Tag: Weight Loss

low carb vs low fat diet for weight loss

Low carb vs low fat diets for weight loss?

Posted dgreenisfitPosted in Diet

The low carb vs low fat diet for weight loss has been debated at length. The ultimate question is does it make a difference in weight loss when choosing a low carb vs low fat diet. There has been a great deal of research on this topic. Recently an article on the DIETFITS Randomized Clinical Trial was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association helping us answer this question.

Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are one of the best methods of research. RCTs provide scientifically tested answers to tough questions. This study was particularly good because it studied over 600 overweight people. It is always nice to study a large number of people as smaller studies may either prevent you from seeing a significant (mathematical statistical difference) or make you think there is a difference when there is or isn’t one just by chance alone.

So in this study over 600 overweight people were observed while following either a low fat or low carb diet. The people in the study were monitored for an entire year. The participants were counseled on healthy food choices depending on the diet they were randomized to.

Low Fat Diet

The people on the low fat diet had a macro breakdown of 48% cards, 29% fat, and 21% protein.

Low Carb Diet

The people on the low carb diet had a macro breakdown of 30% carbs, 45% fat, and 23% protein.

The weight change was a loss of 5.3kg (11.6lbs) for the people on the low fat diet and loss of 6.0kg (13.2lbs) for those on the low carb diet. This difference was not statistically significant, meaning the difference in weight loss between the two groups could have happened by chance alone. However, over 10lbs of weight loss is great!

There was no strict caloric limit set, just essentially instruction on choosing healthy foods and limiting calories from certain categories based on the diet they were randomized to. Each person at the start of the study was limited to either 20g/carbs or 20g/fats. People then increased those in small increments each week until they felt they were at a comfortable diet they could sustain. It was determined that both groups were in around a 500-600 calorie deficit.

Both groups received basic information such as
  1. Maximize vegetable intake.
  2. Minimize added sugars, refined flours, and trans fats.
  3. Focus on whole foods that were minimally processed.

My take away from this study is similar to most of the information that we have put out before calories are what matter. To lose weight you must be in a caloric deficit. It matters much less the exact break down of the macronutrients that you consume. This study reinforces that you can pick a diet what works best for you body/lifestyle. If you can find a diet that you can stick with consistently and maintain a caloric deficit you will likely find success in your weight loss journey.

Sources for low carb vs low fat diets:

Effect of Low-Fat vs Low-Carbohydrate Diet on 12-Month Weight Loss in Overweight Adults and the Association With Genotype Pattern or Insulin Secretion: The DIETFITS Randomized Clinical Trial.

 

Obesity is wack

Fat is Wack

Posted DylanPosted in Health

One of the most common resolutions for the new year is to lose some extra weight. Today we discuss the complicated topic of obesity. In the past it has always seemed very reasonable to accept the fact that many of us needed to lose some weight. However, recently there has a push against fighting obesity which some people consider “fat shaming.” We have been told that we should accept our bodies and “love our fat.” We want to put the scientific evidence above these feelings with a hope that everyone can meet their nutrition and fitness goals in the new year. The science speaks strongly against the idea of loving your fat. If you choose to embrace your weight there can be dire consequences.

Simply Put Fat Can Kill You

In medicine we can use body mass index which is a persons weight in kilograms divided by their height in meters squared. We can classify people in categories such as overweight and obese. People are considered overweight when their BMI is over 25. A BMI over 30 will qualify you as obese. We don’t do this to label people for the sake of labeling. We do it because BMI is is associated with increased rate of death from all causes, especially when BMIs exceed 25. This isn’t based on a fluke or a feeling, but rather comes from a study of over 30 million people who were obese or overweight.  Now some people may question this and say “Well I am just fat but my blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar are all normal!” Research has shown that obese people with normal labs and blood pressure still have an increased risk of death compared to normal weight individuals. BMIs in the 30-35 range can mean dying on average 2-4 years earlier. BMI of 40-45 can reduce your life as much to 8-10 years. We all know that smoking is bad, the risk fo death from obesity is similar to that of smoking.

How about disease related to obesity?

Obesity is literally associated with hundreds of diseases. Here is a short list of a few. Diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, abnormal heart rhythm, stroke, blood clots, arthritis, gout, fatty liver disease, reflex, sleep apnea, infection, and cancer. Just the list of cancers associated with being obese is quite long and includes endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, liver, colon, cervical, thyroid, ovarian, breast, and blood cancers. The worst part is those who are obese are not only more likely to get these types of cancers but also more likely to die from them. If the general health risks of obesity don’t worry you enough the effects of obesity also extend into sexual health. Obesity can cause abnormal menstrual cycles and make possibly cause infertility. During pregnancy there is also a higher risk of health problems in the mother and the baby. Sexual arousal and issues with orgasm is also more likely in women that are obese. For men, obesity is an risk factor for erectile dysfunction. 

Combating fat!

Will all these health problems related to obesity here is what you can do. Start a healthy diet that is balanced and restrict your calories to below your daily energy expenditure. You can find more details on that here in our article “Getting started on your Fitness Journey”. Exercise is also an important part of the solution.  Exercise will help you burn calories, increasing your daily energy expenditure. You can find many workout routines online or you could have a custom plan designed for you to help with weight loss. Research shows that unfit individuals who are obese have twice the risk of death compared to obese people who work out. 

Putting Fat Behind US

Obesity has exceeded smoking as the number one cause of preventable disease and disability. We should all be able to agree that we should never shame obese people but maybe it is time to shame fat. We need to move away from “loving our fat.” Let us all help one another to become healthier, fitter, and thinner in the new year.

Sources For Fat is Wack:

Are metabolically healthy overweight and obesity benign conditions?: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BMI and all cause mortality: systematic review and non-linear dose-response meta-analysis of 230 cohort studies with 3.74 million deaths among 30.3 million participants.

Fitness vs. fatness on all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis.

Adiposity as compared with physical activity in predicting mortality among women.

Obesity and cancer.

Body-mass index and incidence of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies.

The adverse effects of obesity on conception and implantation.

Girl running fasted cardio

Is there a benefit to fasted cardio?

Posted JacobPosted in Cardio

A lot of people try different things to help them lose weight. Some people change their diet, some change the frequency of their meals and others experiment with their workouts.  Something I have done in the past is fasted cardio, but does it help weight loss? In one study 6 active men switched between fasted and fed cardio. The end result was that lipolysis increased in fasted individuals. When this happens the body break down more  fat than can be used but ultimately the unused fat is then restored back in the body again as fat. Another study was done with 20 healthy females half performing fasted cardio and the other half eating before hand. After 4 weeks the study concluded that both groups lost a good amount of weight however the difference between the 2 were not noticeable. Some evidence shows that fasted cardio can be bad for building muscle. After 6 subjects pedalled for an hour they had a 10.4% protein breakdown. We can also perform better with a meal before a workout. It was found in a study that comparing a meal three hours before a workout to a fasted workout that individuals could resist fatigue more than the fasted subjects.

In conclusion here are some key points we found to fasted cardio/ workouts.
  • Fasting causes you to breakdown more fat than the body can use during exercise. Unfortunately the unused fat is restored back in the body.
  • The weight loss difference between fasted cardio and pre-fed cardio are not noticeable.
  • Fasted cardio isn’t optimal for anyone looking to put on muscle mass.
  • Eating before a workout can provide a better training session and decrease fatigue when compared to fasted cardio.
Sources for fasted cardio:

Body composition changes associated with fasted versus non-fasted aerobic exercise

Does Cardio After an Overnight Fast Maximize Fat Loss?

Lipolytic suppression following carbohydrate ingestion limits fat oxidation during exercise.

Effect of initial muscle glycogen levels on protein catabolism during exercise.

The effect of a preexercise meal on time to fatigue during prolonged cycling exercise.

 

Intermittent fasting lady with weightloss

Intermittent Fasting the down and dirty science

Posted DylanPosted in Diet

Intermittent fasting comes in a few different forms. Let’s discuss the science. One type of intermittent fasting is called alternate day fasting. In this type of dieting people will skip a day of eating food. On the days that they are not fasting, they typically eat what they want in test subjects this is called eating ad libitum. In some other types of intermittent fasting people only eat during a window of time during a day. For example setting an 8 hour block of the day and then not eating the other 16 hours.  Other versions involve drastic reductions (60-75%) in your typical caloric consumption on pseudo fasting days. Alternate day feeding in its purest form the diet does not actually decrease the amount of calories consumed but rather the frequency of meal ingestion. As far as the science goes there is a pretty good amount of data from animal studies. The human data is a bit lacking and many of the studies done unfortunately lack control groups.Sometimes calories are still decreased in the human studies causing a confounding in which we cannot tell if effects on the body are due to fasting or due to caloric restriction.

Studies in Animals

Studies of intermittent fasting in animals has been profound showing delayed onset and progression in brain diseases such as alzheimer’s, parkinson’s, and huntington’s disease. Studies have also shown decreases in blood sugar and lower risk of diabetes. Heart attack damage is less and unhealthy changes in the heart after a heart attack are also decreased in animals under an intermittent fasting diet. Animals tend to have a lower heart rate and decreased blood pressure and cholesterol levels. One are that has been studied in animals and not at all in humans is cancer during intermittent fasting. Animals studies have shown that those with cancer live longer when intermittent fasting and the risk of lymphoma is lower.

Studies in Humans

The data in humans is a bit less extensive and also less impressive. Psychology journals have published that humans during intermittent fasting have increased alertness and arousal. Our daily blood sugar levels do not become much lower although some studies have showed less insulin resistance leading to a possible lower risk of diabetes and a slightly higher HDL (good cholesterol), which can be cardioprotective. Diets as we know are very difficult to adhere to. A study comparing traditional dieting to intermittent fasting found both groups to lose weight and fat at the 2 month mark. When those groups were looked at again at the 6 month point the alternate daily feeding group had had better results.

The studies in animals are very interesting and it will be cool to see what else we find in human studies. At this point it is tough to make conclusions on if it’s worth the effort to adhere to an alternate day feeding diet. I am hopeful that the animal research will translate over to results in humans in the future research studies.

Sources:
  1. Alternate-day fasting and chronic disease prevention: a review of human and animal trials
  2. Impact of intermittent fasting on health and disease processes.
  3. Intermittent fasting does not affect whole-body glucose, lipid, or protein metabolism
  4. Effect of intermittent fasting and refeeding on insulin action in healthy men
  5. Caloric restriction and intermittent fasting: Two potential diets for successful brain aging
  6. Intermittent fasting and caloric restriction ameliorate age-related behavioral deficits in the triple-transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease
  7. Beneficial effects of intermittent fasting and caloric restriction on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems
  8. Intermittent fasting dissociates beneficial effects of dietary restriction on glucose metabolism and neuronal resistance to injury from calorie intake

 

lose fat

Why it’s harder to lose fat as you progress in your diet

Posted JacobPosted in Diet

As you diet you may find it gradually getting tougher to fight your appetite and lose fat. Truth is as we lose weight our bodies respond to the change and try to preserve our energy or fat stores. Changes in hormones and metabolism are the biggest factors in the increasingly difficult task of cutting weight and lose fat. Then once you reach your goal you might find it incredibly easy to put fat back on or put on even more than you started with! There are many natural reasons why these things happen.

First off hormones control many of the body’s responses and are important to understand. As weight decreases different hormones increase and decrease in the body. As for hormones that decrease you will see hormones such as leptin, insulin, thyroid hormones and even testosterone drop. Leptin is important for energy expenditure and satiety (feeling full.) In a study of lean bodybuilders preparing for competition they tested for their leptin changes three times at 11 weeks, 5 weeks, and 3 days before competition. Just at 5 weeks out their leptin levels dropped by 27.7% and dropped more when tested 3 days out. Insulin is helpful in preventing muscle protein breakdown and hunger. Thyroid hormones specifically triiodothyronine (T3) is important in increasing metabolism. Lastly, we have testosterone which help via its muscle building properties. In a study done with 19 male ameture wrestlers they found that very low body fat and or large losses of body fat adversely affected their serum testosterone levels. Now there are two important hormones that increase during cutting, ghrelin and cortisol. Ghrelin affects hunger and appetite and is what makes fighting the urges to eat even harder. In the same study that I mentioned above researchers found at the 5 week mark that ghrelin increase by 20.4% and found another 6% increase by 3 days out. Cortisol affects muscle protein breakdown so an increase in both of these hormones shows how losing weight becomes increasingly difficult.

Metabolism is huge in weight loss and it changes drastically when trying to lose fat. There are several important areas of metabolism REE (resting energy expenditure) which makes up BMR (basal metabolic rate), NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis), TEF (thermic effect of food), and EAT (exercise activity thermogenesis).  In a study of obese men and women on a caloric restricted diet their REE decreased. It was noted that after eight weeks the men seen a 963 KJ/day drop in REE and women seen a 614 KJ/day drop, essentially meaning their metabolism slowed down. This is likely due to the body trying to conserve energy because it perceives the food caloric restriction as starvation. NEAT which includes activities such as walking around or even fidgeting is reduced on a caloric restricted diet further lowering energy you burn during normal daily activities. TEF (accounts for 10% of metabolism) and is reduced as you decrease food intake also essentially burning less as you consume less. Lastly we have EAT also goes down due muscle efficiency and due to loss of weight meaning it’s easier to perform tasks requiring less energy because you are moving less of your body weight. Overall, these aspects of metabolism come together to make your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and as you can see it is reduced especially in cases of lower body fat.

These factors cause us to hold onto weight and make it harder to lose fat, especially the last little bit.

So when we finally finish the diet and eat normally again why is it that we can add fat on and easily pack on the pounds? It’s because your metabolism stays slowed down for some time making it easier to gain weight, because your body is using less energy. During this time your hormones are in a altered state which also predisposes you to weight gain. Going back to your regular diet can make you end up at the same weight as before and in some cases even heavier. The best thing to do after a diet is to reverse diet. Reverse dieting is slowly adding calories back into your diet. This gives time for your body to ramp your metabolism back up. Reverse dieting can prevent you from losing all the hard work you put in. Keep in mind while cutting to make sure to eat enough protein and lose weight at a moderate pace. Doing this will preserve as much LBM (lean body mass) as possible.

At the end of the day your body will fight you more and more as you lose fat. It’s a natural response to prevent the body from starving and completely losing all its energy stores. The biggest thing is focusing on a good diet, staying dedicated in the gym and keeping focus on your goal. Make sure after your diet not to overeat or binge, you don’t want to do all that work for nothing!

Sources for lose fat:

Rossow LM, Fukuda DH, Fahs CA, Loenneke JP, Stout JR: Natural bodybuilding competition preparation and recovery: a 12-month case study. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2013, 8: 582-592.

Maestu J, Eliakim A, Jurimae J, Valter I, Jurimae T: Anabolic and catabolic hormones and energy balance of the male bodybuilders during the preparation for the competition. J Strength Cond Res. 2010, 24: 1074-1081. 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181cb6fd3.

Maclean PS, Bergouignan A, Cornier MA, Jackman MR: Biology’s response to dieting: the impetus for weight regain. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2011, 301: R581-R600. 10.1152/ajpregu.00755.2010.

Maestu J, Jurimae J, Valter I, Jurimae T: Increases in ghrelin and decreases in leptin without altering adiponectin during extreme weight loss in male competitive bodybuilders. Metabolism. 2008, 57: 221-225. 10.1016/j.metabol.2007.09.004.

Rosenbaum M, Hirsch J, Gallagher DA, Leibel RL: Long-term persistence of adaptive thermogenesis in subjects who have maintained a reduced body weight. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008, 88: 906-912.

Kim B: Thyroid hormone as a determinant of energy expenditure and the basal metabolic rate. Thyroid. 2008, 18: 141-144. 10.1089/thy.2007.0266.

Margetic S, Gazzola C, Pegg GG, Hill RA: Leptin: a review of its peripheral actions and interactions. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2002, 26: 1407-1433. 10.1038/sj.ijo.0802142.

Rooyackers OE, Nair KS: Hormonal regulation of human muscle protein metabolism. Annu Rev Nutr. 1997, 17: 457-485. 10.1146/annurev.nutr.17.1.457.

Hagmar M, Berglund B, Brismar K, Hirschberg AL: Body composition and endocrine profile of male Olympic athletes striving for leanness. Clin J Sport Med. 2013, 23: 197-201. 10.1097/JSM.0b013e31827a8809.

Weyer C, Walford RL, Harper IT, Milner M, MacCallum T, Tataranni PA, Ravussin E: Energy metabolism after 2 y of energy restriction: the biosphere 2 experiment. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000, 72: 946-953.

Witbracht MG, Laugero KD, Van Loan MD, Adams SH, Keim NL: Performance on the Iowa gambling task is related to magnitude of weight loss and salivary cortisol in a diet-induced weight loss intervention in overweight women. Physiol Behav. 2012, 106: 291-297. 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.04.035.

Tomiyama AJ, Mann T, Vinas D, Hunger JM, Dejager J, Taylor SE: Low calorie dieting increases cortisol. Psychosom Med. 2010, 72: 357-364. 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181d9523c.

Sumithran P, Prendergast LA, Delbridge E, Purcell K, Shulkes A, Kriketos A, Proietto J: Long-term persistence of hormonal adaptations to weight loss. N Engl J Med. 2011, 365: 1597-1604. 10.1056/NEJMoa1105816.

Rosenbaum M, Goldsmith R, Bloomfield D, Magnano A, Weimer L, Heymsfield S, Gallagher D, Mayer L, Murphy E, Leibel RL: Low-dose leptin reverses skeletal muscle, autonomic, and neuroendocrine adaptations to maintenance of reduced weight. J Clin Invest. 2005, 115: 3579-3586. 10.1172/JCI25977. 

Mettler S, Mitchell N, Tipton KD: Increased protein intake reduces lean body mass loss during weight loss in athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010, 42: 326-337.

Layman DK, Boileau RA, Erickson DJ, Painter JE, Shiue H, Sather C, Christou DD: A reduced ratio of dietary carbohydrate to protein improves body composition and blood lipid profiles during weight loss in adult women. J Nutr. 2003, 133: 411-417.

Bopp MJ, Houston DK, Lenchik L, Easter L, Kritchevsky SB, Nicklas BJ: Lean mass loss is associated with low protein intake during dietary-induced weight loss in postmenopausal women. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008, 108: 1216-1220. 10.1016/j.jada.2008.04.017.

Ravussin E, Burnand B, Schutz Y, Jequier E: Energy expenditure before and during energy restriction in obese patients. Am J Clin Nutr. 1985, 41: 753-759.

Leibel RL, Rosenbaum M, Hirsch J: Changes in energy expenditure resulting from altered body weight. N Engl J Med. 1995, 332: 621-628. 10.1056/NEJM199503093321001.

Weigle DS: Contribution of decreased body mass to diminished thermic effect of exercise in reduced-obese men. Int J Obes. 1988, 12: 567-578.

Weigle DS, Brunzell JD: Assessment of energy expenditure in ambulatory reduced-obese subjects by the techniques of weight stabilization and exogenous weight replacement. Int J Obes. 1990, 14 (Suppl 1): 69-77. discussion 77–81

Doucet E, Imbeault P, St-Pierre S, Almeras N, Mauriege P, Despres JP, Bouchard C, Tremblay A: Greater than predicted decrease in energy expenditure during exercise after body weight loss in obese men. Clin Sci. 2003, 105: 89-95. 10.1042/CS20020252.

Rosenbaum M, Vandenborne K, Goldsmith R, Simoneau JA, Heymsfield S, Joanisse DR, Hirsch J, Murphy E, Matthews D, Segal KR, Leibel RL: Effects of experimental weight perturbation on skeletal muscle work efficiency in human subjects. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2003, 285: R183-192.

Tappy L: Thermic effect of food and sympathetic nervous system activity in humans. Reprod Nutr Dev. 1996, 36: 391-397. 10.1051/rnd:19960405.

Ravussin E, Lillioja S, Anderson TE, Christin L, Bogardus C: Determinants of 24-hour energy expenditure in man. Methods and results using a respiratory chamber. J Clin Invest. 1986, 78: 1568-1578. 10.1172/JCI112749.

Miles CW, Wong NP, Rumpler WV, Conway J: Effect of circadian variation in energy expenditure, within-subject variation and weight reduction on thermic effect of food. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1993, 47: 274-284.

Chaston TB, Dixon JB, O’Brien PE: Changes in fat-free mass during significant weight loss: a systematic review. Int J Obes. 2007, 31: 743-750.

Garthe I, Raastad T, Refsnes PE, Koivisto A, Sundgot-Borgen J: Effect of two different weight-loss rates on body composition and strength and power-related performance in elite athletes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2011, 21: 97-104.

https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-11-7

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14715917

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/402153

 

Regulating body weight hypothalamus

Regulating body weight is it as simple as calories in calories out?

Posted dgreenisfit1 CommentPosted in Diet

Regulating body weight is a complex and difficult task that we all face. From the overweight individual who wants to lose some weight to the skinny guy like myself who wanted to put on some mass you quickly realize that making that change isn’t all that easy.

There are of course the psychological factors and social factors surrounding food. We hang out with our friends and family over meals and desserts and you sometimes can’t help but feel like a downer when you said I can’t eat that piece of cake. Denying the delicious treat is followed by judgement and guilting… “one piece wont hurt you.”

The opposite stands true I have always had trouble gaining weight because while I enjoy delicious food I simply don’t have the drive to eat 3000 or more calories a day. To me it feels like torture. Many people would say I wish I had that problem, but it is a real problem for me especially if I want to be successful in my physique competitions. Of course if I can will myself to eat the calories I gain the weight but it does take a very persistent conscious effort to overcome my natural drive to consume food.

We think of the consumption of food largely as a decision, but that decision is driven is driven by our body’s physiology. Some of the main players include the pituitary, hypothalamus and their control of the thyroid gland. The hypothalamus is famously known for the running the four Fs of your body feeding, fleeing, fighting and well we will say mating. The hypothalamus controls the thyroid gland which ultimately releases hormones that control your metabolism (the rate that your body uses calories) which clearly can have a huge regulating body weight.

I want to introduce you to two other signaling molecules in your body leptin and ghrelin. Leptin was a recently discovered in 1994 by Jeffery Friedman. Leptin is know now to be a long term regulator of body energy stores because it acts in a negative feedback loop to your brain. When you eat food or if you have increased body fat you produce leptin from your fat cells inhibiting your drive for more calories. Obese individuals have very high levels of leptin circulating and you would think this would contribute to their weight loss however their receptors become insensitive to leptin and the signaling doesn’t work properly leading to further drive to eat.

I mentioned ghrelin above. Ghrelin is a counter part to leptin that is released from the stomach the only difference is it is produced more quickly and acts rapidly where leptin is a slower and more long term regulator for drive to consume calories. Ghrelin is a type of signaling molecule in our body that signals us to initiate a meal meaning it makes us feel hungry. After a meal our ghrelin levels fall.

This sheds some light on why dieting can be so hard, most of the time regardless of if we want to lose some weight or gain some weight we have to make the conscious decision to go against our bodies physiologic drive and signaling telling us to do exactly the opposite. So if left to our own devices we will likely never reach our goals. This is why its so important to set a strict diet and exercise routine which has been supported time and time again as the most effective way to reach weight goals. If you are interested in getting started in your weight loss journey check our our article.

If you are looking for a formal diet or workout routine get in contact with us here.

One way to be more compliant with a strict diet is to prepare your meals ahead of time so you always have them on hand. You never have to worry about getting hungry and splurging on food that is off your diet. During prep and offseason I use the Isolator Fitness 3 meal lunchbox. It is made in the USA unlike other fitness lunchbox brands and it keeps your food cold for around 12 hours. You can check them out here. If you use the code “IRONSNACK” you will get 10% off your order.

Sources for regulating body weight:

The role of leptin and ghrelin in the regulation of food intake and body weight in humans: a review

Leptin and Beyond: An Odyssey to the Central Control of Body Weight

Role of set-point theory in regulation of body weight.

Set points, settling points, and the control of body weight

Getting Started on Your Weight Loss Journey

Posted DylanPosted in Diet
Weight loss ironsnack diet.
What diet is best for weight loss and how to a build a diet plan?

What is the best diet for weight loss? I get this question all of the time. Diets are hard to stick to and normally a change in the way you look at and interact with food along with some calculations and planning are the keys to long term success. I have always felt that nutrition is the hardest part of being healthy and for me personally far more difficult than making it to the gym everyday.

The Science:

We pulled some research studies comparing some of the most popular mainstream diets. One study published in the New England Journal of Medicine which is one of the most prestigious scientific journals compared three different diets. 1) low fat diet, restricted calorie 2) Mediterranean, restricted calorie, or low-carbohydrate, non-restricted calorie. The test groups did great with over 95% adhering to their diet at one year and still nearly 85% at two years.

The average weight loss was 2.9kg (6.38lbs) for the low fat group. 4.4kg (9.68lbs) for the mediterranean diet group and 4.7kg (10.34lbs) for the low carbohydrate group. Looking at the other positive outcomes of the study those on the low carbohydrate diet decreased their ratio of total cholesterol to good cholesterol (HDL) even more so than the low fat group which is great. Low carbohydrate diets are also associated with decrease risk of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and some cancers. Those in the study with diabetes had the best results with lowering there blood glucose (sugar) levels and decreasing insulin resistance while on the Mediterranean diet. Overall each of these diets left the study participants with great results so your personal preference may the best to guide you to which diet that you are most likely to stick with.

The low carb diet:

With that said side effects are more common with very low carbohydrate diets and can be particularly difficult to stick with especially if you intake fewer than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. When you intake very low levels of carbohydrates your body goes into a state of ketosis (a change in the way your body uses energy stores) and you do lose weight however, much of the weight loss is from the breakdown of glycogen (the molecule your muscle stores energy as) and water. Constipation, headaches, bad breath, muscle craps, diarrhea, and weakness are all relatively common when on a very low carbohydrate diet. I personally wouldn’t recommend this for a long term weight loss diet.

The Mediterranean diet:

The Mediterranean diet consists of high monounsaturated fats and less saturated fats, moderate red wine consumption, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and gains. This diet also has a relatively low intake of meat and meat products. The Mediterranean diet is associated with decreased cardiovascular risk and risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Calculating your bodies energy expenditure:

Ultimately the best diet is based on your bodies energy expenditure and your food preference. To calculate your energy expenditure multiply 22 by your weight in kg (to get your weight in kilograms divide your bodyweight in pounds by 2.2). That will estimate your energy expenditure +/-20%. Ideally the calories you intake through food will be just below your bodies resting energy expenditure causing you to lose weight. Another option some people use is counting macronutrients (carbs, fats, proteins). Some healthcare professionals do not recommend counting macronutrients composition but it is commonplace especially in bodybuilding and the fitness community.

Setting up your diet and calculating your caloric goal:

An ideal initial weight loss goal can be set at 5-7 percent of body fat so aim to meet that goal and go from there. A good place to start is by creating a diet 500 calories below your energy expenditure (which you calculated above).  You may think going even more than 500 calories below your daily energy expenditure but don’t it’s a recipe for failure. Weigh yourself once a week, and you should lose around 0.5kg (1.1lbs) weekly. Your body will adapt and your metabolism will change over 3-6 months where further adjustments may need to be made. This information will get your well on your way with your weight loss journey. Feel free to ask questions were are always here to answer them with science backed evidence! Interested in a custom meal plan and fitness routine to help you meet your goals? Check out our online shop!

Getting started on your weight loss journey sources:

Weight Loss with a Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low-Fat Diet
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0708681

Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1200303#t=article

Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with the Mediterranean diet: results of the PREDIMED-Reus nutrition intervention randomized trial.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20929998

A low-carbohydrate as compared with a low-fat diet in severe obesity.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022637#t=article

Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)60812-X/abstract