Fat Loss Metabolic Mistakes
Fat loss = Move more, eat less.
But that’s not helpful! This blog will take you to the next level.
Not Enough Resistance Training
Aside from cigarettes and coffee, the only way to increase our basal metabolic rate (our metabolism at rest) is by being more muscular. And read my blog about getting bulky if you’re worried about that. In short, women who lift weights get smaller, not bigger.
Muscle is a highly-metabolic tissue.
Lift weights with the goal to get stronger. That makes sure you’re going hard enough.
Lift three hours a week, either from three total body workouts, or 4 x 45 min upper/lower body workouts.
Body weight resistance training counts, as long as it’s difficult, like push ups, side planks, and chin ups.
The barrier here is that resistance training is skill and most are going to need someone to show them how to do it. That would be me and my team :)
If you can’t afford a trainer, check out the Peloton video workouts set to beginner level.
Check out my client who wasn’t quite lifting right/enough:
This is a former client of mine who was 55 years old at the time. He wasn’t lifting weights that were too light, not going to failure, and not enough hours per week. A proper resistance training program (designed by me) resulted in his body fat percentage and waist circumference going down. We also increased his protein and reduced some of his calories from fat.
If you want body composition results, you have to lift weights properly.
No Afternoon Snack
If lunch is around 12-1pm, and dinner isn’t until 6-8 pm, this is a problem. It causes “starving” and rebound over-eating.
Does this sound familiar?
“I come home from work and I’m starving. I’m getting dinner ready and out comes the (nuts, chips, hummus, etc.) and I munch on those for a while. Then I eat a normal-sized dinner and I’m still hungry.”
Humans have survival systems. Large, acute caloric deficits (under-eating, skipping meals) trigger over-eating to compensate.
Instead, eat when “hungry” or “very hungry”. Avoid “starving” or “famished”. Fat loss requires a caloric deficit, ideally that is consistent, meal to meal, and day to day.
Most 9-5 workers need a pm snack. Aim for about 150-300 calories, and make sure it has half a fist of protein like like tuna, hard-boiled eggs, Greek yogurt. And match that with some fruit or veg.
You will feel so much better, have fewer (or no) cravings, and be more likely to reach your body composition goals. You’ll be more likely to hit your protein goal too.
Two eggs and an apple make a perfect snack, providing 14 grams of high-quality protein, 20 grams of healthy carbs (about 4 grams of those are fibre), 10 grams of fat, and a ton of micronutrients. About 230 calories. It’s also portable and safe at room temp for a few hours.
Not Enough Protein
I’ve worked with about 3000 clients and only about 30 of them showed up to my practice eating enough protein.
A lack of protein:
causes cravings
reduces muscle recovery (we need that for our metabolism)
increases muscle soreness
causes a lack of satiety at meals
can cause wild blood sugar fluctuations, which results in low energy
reduces the metabolic effect of feeding
Most people are missing protein at breakfasts and their afternoon snacks. For breakfast, I enjoy a veggie omelette or a smoothie.
The Susan Smoothie:
1 scoop plain whey protein isolate
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen cherries
15-30 mL almond butter
1 big handful of baby spinach
5 mL / 1 tsp psyllium husk
15 mL cultured coconut probiotic
1 cup ice-cold water
Overall for protein, if you follow the rule “Protein with each meal and snack” you will probably get there. Aim for about a fist of protein with meals and 1/2 fist with snacks.
Very Large Meals Cause More Eating
You read that right.
Big feasts will make us hungry later, even though we don’t need the calories. Especially if we have a few big meals in a row (like a week at a resort).
What’s happening metabolically is high blood sugars. Quickly our body gets used to the high blood sugars, and we stop needing energy from stored glycogen or fats. So that system gets down-regulated.
Then a few hours later, our blood sugar goes down by about half (but is still above the normal between-meal range) and
we feel hungry because of the drop in blood sugar. This causes a hunger signal BUT WE DON’T NEED FOOD YET.
And this is how large meals can cause hunger.
Moving on into the future, let’s say the week at the resort (over-eating) is over. We are going to early (inappropriate) hunger signals until we have a hard reset like a 24 h fast or a strict diet with a bit of suffering.
So big meals don’t just make us gain fat on that day, they set us up for more over eating.
What to do instead.
If you have some family feasts coming up, you have to create balance. The bigger the feast, the more you need to compensate the day before or after with loads of extra exercise and eating less (or fasting).
If that sounds too hard, the other option is not having a huge feast in the first place.
16:8 Fasting
This is where we only eat during an eight hour window, like 11 am to 7 pm. It’s the biggest nutrition lie out there. Right next to quinoa being a high-protein choice.
16:8 fasting has no special fat burning effect. None.
It’s simply a means for some to control calories.
The main concern with it is muscle loss. The older we are, the more 16:8 fasting is going to cause muscle loss. By “older” I’m referring to 40+ and the muscle loss effect will increase the older we are.
Beyond muscle loss, women seem to be more sensitive to mild starvation, like skipping breakfast. The result is over-eating later in the day, so intermittent fasting seems to be more harmful to women, then men.
If you want to get your metabolism right:
lift weights
eat protein with each meal and snack
Don’t starve
Don’t feast
Don’t fast, unless it’s to compensate for a huge feast
And of course, if you’re still confused and frustrated, book a session with us.
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More soon.
Stay strong, stay curious, and don’t buy into the toxic noise.
— KB