By fitlifemonthly 
If you’re aiming to lose weight, you might think you should start counting calories and eating less. However, that’s not always the case, according to Terry Fairclough, a top personal trainer and co-founder of Your Body Programme. There’s a lot of debate and confusion about the best diets for weight loss. Questions like whether we should count calories, eat low-fat or low-carb, follow a high-protein diet, or fast, often come up. While these methods could be suitable depending on your body type, goals, and activity level, one thing you definitely shouldn’t do is under-eat.
We’ve all seen someone who decides to slash their calorie intake drastically to prepare for beach season. They may lose weight quickly, but this might not be ideal. While reducing calories can lead to shedding pounds, it doesn’t always mean you’re losing fat—which is what most people desire.
The Western diet has become larger than necessary, and many people might need a slight calorie deficit because they’re overeating. But, it’s a mistake to think cutting calories drastically is the way to lose weight; it simply isn’t true.
When you eat, your body converts carbs to glucose, a type of sugar that fuels your cells. If your body doesn’t use all the glucose, muscles and the liver store it as glycogen—a collection of glucose molecules bound with water. When more energy is needed, glycogen breaks down to supply glucose. When you cut calories, you’re losing this stored carbohydrate and water, not fat.
Ironically, a prolonged calorie deficit might make your body cling to fat and start breaking down protein instead. Protein is crucial for building muscle, and having more muscle can help burn fat even when you’re resting. Therefore, it’s important to consume enough calories with a balanced mix of fats, carbs, and protein.
Now, if you think avoiding fats will help you lose weight, here’s a surprise for you. Fat is a vital, long-lasting energy source. It offers more energy per gram than carbs or protein and is stored in muscle fibers, ready to be used during exercise. Unlike glycogen stores, which are limited, body fat is practically unlimited in energy supply. Cutting out fats entirely would leave you without enough energy to exercise and burn unwanted fat.
On top of that, cutting calories and the wrong macronutrients and micronutrients can lead to nutrient deficiencies, affecting your immune system, liver, and digestive health, which slows down your metabolism and causes other health issues like fatigue, malnutrition, and hormonal problems.
Extreme calorie restriction can stress your body, causing cortisol, a stress hormone, to spike. While short-term stress might cause weight loss, chronic stress encourages fat retention, especially around your belly, and messes with your metabolism. It can also hinder the conversion of essential thyroid hormones, impacting metabolism, and reduce digestive function since energy gets diverted to your muscles. This means you’ll struggle to absorb needed nutrients, affecting your weight loss and overall health.
You might also find it hard to sleep since low blood sugar triggers adrenaline, waking you up. Poor sleep impacts liver function, immunity, and productivity, facilitating weight gain.
Even bodybuilders who cut calories to become lean during competitions face challenges, as improper calorie management can make them ill. Constant calorie cutting can slow down your metabolism so much that any extra calories beyond your limit will be stored as fat in a “famine mode.”
The key is consuming the right amounts of calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein for your body type, goals, activity level, height, weight, and age. That’s what the Your Body Programme is about—helping individuals recognize their calorie needs specific to their body. You can find out more with YBP’s tools tailored to your needs.
You only have one body, so it’s crucial to keep it healthy and well-nourished. A properly functioning metabolism will even help you lose fat. Include plenty of lean proteins like beef, chicken, eggs, and fish in your diet. If you’re vegan, foods like pulses, legumes, tofu, and tempeh work well. Also, eat healthy carbs from fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, quinoa, and whole grains, and don’t forget good fats from sources like avocado, nuts, seeds, and olives.
Terry Fairclough co-founded Your Body Programme, is a personal trainer, and a nutritional therapist, dedicated to promoting this balanced approach to eating and exercising.