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MEET SALLY!
In this video Sally will give you an introduction to the blog about weight loss program.
Did you know …
- If your weight loss program doesn’t focus on increasing fat burning you will never have permanent weight loss
- Increasing your fat-burning capacity is required for permanent weight loss and optimal health
- Remember – nobody wants to lose weight we ONLY want to burn fat
- Weight loss refers to a decrease in your overall body weight from muscle, water, and fat.
- Fat loss refers to weight loss from fat, a much more specific and healthful goal
- When you chose a weight loss program chose on one that focuses on fat burning
- Whether your body stores or burns fat is controlled by hormones
- You will NEVER burn fat if the fat storing hormone Insulin is at work
- When you focus on fat loss rather than weight loss you
– decrease the risk of several chronic diseases
– help reduce the risk of age-related muscle loss
– reduce fat regain
- Fat burning exercise zones are a myth invented by the fitness industry
- We actually burn most fat when resting/sleeping – as much as 85% of calories burned are fat
- We lose 50% or more of our fat burning hormones by the time we are 50
- BTW – you need to know if you’re losing weight from fat or muscle
- You can NEVER have too much muscle
- Referring to weight loss as fat burning makes weight loss programs simple and sustainable
- Sustainable is a very important word as yoyo weight is unhealthy on many levels, especially Thyroid and metabolism
- Nobody should go on a diet – the word diet gives the impression of a short term fix
- And dieting is promoted as ‘sexy’ and is very profitable for the food and supplement industry
- Studies about dieting for weight loss show that dieting rarely works in the long-term, so no sustainability
- The average UK adult tries to implement a fad diet 4 times per year.
- Within two weeks, 25% will give up on their weight loss goals.
- And yet we keep on dieting and are just getting fatter and fatter
- Whichever program you chose make sure you are persistent, make it your new lifestyle.
Statistics about weight loss
From pharmacydirectgb.co.uk and /www.gov.uk
- Studies about dieting for weight loss show that dieting rarely works in the long-term
- Notably 85% of dieters end up gaining their weight back within 1 – 5 years (often extra weight is gained)
- Studies indicate that people who diet are most likely to gain weight in the future.
- That means dieting could be a novel predictor of future weight gain — not loss
- Research shows that 2/3 of Brits are on a diet “most of the time”
- The average UK adult tries to implement a fad diet 4 times per year.
- Within two weeks, 25% will give up on their weight loss goals.
- And yet we keep on dieting but are getting fatter and fatter
- Over 70% of UK adults are uncomfortable with their weight.
- Nearly twice as many women than men feel uncomfortable with their weight.
- In the last 12 months, the NHS has spent over £7.5 million prescribing weight loss medication.
- Since January 2021, there have been a total of 1.4 million Google searches for ‘how to lose weight fast’, that’s the equivalent of 3 searches per minute.
- 68% of men and 60% of women in the UK struggle with obesity or being overweight
- Nearly 20% of boys and over 10% of girls in the UK struggle with obesity or being overweight
- In March 2021, the government announced an additional £100 million of funding over the 2021 to 2022 financial year to support people living with excess weight and obesity to lose weight and maintain healthier lifestyles
- Funding a project called ‘Adult tier 2 weight management services’
- 43,755 people enrolled on Adult tier 2 weight management service
- Results
– It is difficult to calculate the average weight loss amongst participants whilst data continues to be collected.
– For example, some of the 24,800 participants have only had one weight measurement at referral submitted and no subsequent weight measurements even though they should have completed their service by the end of quarter
– Estimated weight loss was 2.24 – 3.44 kg
- NB! the measurement gauge used is weight loss and not fat loss, which means the weight loss could be muscle, water and or fat.
Why Counting Calories Doesn’t Work
What is a calorie
- A calorie is defined as the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1°C
- So yes the human body consists of a lot of water
- But the way we produce heat aka energy is varied and controlled by hormones
- Not as simple as turning up the gas on the stove
- Calories are normally used to describe the amount of energy your body gets from what you eat and drink.
- The amount of energy that foods provide is normally recorded in thousands of calories, or kilocalories (kcal), but in general terms the word calories is commonly used
- Calories are also used to describe the energy the body expends on various activities
- Hence the simple possibly logical equation if calories in are less than calories out you will lose weight
BUT – a calorie is not just a calorie
- So the calculation of total calories in foods is based on the how much energy/heat is produced when burning grams of fat, glucose, and proteins in a glass tube called a calorimeter
- Proteins and carbs create 4 kcal per gram
- Fats create 9 kcal per gram
- Alcohol creates 7 kcal per gram
- Adding these values together gives the calorific value of the food
- Most dietary advice uses these calorific values to support the ‘myth’ that if you take in fewer calories than you burn in a given day you will lose weight.
Can we count on this?
The challenges
- How can calorie value defined by burning of food to ashes in a calorimeter ever be compared with the way the body digests and utilizes fats, proteins and carbohydrates?
- Glucose was burned in the “furnace” but the foods we eat contain a combination of the other simple sugars, fructose and galactose, and then there’s the fibre, all of which affect the speed in which glucose is available
- There are many different fats, saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, short, medium, long and extra-long chain, which are burned at a different speed.
- And as for proteins well there are 22 different amino acids all of which burn differently
- Other factors such as gut health, digestion, hormonal status, enzyme activity, vitamin and mineral levels, if the foods are raw or processed, and of course the quantities and type of fats, carbs and proteins all play their role in the availability and utilizing of fats, glucose and proteins
- Unfortunately, the simple statement – what goes in should be equal to what comes is linear, and the body is anything but linear, it is much more complex and cannot be compared with a glass tube.
The fact is we have no idea how much energy we obtain from the foods we eat.
NB! – most dietary advice is based on calorie counting
Do we need a calorie deficit to lose weight?
- Not really a simple answer here – both Yes and No are correct
- Fundamentally once your body’s immediate energy needs are met, any excess energy is stored for future use, some as glycogen and the rest as fat, which supports the hypothesis – ‘if you eat more than you burn you will put on weight’, which by the way is part of survival programs
- So then the opposite must also applicable if you eat less and burn more you will lose weight
- BUT – the question you need to ask is which weight will you lose and is this important? – Heck YES
- If your calories are primarily coming from glucose aka carbohydrate the hormone insulin will be stimulated and prevent fat burning, so guess what the body burns instead, its burns protein aka you muscles and this happens more readily as we age
- AND by focusing on calorie counting, we don’t focus on the most important
– The quality and type of calories we’re eating.
– How the body’ burn these calories
- Focus on calories doesn’t tell us anything about nutrition and or whether the nutrients needed to ‘burn’ the foods are present
- Fear for “exceeding the allowed number of calorie’s” can actually lead to the exclusion of foods with important nutrients
- BTW fear promotes fat storage not burning.
- Then there’s the fact that a lower calorie intake will decrease metabolism by slowing production of the Thyroid hormones, so you actually burn less
- My opinion – calorie counting is one of the fundamental causes of the obesity pandemic.
Are you Burning Fat?
- Measure body composition, which differentiates between fat loss and muscle loss.
- Use skinfold callipers to estimate your body fat percentage
- Measure waist size
- You don’t crave food
- Can go longer between meals
- Less brain fog
- Stable blood sugar
NB!
– A decrease in weight is not a guarantee that you’re burning fat
NB!
– Emphasizing fat loss rather than weight loss can decrease the risk of several chronic diseases, help reduce the risk of age-related muscle loss, and reduce fat regain.
Efficient Fat Burning in a Nutshell
- Eat a diet with a higher fat-to-sugar ratio (i.e., more healthy fats and less net carbohydrates)
- Restrict the timing of your meals so that you’re fasting for a greater number of hours than you’re eating
- This will (over time) teach your body to burn fat for fuel, both from the foods you eat but also from your fat stores
- Fasting and eating a ketogenic diet will shift your body from carb-burning to fat-burning, doing them together will yield the fastest results.
- Best time is eating all meals earlier in the day, between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., resulting in:
– greater metabolic flexibility
– lower Ghrelin levels
– reduced hunger
– increased sense of fullness.
Time-Restricted Eating – TRE
- Your eating window could range from 2 to 8 hours a day, fasting for the remaining 16 to 22 hours
- 90% of people eat for more than 12 hours a day, and over time this habit will wreak havoc on your metabolism and limit your ability to burn fat as a primary fuel.
- Contrary to modern belief, your body isn’t designed to be fed throughout the day, and this continuous ‘feasting’ that many engage in can have serious health consequences.
- When you eat continuously throughout the day your body adapts to burning sugar as its primary fuel, locking in the stored fat.
- As a result, you will become more and more insulin resistant and gain weight
- Fasting, it turns out, has a number of health benefits, such as improved cardiovascular health and reduced cancer risk, gene repair and longevity.
- BUT when you’re in constant “feast mode,” your body actually forgoes much of these natural “repair and rejuvenation programming.”
- Remember to shed body fat, your body must have the ability to burn fat for fuel and ‘feasting’ day in and day out prevents this from happening
- Is TRE for everyone – Heck yes
- Benefits of TRE Is a form of intermittent fasting where you eat all of your meals for the day within a restricted window of time.
- Facilitating fat loss while protecting and even promoting muscle strength
- Promote insulin sensitivity which is crucial for health poor insulin sensitivity contributes to nearly all chronic diseases
- Improve leptin sensitivity
- Improve blood sugar control
- Lower triglyceride levels
- Increase human growth hormone production (HGH)
- Suppress inflammation and reduce oxidative damage
- Promote multisystem regeneration by upregulating cell cleansing processes called autophagy and mitophagy,
- Prevent or reverse Type 2 diabetes, as well as slow its progression
- Improve immune function by regenerating damaged stem cells
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduce your risk of heart disease
- Boost mitochondrial energy efficiency
- Reduce your risk of cancer, in part by optimizing autophagy
- Increase longevity through various mechanisms, such as normalizing insulin sensitivity.
- Regenerate the pancreas and improve pancreatic function
- Improve cognitive function and protect against neurological diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease thanks to the production of ketones, which some say are the preferred brain fuel
- Increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which among other things activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons
- Eliminate sugar cravings as your body adapts to burning fat instead of sugar.
The Ketogenic Diet
- Keto for short
- Low carb, high fat diet
- Offers many health benefits, such as reducing
– diabetes
– cancer
– epilepsy
– Alzheimer’s disease
- The reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis.
- Ketosis happens when your body doesn’t have enough carbohydrates / glucose to burn for energy
- This metabolic state ‘forces’ the body to use fat and ketones for fuel
- When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.
- The liver turns fat into ketones, which can supply energy for the brain, muscles and heart
- NB! – Long-term ketogenic dieting can have an adverse effect on health and is not sustainable for most
- On the other hand cyclical ketogenic dieting shows very positive results and is sustainable
Versions of the ketogenic diet
Standard ketogenic diet (SKD)
- 10% carb
- 20% protein
- 70% fat
- is the most studied
Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD)
- involves periods of higher carb refeeds
- fx 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high carb days.
Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD)
- allows you to add carbs around workouts.
High protein ketogenic diet
- similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein.
- 60% fat
- 35% protein
- 5% carbs
Can a Ketogenic Diet Help with Insulin Resistance and Diabetes?
- The short answer is yes.
- If you have insulin resistance and or a fasting insulin above 5, then a ketogenic diet can be very helpful at least in the short term
- One of the physiologic processes that happens in ketosis is beta-oxidation, which is how fats are broken down and part of how ketones are made.
- Beta-oxidation is also the pathway by which toxic end product of omega 6 linoleic acid, namely 4-Hydroxynonenal (HNE) are broken down.
- Excess linoleic acid accumulates in our fat cells and cell membranes leading to insulin resistance.
- The breakdown of omega 6 can takes years and ketosis is one of the most effective ways to assist in its breakdown and removal
- Cyclical ketogenesis or doing keto for 6 months to a year may up-regulate beta-oxidation and improve your body’s disposal of omega 6 linoleic acid and HNE breakdown products.
- Make sure you eliminate processed foods, processed sugars, excess omega 6 linoleic acid and seed oils from your diet
- On the other hand if you insulin sensitive adding carbohydrates back can give improvements in muscle cramping, testosterone and sleep, which makes sense because we need postprandial insulin to hold on to electrolytes.
- So get your fasting insulin measured – it should be less than 5 and ideally around 3 – BUY TEST HERE
My Favourite Weight Loss Program
Any diet that makes you metabolically flexible
- Metabolic flexibility means your body can use whatever fuel is available, whether that’s carbs or fat, whether that’s from food or stored in your body.
- Your body’s ability to switch between different fuel sources can help support sustained energy production, fewer blood sugar roller coasters, fewer cravings and improved fat-burning.
- In pre-industrial times, humans were ‘naturally’ metabolically flexible. Some days there was plenty of food, and other days not.
- When you’re metabolically flexible your body is able to burn whatever fuel is available, seamlessly shifting from one fuel source to another—without you even noticing.
What makes you metabolically IN-flexible?
- High carb diets
- Insulin resistance
What makes you metabolically flexible?
Intermittent Fasting Principles
- Is an eating plan that switches between fasting and eating on a regular schedule
- Is all about when you eat rather than what you eat
- The research shows that intermittent fasting is a way to manage your weight and prevent — or even reverse — some forms of disease, such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity
- Helps your body burn fat
- Is easier to maintain than restrictive diets
Types of Metabolic Flexible Diets
Time Restrictive Eating TRE / Eating windows
- You eat in an 8-hour period and fast for 16 eg.
– First meal is at 12 noon last meal is at 8pm, then no food until 12 noon the next day
– Or eating window 10am to 6pm
– Or eating window 7am to 3pm
– Whatever suits your schedule
- Minimum twice per week or every day if it makes you feel good (and it will)
- NB! Milk is also food, so careful with milky coffees and teas
- Drink water and herbal water and teas, even black coffee during the 16 hours.
- NB! Women and men are not created equal. Women may need a longer eating window to feel and function best.
Eat-Stop-Eat-Diet
- Water fasting for 24 hours during the week
- Such as eat lunch at 1pm then water fast until 1pm the next day.
- You can water fast several times during the week, such as every 3rd or 4th day
- A water fast weekend is also a good idea.
OMAD – one meal a day
- Fast for 23 hours and eat your daily food during a one-hour window.
- As the evening social meal is important for most, consider eating between 4-7 pm
- Important this one meal is nutritious … not a giant pizza or burger.
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