By fitlifemonthly 
If you want to lose weight, you might think counting calories and eating less is the way to go. However, that’s not necessarily the best approach, says Terry Fairclough, a leading personal trainer and co-founder of Your Body Programme.
As a trainer, I’ve heard many different opinions about the best diet for weight loss. People often wonder if they should count calories, follow a low-fat or low-carb diet, eat high protein, or even try fasting. There are so many options that it can get confusing.
One thing’s for sure: you shouldn’t starve yourself. We all know that person who drastically cuts calories to get ready for beach season, thinking the weight will just fall off. While you might shed some pounds, this isn’t achieving fat loss, which is what most people really want.
In our modern diet, we often eat more than we need. While some people may benefit from a slight calorie deficit, many go too far and think not eating enough is the key to losing weight. But that’s not true.
When you eat, your body breaks down carbs into glucose, which is the main fuel for your cells. Any unused glucose is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen, and for every glycogen molecule, there are water molecules attached. When you cut calories, you’re losing stored carbohydrates and water, not fat.
In the long run, a calorie deficit makes your body hold onto fat and break down protein for energy instead. Protein is vital because it helps burn fat even while you’re resting. So, you need to eat a balanced diet that includes fats, carbs, and protein to support your body.
Many people think they should avoid fat to lose fat, but fat is actually a crucial energy source. It provides more than twice the energy of carbs or protein and is stored in muscles for easy access during exercise. If you cut out fat completely, you won’t have enough energy to burn the fat you want to lose.
Restricting calories and essential nutrients can lead to deficiencies and health issues, affecting your immune system, liver, digestion, and metabolism. Problems from under eating include fatigue, malnutrition, osteoporosis, anemia, hormonal issues, depression, and fertility problems. Extreme calorie deficits also increase stress hormones like cortisol, which in the long term can make your body store more fat, particularly around the belly.
Under eating slows your metabolic rate, messes with your thyroid function, and hampers your digestion. This can affect your training and results when trying to lose weight. Poor sleep is another issue, as low blood sugar can wake you up at night, affecting your overall health and productivity.
There are bodybuilders who cut calories to get lean before competitions and then increase them again afterward. Doing this incorrectly can make you sick. Constantly cutting calories will put your body into famine mode, making it hold onto fat whenever you eat a bit more.
The key is to eat the right amount of calories, carbs, fats, and proteins for your specific body type, goals, and lifestyle. Your Body Programme helps people figure this out by calculating their needs based on their unique body types.
At the end of the day, it’s important to keep your body well-nourished and your metabolism active. My program proves that eating more, not less, can actually help in losing fat.
Make sure to include plenty of lean proteins like chicken, fish, eggs, pulses, legumes, tofu, and tempeh if you’re vegan. Add healthy carbs from fruits, veggies, sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, and wholewheat pasta. Also include healthy fats like avocado, nuts, seeds, olives, and olive oil.
Taking care of your body by eating well and nourishing it properly will help you stay healthy and achieve optimal fitness without the stress of extreme diets.