Healthy eating for fat loss does not have to be hard and boring!
The Western world has lost touch with their natural food instincts. So many people in the Western word are stuck in a vicious cycle: Natural foods that our slimmer ancestors use to solely live off have become bland and boring. This is because processed food reduces taste sensitivity and as a result you need to keep on these highly-processed foods to enjoy what you are eating. I am not advocating eliminating processed foods completely: They can be very tasty and enjoyable. But moderation is key as will be discussed later.
These are just some of the reasons [1] why you might wish to battle the bulge! Whatever your personal reason is, I am going to tell you everything you need to know to get you there.
The problem...As far as I see it, there are two predominant reasons why people's nutritional protocols fail:
Lack of Knowledge:
Knowledge of energy balance, rate of fat loss, calorie tracking and macronutrient intake are all important parts of all healthy and sustainable fat loss journeys [2].
Energy balance:
For fat loss to occur you must be in a caloric deficit/negative energy balance. This means that your body is burning more calories than you are consuming. The first step is to calculate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).
TDEE is a useful starting point to determine how many calories you should be consuming to reach your fat loss goal in an efficient but sustainable manner. Without knowing how many calories you burn each day you are basically shooting in the dark when it comes to setting your caloric intake.
TDEE is composed of BMR, NEAT, TEF and EAT:
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the total number of calories that your body needs to perform basic, life-sustaining functions.
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): This relates to non-deliberate or incidental activity such as talking to the toilet.
Thermic effect of food (TEF): This is the energy required for digestion, absorption, and disposal of ingested nutrients.
Exercise activity thermogenesis (EAT): This is the energy required for deliberate activity such as working out.
How to calculate TDEE:
Multiply bodyweight in kg by 22 or you bodyweight in pounds by 10. This is your BMR approximately.
Multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity multiplier:
Putting it all together, here is a sample calculation for Kevin, a 90kg male who loves to go to the gym every day and is moderately active outside of the gym:
BMR: 90kg x 22 = 1980 calories
TDEE: 1980 x 1.725 = 3415 calories
Rate of Fat Loss:
One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. Therefore, eating 500 calories below TDEE each day equals one pound of fat loss per week. Generally, this is a good rate of fat loss for noticeable changes on a weekly basis without feeling deprived and suffering from low energy levels.
Going back to our example with Kevin, 1 pound of fat loss would involve consuming 2915 calories per day for a week (3415 – 500).
Calorie Tracking:
To actually hit the daily calorie target you have set you need to accurately track the amount of calories you eat.
The following picture [3] shows the difficulty in tracking calories by just using your eyeball. The 2 plates look very similar but a 400 calorie difference is almost enough to blow your intended 500 calorie deficit per day. A digital food scale is a cheap and effective way to deal with this hidden calorie problem.
Macronutrients:
With your caloric goal figured out, the next step is to figure out where those calories come from. The 3 macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein and fat. When losing fat a ratio of roughly 50%, 25% and 25% of total calories respectively is a general guideline.
There is a common misconception that when it losing weight some foods are good and others are bad. The law of thermodynamics stipulates that calories are what ultimately count regardless of source. So you can still eat your favourite treats in moderation.
Protein:
Protein plays a very important role during fat loss. Protein helps to maintain muscle mass and it is also the most satiating macronutrient. Protein contains 4 calories per gram.
Healthy sources of protein include:
Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates provide the major source of energy to fuel our daily activities. Carbs contain 4 calories per gram.
Healthy sources of carbs include:
Fats:
Fats play an important role in regulating hormones. Fats contain 9 calories per gram.
Healthy sources of fat include:
2. Attitude Behaviour Gap
Do you suffer from an intention-behaviour gap between knowledge and follow through? [4] Put simply, this is where you know what needs to be done but you have trouble doing it! From a purely theoretical point of view, all you need to know to lose fat is the aforementioned information. However as discussed, humans are not robots and a lot more tends to influence our food-making decisions than what is purely rational. What we are talking about here is the psychology of eating and how it can impede fat loss.
“Most people in this day and age are great at losing weight; the larger problem is that they just can’t keep it off. This is why we need long-term solutions.” [5] Roughly 45 million Americans go on a diet each year. But with such high obesity rates, clearly something is not working.
Maybe you have noticed that I have not mentioned the word “diet” once in this blog, that was deliberate. You need to get rid of the word diet from your vocabulary. Not only does it tend to have negative connotations and imply suffering, it also implies a temporary change only. You must focus more on sustainable lifestyle changes and take a long-term focus if you want to not only lose it but also maintain your fat loss long-term.
In order to overcome this you need to adopt a sustainable approach to fat loss. As tempting as it may be to adopt an “all or nothing” approach, it is not feasible to completely cut out all of your favourite foods forever. If you cannot see yourself eating the same way a year from now then something is wrong. As humans we are subject to many stresses and we only have a limited reservoir of willpower.
One common way to increase the sustainability of your fat loss is to incorporate some flexibility by fitting in some of your favourite treats. Remember – Ultimately it is the calories consumed that counts for fat loss and not the source of the calories. The 80/20 rule is a common way to do this. [6] This is a good balance because with 80% of your calories coming from nutritious whole foods you get the satiation and fullness benefits of these foods but you can still indulge a bit in a way that is still conducive to maintainable long-term fat loss.
80% coming from healthy sources seems like a lot but it is important to remember that healthy food does not have to be boring. People who struggle with their weight people "have altered taste perceptions leading to eating more and eating more of the wrong foods. By losing weight you’ll end up craving less high-sugar and high-fat food. You might even enjoy an extra veggie or two.” [7]
Building new habits:
As discussed, sustainability is a key factor when it comes to sticking to any fat loss protocol long term. This is one of the reasons why the 80/20 rule is recommended. But even with this rule, at times adherence can be difficult particularly early on. Most people tend to give up at the dip phase (see graph below) when that initial motivation to lose fat was dwindled and you have not been following the protocols for long enough yet for them to become habits you can follow even in times of poor motivation. There is no magic secret to get through the dip phase, you just have to stick it out knowing that soon things will improve and adherence will require less and less effort.
Strategies to improve satiety:
So while the total calories consumed is what ultimately matters, the feeling of fullness that you get from eating the same amount of calories from different foods can vary a lot. Eating the foods that give you the greatest fullness can make the fat loss process easier.
High volume foods: You need to take advantage of the mismatch between calories and food volume! One can consume less calories while also eating a greater volume of food. Per gram, fruits and vegetables contain only a fraction of the calories of the highly processed foods that surround us in the Western world.
You need to exploit this food volume strategy because your stomach sends a signal to your brain that you are full when the stomach wall is stretched. As shown in the image below, it takes a lot less calories from high volume foods to send this signal to your brain. [8]
As well as physiologically filling your stomach more, high volume foods also have the psychological benefit of feeling like you get to eat more!
Other hunger reducing strategies include eating plenty of foods that are high in fibre, drinking plenty of water, getting plenty of sleep and eating mindfully.
Bonus Tip - Exercise:
What you eat is by far the most critical factor when it comes to healthy and sustainable weight loss. However, exercise is a complementary factor that you should consider incorporating. As well as the broader health benefits, exercise, particularly resistance training, can serve an important role in your fat loss journey:
During a fat loss phase, your body is more susceptible to muscle loss than it usually would be. Leading expert Dr. Eric Helms notes that “lifting weights is the number one thing you can do to prevent lean body mass losses during a diet.” [9]
Furthermore, muscle tissue helps to boost your metabolic rate so you burn more calories even when resting! Resistance training also improves bone density and reduces the risk of injury.
Conclusion:
If you want to make changes to your body, only do it for yourself and not to please others. It is totally acceptable to want to look better but remember that how you look does not determine self-worth. In all of this, your happiness is the most important thing. How you feel will always be more important than how you look.
References
[1] Olivia Tarantino. 2019. 33 convincing reasons to lose weight. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.eatthis.com/reasons-to-lose-weight/
[2] Eric Helms. 2018. The muscle The Nutrition Pyramid. [ONLINE] Available at: https://muscleandstrengthpyramids.com/
[3] Ilona Baliunaite. Dietician Shows How The Same Meal Can Have 400+ Calorie Difference. 2019 https://www.boredpanda.com/same-dishes-less-calories-healthy-food-paula-norris/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
[4] Julie Corliss. The intention behaviour gap. 2011. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/bridge-the-intention-behavior-gap-to-lose-weight-and-keep-it-off-201103101729
[5] Eric Helms. 2018. The muscle The Nutrition Pyramid. Page 31. [ONLINE] Available at: https://muscleandstrengthpyramids.com/
[6] Anon. Why the 80/20 Rule Is the Gold Standard of Dietary Balance. 2018. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/80-20-rule-best-diet
[7] James Heathers. 5 significant reasons to lose weight. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.precisionnutrition.com/reasons-to-lose-weight
[8] Tracey Roizman. How does your stomach tell your brain that you’re full? https://www.livestrong.com/article/489875-how-does-your-stomach-tell-your-brain-that-youre-full/
[9 Eric Helms. 2018. The muscle The Nutrition Pyramid. Page 82. [ONLINE] Available at: https://muscleandstrengthpyramids.com/