By fitlifemonthly 
Trying to lose weight seems straightforward—count calories and eat less, right? But it’s not that simple, says Terry Fairclough, a personal trainer and co-founder of Your Body Programme. Terry frequently hears different opinions about the best diet for weight loss. Should we be counting calories? Should we go for a low fat, low carb, or high protein diet? Should we fast or eat small, regular meals throughout the day?
While these methods can be useful depending on body types, goals, and activity levels, one thing is clear: extreme under-eating is not the answer.
We’ve all seen people who start drastically cutting calories to get beach-ready. Sure, they’ll lose weight, but it’s not always the healthy kind of weight loss. A big calorie deficit will lead to weight loss, but not necessarily fat loss. Often, we carry a few extra pounds because we’re overeating, so reducing calorie intake can be helpful, but starving yourself isn’t the way to go.
When you eat, your body turns carbohydrates into glucose, the main fuel for your cells. If you don’t need this glucose right away, it gets stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver. This stored glycogen holds onto water, so when you cut calories, you initially lose this water weight rather than fat.
Here’s the twist: if you maintain a significant calorie deficit, your body goes into panic mode, holding onto fat and breaking down protein instead. Protein is crucial for energy and muscle preservation, so cutting back on calories can slow your metabolism. In the long run, it leads to your body burning less fat and more muscle.
Fats are essential too, as they are a long-lasting energy source, providing twice as much potential energy as carbs or protein. Fat is vital during exercise, as it’s broken down into fatty acids and used as fuel. Without enough fat in your diet, you’ll lack the energy to burn fat during your workouts.
Furthermore, severely cutting calories and nutrients can lead to deficiencies affecting every system in your body, notably your immune, liver, and digestive systems, potentially causing a range of health problems. Malnutrition, fatigue, osteoporosis, anemia, hormone-related conditions, and fertility issues can all arise from chronic under-eating.
Stress also plays a role when you under-eat. Your body releases cortisol, a stress hormone that in the short term might lead to weight loss but, in the long run, can lead to fat gain. High cortisol levels encourage fat storage, particularly around your belly, and can interfere with your thyroid, impacting metabolism.
Digestion suffers too, as stress shifts energy away from digestive functions. This means your body will struggle to absorb essential nutrients, impacting your overall health and weight loss efforts. Sleep can be disrupted because low blood sugar triggers adrenaline, making you wake up. Poor sleep can further hamper your immune system, liver function, and energy levels.
Bodybuilders often experience these issues when they drastically cut calories to get lean for competitions. Once the competition is over, they reintroduce calories, but doing this wrong can make them ill. Constantly cutting calories puts your body in “famine mode,” making it store any additional calories as fat, which eventually makes losing weight even harder.
The take-home message? Eat the right amount of calories for your body type, goal, activity level, height, weight, and age. The Your Body Programme (YBP) helps individuals determine their specific calorie needs. Don’t restrict your diet to the point where you’re not getting enough macronutrients and micronutrients. Instead, include lean proteins, healthy carbs, and fats in your diet to keep your metabolism active.
Eating lean proteins like beef, chicken, eggs, fish, pulses, legumes, tofu, and tempeh (for vegans) can provide essential nutrients. Add healthy carbs from fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, and wholewheat pasta, along with fats from avocados, nuts, seeds, olives, and olive oil.
By giving your body what it needs, you can achieve optimal health and keep your metabolism working efficiently.