By fitlifemonthly 
If you’re trying to lose weight, you might think cutting calories and eating less is the way to go. Terry Fairclough, a top personal trainer and co-founder of Your Body Programme, thinks differently. As a personal trainer, I’ve encountered all kinds of opinions about the best diet for weight loss. Should we count calories? Go low fat, low carb, or high protein? How about fasting or eating small, regular meals daily?
The truth is, while a calorie deficit can cause weight loss, it doesn’t always result in fat loss, which is what most people want. Our typical Western diet is often larger than needed, and while a slight calorie deficit might be necessary since many overeat, drastically cutting calories isn’t the solution.
When we eat, our bodies turn carbohydrates into glucose, a sugar that fuels our cells. If our bodies don’t need all the glucose immediately, it’s stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles, along with water. Cutting calories often means losing stored carbohydrates and water, not fat. A prolonged calorie deficit might make the body preserve fat and break down protein instead, which isn’t beneficial.
Eating enough calories with a balance of carbohydrates, fats, and protein is crucial. Many believe cutting fat helps in fat loss, but fats provide essential, long-lasting energy and play a significant role in fueling exercise. Cutting fats can leave you without the energy needed for workouts.
Reducing calories too much can also lead to nutrient deficiencies, affecting systems like the immune, liver, and digestive functions, potentially leading to various health problems, slowing metabolism, and causing issues like fatigue, malnutrition, osteoporosis, hormone-related conditions, and fertility issues.
Extreme calorie cutting stresses the body, causing the release of cortisol, a stress hormone. Initially, this might cause weight loss, but over time, it makes the body cling to fat and break down protein, slowing metabolism and sometimes increasing fat around the middle.
Under-eating can impair nutrient absorption, affecting not just health but workout results too. Poor nutrition can even disrupt sleep, as low blood sugar can make stress hormones wake you up, negatively impacting numerous aspects of health and weight management.
Even competitive bodybuilders who restrict calories to get lean eventually cycle back to higher calorie intake to avoid illness. Over time, extreme calorie cutting can harm metabolism, making further weight loss nearly impossible since the body enters famine mode, storing any excess as fat.
To maintain a healthy weight and body, it’s important to eat the right mix of calories, carbs, fats, and proteins suited to your unique body type, goals, activity level, and more. That’s why I started the Your Body Programme to help people find their specific dietary needs. By eating healthy, nourishing your body, and keeping your metabolism active, you can effectively lose fat.
Eating plenty of lean proteins and healthy carbs and fats is key. Choose options like lean beef, chicken, eggs, fish, pulses, legumes, tofu, tempeh, fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, wholewheat pasta, avocado, nuts, seeds, olives, and olive oil.