The facts are in: weight loss is not as simple as just burning more calories than you ingest. The TYPE of calories MATTERS (protein, carbs or fat). Hormones play a big role in adiposity. Losing weight is one thing; decreasing body fat is another. Your focus should be on reducing body fat while increasing lean muscle through diet and exercise. Losing weight isn’t a good thing if you’re losing muscle. Check your progress based on your girth: if you reduce body fat and increase muscle, you’ll look leaner even if your weight doesn’t budge. Here’s a 3-pronged approach to improving your health in order of importance.

Nutrition: Sugar and refined carbs cause insulin levels to elevate in our bloodstream which encourages fat accumulation. The old theory of “calories in vs calories out” has been disproved by research. Instead of focusing on eating less food, focus on eating items that don’t trigger the release of insulin (fish, eggs, meat, green leafy vegetables). Eating less sugar & refined carbs = less insulin in the blood= less fat accumulated = lower prevalence of diabetes, heart disease, and other problems related to obesity.* In other words, get your body fat down to a healthy level** by not ingesting sugar and refined starches.

Sleep: Get 7-8 hours of sleep nightly. If you are trying to lose fat, not sleeping enough will hinder your progress. Sleeping less than 6 hours stimulates the production of ghrelin, a hormone that not only makes you hungrier than normal, but also promotes fat retention. During sleep, muscle repair takes place – therefore, if you are lifting weights and don’t see strength gains, reevaluate your sleep schedule. Don’t make losing fat/gaining muscle harder than it already is – make it a priority to sleep 7-8 hours nightly as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Exercise: While exercise has less of an impact on fat loss (meaning an exercise program will never override a poor diet), weight training to increase lean muscle is still very important for overall health. If you are guilty of being someone who does endless amounts of steady-state cardio, change up your routine ASAP. Aim to lift 2-3x a week and do interval training instead.

If you are frustrated by diets that don’t work, read the suggested books* listed below, change your diet, and see results. The information and resources are available – what will you do with it? You are in charge of your health.

Source:
*”Why we get fat” and “Good calories, bad calories” by Gary Taubes
** Healthy body fat levels for women are 18-25%; men 10-15%