My philosophy on weight loss

adamyoung1

Hi everyone, I am relatively new here, and I love this site for its ability to simplify things down into calories. I have spent the last 12 or more years thoroughly researching and testing different dieting methodologies, and have come up with a great way which allows me to both maintain my weight/lose weight whilst still enjoying my foods that I love - not to mention maintaining health.

The very basis of my approach is around calorie counting. I believe that this is the only way that will realistically work in the long run - it seems that the people who are most successful are great at counting calories. It is really a game of energy in vs energy out at the end of the day. When diets are compared in the long run, it doesn't matter whether it is low carb, low fat or any other approach, what matters is the total amount of calories. I do, however, look at calories in terms of weekly total, not daily. With a weekly total, this allows you more freedom in moving some around, which will become more apparent with my next rule.

The next part of my approach is calorie cycling. I will alternate high and low days, never spending more that 2 days in one approach. Metabolism has a great way of balancing down to what you are consistently taking, and thus weight loss suddenly plateaus. If you are taking breaks from the low days, your body is less likely to drop metabolic rate so quickly. It may be slower to come off at first, but it is much more sustainable. It is also imperative to follow this for mental reasons. A constant deficit will drive you crazy after a month or so, but by alternating days of high and low calories, you are getting a mental break - a reward for your good work if you will. Obviously don't undo your hard work on the high days, this is where calorie counting is vital. I usually do something like 1,600 calories on down days, followed by 2,400 on high days. As my maintenance calorie intake is 2,200 per day, this puts me in a deficit of 400 calories every 2 days - or 6,000 calories per month. It's not going to set the world alight and completely revamp your body in a couple of months, but over the course of a year it can make a massive change.

The next part of the method is to have higher levels of lean protein, I am not against fatty protein it's just that it tends to be more calorific. Protein is only 4 calories per gram, and it tends to be the most filling macronutrient. Think about this - a pound of chicken breast is only 450 calories, or you could have a starbucks cappuccino and probably be more than that. I know which one would fill me up longer. Also, protein is very muscle sparing, meaning that your body will be less inclined to use your lean muscle tissue for fuel, meaning more fat lost instead, meaning more toned body - or muscular if you are a man. There is another small advantage to protein - it tends to have a higher TEF (thermal effect of food) resulting in a lower actual calorie intake. In fact, around 20% of protein calories are lost in the body's attempt to convert it to fat or use it for energy. My protein intake for the day is usually around 1,000 calories worth, meaning that 200 calories more per day is just burned. It makes a difference in the long run.

I also include exercise in my plan. I don't do a massive amount as there is a point of diminishing returns with exercise, and it can potentially ramp up your appetite. I do 3 sessions per week of intense weight training, NO CARDIO (I don't need it and it is probably the least efficient method to lose fat). My sessions last maybe 40 minutes and burn around 300 calories total - including post workout metabolic raise it burns in the region of 5-600 calories total - so an extra 1,800 calories per week. every month this means an extra 7,200 calories burned - add this to the 6,000 lost from food and I have a total monthly loss of around 13,000 calories (possibly equivalent to 3-4 pounds per month) - allowing for efficiency of body.

I tend to add a day in the week where I re-fuel and get rid of my cravings also. On this day I may have 3,000 calories or more, sometimes 3,500. I use this day to eat anything I want really, I eat healthily enough throughout the week so deserve one day off. besides, when your body is in an overall calorie deficit, almost every blood marker of health improves, so if you are going to eat some crap it is best to do it when dieting (ironically). I more than make up for the lack of vitamins and minerals on this day through my healthy food choices throughout the week. Besides, life is worth enjoying, and doing this once a week will certainly help you stay on track for the long run. It is important that this even is planned and not an accident though - as an accidental binge will quickly turn into a 'diet off tracks' moment of craziness. I actually enjoy planning my cheat day - it gives me something to look forward to during the week.

I also make sure that my cheat day and my higher days co-incide with my exercise days. This can help with recovery, especially if the large bulk of the calories come post workout.

The last part is going to be the most controversial - but I ave a lot of scientific studies and research to back these up. The words I use for this may spark outrage, so be it...

Meal skipping - I will skip meals, but consistently. Usually breakfast is my favourite meal to skip. I have never felt hungry at this time, but I am always ravenous at night, so I take the calories that I would eat at breakfast and move them to later on in the day. I tend to only have 2 big meals (think 2,400 calories - 2 meals of 1,200 calories). This allows me to create very big meals that are satisfying, without going over my allotted calories. For those of you that are worried about going into starvation mode, there are about a million studies showing that it takes about 72 hours of NO FOOD AT ALL to even see a decline in metabolic rate. After 16 -18 hours (my usual time between my last meal and next meal) there is actually a small, but negligible, RAISE in metabolic rate. I dont skip meals for the raise in metabolism, I do it because I prefer to eat 2 big meals later at night rather than spreading bird food throughout the day. Especially when it comes to the lower days - 1,600 calories over 6 small meals is usually a pathetic 300 calories or less per meal. As there is no advantage to spreading food out over that many meals/snacks, why do it? the myth about it raising your metabolic rate has been thoroughly debunked in science now - it is about time the 'fitness' magazines let go of that one. and eating late at night worrying you? Don't let it. It doesnt make a difference whether those calories come late at night or in the morning - the net effect is the same. If anything, studies have shown more that people who eat the same amount of calories but later at night lose more fat mass and retain more muscle - more toned look.

Lastly, and also controversially, I occasionally throw in a day of fasting. It;s not a complete fast. I will usually have my last meal around 8pm the night before, and then not eat until 8 pm the next night before having around a 700 calorie meal to put me at rest before bed. This can cut out around 1,500 calories in one big chunk - and fasting promotes a million other health benefits - again dont worry about metabolic decline as it takes more of a sustained calorie deficit of more than 3 days to see that happen. A 24 hour fast is more likely to raise your metabolic rate slightly. Fasting is a great mental and physical test of willpower - it is certainly not for everyone, especially people with blood sugar problems. But it can aid in weightloss, and also is also very anti inflammatory, allowing the body a good amount of time to heal and repair. There is a lot of evidence to show that it can also be anti-ageing.


So, to summarise, I will
cut down weekly calories
alternate up and down days, making sure I am in an overall weekly deficit
Exercise, 40 minutes of weights (no cardio) 3 times a week.
have a cheat day - eat what I want within a 3-3,500 calorie limit (still stay well within my weekly intake)
skip breakfast - although my be just as good to have a big breakfast and skip lunch. I would struggle to skip dinner as I only sleep well when I am full.
Occasionally (maximum of once per week) have a 24 hour fast

This approach allowed me to get down to 6.5% bodyfat this year, with no appreciable muscle loss compared to traditional dieting methods. More importantly, it was very very mentally sustainable. I never felt like coming off the diet, as every other day I was eating a normal meal pattern again. Add in the cheat day, and anytime I felt cravings, it was much easier to just say 'wait until friday' or even bring the cheat day forwards a day if it got too bad (but I never felt the need to do that. I am now experimenting with a way of maintaining my weight (now I have reached goal) whilst increasing muscle slowly, using similar tactics to the above.

Please comment or ask questions - would love to hear other people's thoughts and have a discussion on some of these controversial methods.