You are not eating enough for fat loss! The best method to boost your metabolism and start losing that stubborn bodyfat.

Welcome to our first blog post!

I wanted to touch on a subject that keeps coming up with clients, specially women but also in men.

The subject is more complex than a few lines on an email or social media post so we thought lets start this longer form of content so we can reach and help even more people! We hope you find it helpful.

The phrase we hear all the time is "I can't lose weight and I am only eating (inset 4 or 5 low calorie foods here), my metabolism is broken"

First of all we don't doubt this is true but more often than not the listed foods are not the ONLY thing consumed that day, we tend to not count small snacks, a glass of wine, or the leftovers from our kids dinner.

But lets assume the statement is 100% accurate, you are only consuming 1000 calories a day and your weight doesn't shift, why? is it impossible for you to lose weight? is your metabolism BROKEN? do you need to eat EVEN LESS to see progress?

Lets break it down!

First of all the concept of a "broken metabolism" is not accurate, your metabolism can't break, it just speeds up or slows down to meet your body's needs according to the food intake you provide and your activity levels. Slowing down or speeding up changes is the efficacy of your body at converting food into energy, affecting how many calories you burn at rest, which also affects weight management and energy levels.

Fast Metabolism? Slow Metabolism? what does that even mean!

• Slow Metabolism means that your body uses energy (calories) at a slower rate. People with a slow metabolism might find it more difficult to lose weight because their bodies burn fewer calories at rest and during activity. Factors that can contribute to a slow metabolism include genetics, hormonal imbalances, a sedentary lifestyle, and aging.
  

• Fast Metabolism: This means that your body uses energy at a faster rate. People with a fast metabolism burn more calories at rest and during activity, which can make it easier for them to maintain or lose weight. Factors contributing to a fast metabolism include genetics, high muscle mass, being more active, and certain hormonal profiles.
  

You may think "oh that is me! I'm 50 years old and not very active, so my metabolism is slow, that is it for me, I'm doomed!" WRONG!

A slow metabolism can be made faster and a fast metabolism can be made slower, how? by training it!

In our example scenario above, someone eating as little as 1000 calories a day for a prolonged period of time can't lose weight and seems to be storing even more body fat over time. This only means your metabolism has adapted to your lifestyle and the amount of food you provide, so it is literally fighting to survive by storing body fat, which is the easiest tissue for your body to store in case it needs to use it for energy. YOUR BODY IS SCARED!

So what can we do? the short answer is to eat more and build muscle. You see, muscle tissue is one of the most anti ageing and insulin resistant tissue in our body, and it also burns a lot more calories than fat even at rest, but it is expensive to build and maintain, it requires extra protein (amino acids) and extra calories for your body to even consider spending energy in building it. You also need to provide your body with the signals that tell it "I need more strength, I need more muscle" and that is done via Strength Training.

The best approach to achieve this while minimising body fat gain is a process called Reverse Dieting. In simple terms this means to slowly increase your calorie intake over time, focusing on consuming adequate amounts of protein and paired with a good strength training protocol.

Here is an example:

John is 85kg and 175cm tall and 25% body fat, he has been trying to lose weight for years and tried every diet and hack he stumbles upon, he sometimes sees some progress but quickly stalls and gains the weight back, but he has learn how to eat "healthy" and is very determined to not overeat, so he is eating AS LITTLE AS HE CAN which means he averages 1000 or 1200 cals a day and he is not really hungry so thinks that is okay to do. John is lost!

Our advice to John would be to follow these steps:

1- Start strength training twice a week, 2 full body workouts.

2- Diligently track your food intake for 1 week, don't change anything, just eat as you normally would and log everything in a food diary app such as Myfitnesspal or FatSecret.

3- At the end of the week write down your average daily calorie intake, let say that is 1100 calories a day.

4- for the next 2 weeks, start eating 1250 calories, EVERY day, and track everything you eat, and we mean EVERYTHING!

5- Watch what happens to your weight average, is it going up? going down? staying the same (within 1kg)?

 5a. If it has gone up by over 1kg (unlikely) reduce your calories by 50-100 a day.

 5b. If it has gone down (also unlikely but possible if you weren't really tracking properly before) increase your calories by 100-150 a day.

 5c. if it has stayed the same, increase your calories by 150-200 a day.

6- Keep repeating this process until you are able to eat at least 500-700cals more than when you started and your weight hasn't moved much.

This may take 3 or 4 months, sometimes more, but you are reversing years of an abused metabolism so you can't expect results in a week.

So how would John look now? well chances are that he looks leaner at a similar body weight, he has built some muscle and lost some fat, all this while eating more than before! I know it sounds crazy and impossible, but it is how our body works and we've seen it many times.

Now John is eating 2000 calories (still lower than we'd like) so he has two options depending on his goal and timeframes. He can start a slow fat loss process where he'll start to eat 1700 calories and start seeing fat loss OR he can continue his reverse diet until he gets to 2500 calories a day, increase his strength training to 3 times a week, focus on getting stronger at the gym, build more muscle, THEN start his fat loss phase at 2100 calories and watch fat melt off his body.

Now John has "fixed" his metabilism, he eats more of the foods he likes, feels stronger, leaner, and has a new relationship with food and exercise. But yes, it has taken him 6 to 8 months, there is no shortcuts here, just consistency and commitment. Well done John!

This is only an example and everybody's situation and starting point will be different, but the end result is ALWAYS the same, no matter your age, gender or experience at the gym, actually, this is even more true for people who have never Strength Trained before as they will reap the benefits of a completely new stimulus for their bodies, building muscle faster than someone who has been training for a decade.

Until next time!