I had a couple of talks with clients recently that stumbled onto the calories issue. At the very beginning of my time helping people lose fat I was really into using calories. I could soon see the limitations of it in the way it would differentiate between a 100 calories of protein vs carbs or vegetables vs cake. Due to this I used instead a meal ratios approach as a part of customized nutrition. Basically put when you work out what people need to eat (varies greatly between people) then the moment you tune them into their post meal eating reactions with just a little fine tuning they would control hunger, feel energised and low and behold lose body fat. I got amazing results and stayed like that.
But then a couple of years ago when i went to Brazil for 6 months I decided to test everything I knew about nutrition and exercise. If i believed it, then I needed to justify and prove it to myself. Way too many people just copy what some guy taught them without ever proving to themselves if it was true. I am also not a person who wants to be overly known for following a certain theory, e.g. Paleo, vegan, calories are good / bad. It just boxes you in and stops you getting results. I am a result-ist!
With the calories war raging on between people who swear their life by it vs those who say it didn’t have any merit then I knew exactly what the truth must be – either the answer lies somewhere in the middle or both sides can be true for any two different people. This is what happens with the other issues of red meat, fat, high carbs. For some it works while others not, hence both people can collect evidence to “prove” the other wrong. This inevitably results in many wasted hours of Facebook debates and the like.
To cut a long story short (I will write more on experiments another time) I found both sides were right!! Calories in its simplest form are pointless and likewise ignoring them is both arrogant and causes you to miss out on a whole aspect of nutrition that is very applicable to losing fat.
Calorie thresholds
The way round the debate is to understand three calorie thresholds at which the body starts to do something. Then you must factor in the ability of these points to change and the implication of non constant factors to the equation. Thresholds refer to average intake over a period of days rather than one off days. This is because the body has energy stores which affect one off days.
Fat gaining threshold – At some point you will gain fat if you consistently eat too many calories. This average intake is your fat gain threshold. The idea of learning this point is that by eating on this threshold you can maximise metabolism. The key to this is using foods that are beneficial and not going past this point. If you use “bad” foods (e.g. sensitive foods) then eating more of them actually irritates the body and this will lower the threshold over time. See note below.
Metabolism down regulation – If you eat too little then you will significantly down regulate your metabolism. By definition anything below the fat gaining threshold will reduce metabolism a little. But this point refers to where a significant down regulation in metabolism occurs. When this happens body temperature drops, food cravings increase, rate of fat loss decreases behind expected losses and other health issues arise (low energy, loss of sex drive etc).
Optimal Fat Loss Threshold – Somewhere between the last two thresholds you will find the optimal fat loss threshold, it is more a range over a particular number but when you eat in this zone you have enough energy to train, live, avoid significant food cravings and then also lose body fat.
Changing Calorie Thresholds
If you have made it this far you are now onto the key element to understand, the bit that trips up the average calorie counter. That is, these numbers change!!! Based on two main factors –
Food Quality – The worse the foods within your diet the lower the calorie numbers are for each threshold above, this is where trading a biscuit for vegetables comes back to bite you on the ass. Eating sensitive foods, toxin laden food or nutrient deficient foods will bring down your metabolism. As a result you will say gain fat on 2400 calories instead of 2900 calories.
Previous Intake Thresholds – If you eat consistently on your fat gaining threshold it will increase in value, e.g. form 3000 to 3200 calories. Likewise, if you eat consistently on your metabolism down regulation point this intake level will also go down, e.g. from 1400 calories to 1200 calories.
There are other factors that affect things too –
- Exercise and activity obviously being a major one.
- Macro-nutrient Ratios – Not meeting your basic needs of protein, carbs or fat messes up metabolism and these numbers. For example, 2000 calories from only protein will bring the thresholds right down as the body is super annoyed by the lack of carbs/fat. The same applies to cutting out the other food groups. You must hit your minimum levels of each to optimise metabolism.
- Things that affect the metabolic rate – Caffeine for example can totally skew some of these numbers.
- Temperature – More energy needed in colder climates
- Hours awake – More enegy needed when awake to sleeping
Natural hunger thresholds
Most people will have a natural hunger threshold and if you measure your intake without really focusing on what you eat (most people eat less when measuring food and skew data) then you will find you average a certain calorie threshold. For some people it is more towards the higher or lower thresholds. This hunger level can be reset over time. For most people it can be brought downwards and thus losing fat becomes naturally an easier thing to do. For guys who struggle to build muscle you will probably find your natural hunger level is way below your fat gain threshold. Personally, if this is you (it is me) I’d say it is much harder to eat more than it is lto eat less. Hence the muscle building issues.
Other points
Ok I have harped on enough here, the key to all this is of course discovering your thresholds. Forget googling what it is you need. You have to get out into the field and discover your own threshold points. As this post is too long already I will detail more in another post in the future.
Friday – Tuesday
Over the last 5 days I have continued the body fat stripping phase. I am right on my own optimal fat loss point – 2200 calories and can see the fat dropping. I am hesitant to give a body fat %. If I had a £1 for every trainer who said they were 8% but didn’t have a 6 pack I’d be quite rich. I reckon I am about 8% now, I am not fussed on actual % fat but more use how the 6 pack looks, it has gone from looking good, heading towards very good. The ultimate goal being a “ridiculous 6 pack”. As discussed in many blogs before, this is not that as hard for me as is the rest of the muscle building elements. The issue always coming back to looking good in clothes vs out of them.
Exercise wise I hit out 4 weights sessions, 1 track session and a game of touch rugby over the last 5 days.
Diet – Protein – 170g, Carbs – 260g, fat – 53g, calories – 2198 , % P: 31 C : 47% F: 22%
Exercise – Weights – 4 sessions, One Track session, one touch rugby
Weight – 73.4 kg average Body fat – 39mm*
Supplements – Protein shakes 1 per day
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*This is my own 10 point self measurement system, it does not correlate to body fat scores. At a guess 40mm – 8%, 50mm – 9.5%, 60mm – 11%, 70mm – 12.5%. I do not take it everyday if looking to gain muscle or maintain as it puts me off wanting to eat more. If on fat loss phase I take it daily.
** All reference to people, their goals, their jobs and even when I met them are completely distorted from the actual person/event I am talking about…this keeps their privacy but they are based on real people with real stories.
Clapham – For Personal Training Clapham please contact me. I am available for sessions in homes, private gyms or Clapham Common Personal Training
