] Available at: <https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/methodologies/agovernmentstatisticalserviceperspectiveonofficialestimatesofcalorieconsumption#toc> [Accessed 9 April 2020].
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 fintess 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