Tag Archives: Fat Diet

Part 1: The Science of a Fat Loss Diet

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Yesterday, I talked about creating a calorie deficit, meaning that you need to burn more than you consume.  So, let’s assume that you determined that you needed to take in 2,000 calories a day to create a calorie deficit – is it better to:

A. Eat one 2,000 calorie meal per day
B. Eat four 500 calorie meals per day
C. Eat six 333 calorie meals per day

They’re the same, right?  Same amount of calories coming in, so they have to be the same.  Ummm, no.

Actually, studies have shown that C is the most effective meal pattern for burning fat due to a principle known as the Thermic Effect of Feeding, or TEF.  Your body burns calories for everything you do, including to process the food you are taking in, up to 10% of your calorie intake per day.  So if you are eating 333 calories in a meal, your body is using approximately 33 of them to process your meal.  When you eat less frequently, you’ll experience a lower TEF, which has been related to weight GAIN in the long term.

Other studies have shown that the higher the TEF (from eating frequently) the higher the feeling of satisfaction.  This is important from a psychological standpoint, meaning that you do no feel like you are starving yourself because it is only a couple of hours until your next meal.

One other important point above – your meals don’t have to be EXACTLY the same size every time, but they should be as close as possible, meaning, do not eat one huge meal with five apples spread through out the day.  Remember, every meal should contain a protein source.

In Part Two, I’ll cover metabolism and a little more about calories.  You are not going to believe what I tell you!

Creating a Calorie Deficit is Crucial for Your Fat Loss Diet

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For fat loss to occur, you must burn more calories than you take in.  I can just hear the thousands of “no duhs” being muttered as you folks read this shocking revelation!  However, there are several components to creating a calorie “deficit” (not just eating less), and using them all together will be the most effective.  Plus, you won’t be starving yourself like you usually do when you diet.

My dear sweet Grandma (may she rest in peace) struggled with her weight her entire life.  I always got a good chuckle when she would say to me, “Matthew, I wish I could lose weight like you.  I don’t understand, I hardly eat anything at all.”  I never wanted to challenge my 70-something year old Grandma on the scientifically impossible statement she made.  If you are taking in less than your body requires, you will lose weight, end of story.  If your body could gain weight from eating nothing, you’d be on Dr. Phil, Oprah and the Today Show tomorrow!

So, how do you create this calorie deficit?  It is a combination of watching your intake with anaerobic training (the interval-style training) and resistance training, both of which burn calories not only during activity, but also after, as long as 36 hours after completion!  When you eat less and burn more, you have achieved the magic fat loss formula.

For a fat loss diet that creates a calorie deficit easily and without hunger, check out my new book The Burrito Diet!

Can You Blame the Government For the Failure of Your Fat Loss Diet

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We now have a scapegoat for the obesity epidemic in the US – the USDA!  According to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the national dietary guidelines advising Americans to eat low-fat may have contributed to the obesity problem.  People have replaced fat with sugar and carbohydrates which has increased Americans’ total caloric intake and set them up for a host of metabolic disorders, say the study’s authors, adding that low-fat foods are not diet foods.  Instead, your diet should emphasize vegetables, fruits, beans, unrefined whole grains, and mono- and polyunsaturated fats, as well as lean proteins.

Can You Really Eat More and Lose Fat on Your Fat Loss Diet?

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Recently, someone asked me for my views about the amount of daily calories they should consume, and whether a 800-1000 calories’ intake can help to speed up their weight loss.

I thought this is something you’d be interested in, so I’m going to share my thoughts with you as well.

You’ve probably heard this many times: consuming too many calories makes us overweight. Of course, this is TRUE…

Both eating less or exercising more will most definitely result in weight loss.

It’s a simple matter of arithmetic — if your “calories out” is more than your “calories in”, you will lose weight.

Thus, it becomes very natural of us to think that if cutting calories is such a good thing, then the more you cut, the better, right? Doesn’t this mean that we’ll lose the excess weight faster?

In reality, it is not so.

Making a too-drastic cut in your caloric intake is a very, very bad idea.

If you have been dieting for a while, you would notice that the extremely low-calorie diets have been around for the longest time. But interestingly, most of the time they don’t lead to permanent weight loss.

Nonetheless, I’ve heard people discussing diets that recommend as low as 800 calories a day! I’m here to tell you that these low levels are downright dangerous for your health.

According to weight loss experts, cutting your intake down to, or under, 1000 calories per day sets you up for an inevitable failure.

Why?

Because when you reduce your caloric intake down to this low, you are actually sending your body into “starvation mode” by eating far too little.

In simple terms, your body will start to think that there is a famine. And in order to maintain your weight while it “thinks” you are starving, your body’s metabolism rate will actually slow down. And your body will then start to store the calories into your fat cells instead.

If you want to prevent yourself from falling into this starvation mode “trap”, you must first know how many
calories your body requires everyday to maintain itself. There are several tools available on the Internet to give you an estimate, or you can check with a dietitian or nutritionist.

Whenever you restrict calories below the level that you body needs to function, your body senses starvation and switches into the “conservation” mode. The more you restrict calories and the longer you diet, your metabolism will slow down further and the more your fat cells will fight back. Don’t forget, you need your metabolism to burn your fat into energy for your body to function properly.

Besides, there is another reason why extreme low-cal diets won’t work — it is not an easy feat to stay on it for long. Dieters who have gone on these extreme low-cal diets would also experience unfavorable side effects such as headaches, weakness, light-headedness and a reduction in their levels of concentration.

Finally, when you experience extreme hunger, the next thing you’ll tend to do is to “binge eat”. And guess what? In the end, after all the initial effort you’ve put into losing the weight, you will actually gain back more weight than you had lost during the diet.

And the worst thing is: The next time you try to go on a diet again, your body gets smarter and the fat cells will expand more to store more calories as they are getting ready to go through another “famine”. Your metabolism will also be reduced tremendously. You’ll find that you are not able to lose the weight as fast or as easy as the previous time. And you’ll get frustrated because you’ve had to deprive yourself of your favorite foods. So what do you do next? You overeat again.

So, stay away from these low-cal diets. They aren’t worth your time!

Instead, try this “diet” to help you lose weight now

Add a Little Sunshine to Your Fat Loss Diet

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A recent study by the Endocrine Society found that men and women with higher vitamin D levels experienced a greater amount of weight loss when dieting compared to those with lower levels.  Study participants were put on a reduced-calorie diet for eleven weeks.  The researchers found a linear relationship between baseline vitamin D levels and weight loss.

“Plasma vitamin D predicts subsequent weight loss, suggesting a potential role for vitamin D in promotion of weight loss, perhaps through effects on adipose metabolism,” the study’s authors conclude in their abstract about their findings.

Vitamin D can be obtained from sun exposure, foods (fatty fish such as salmon) and supplements.

Five Belly-Filling Foods for Your Fat Loss Diet

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If your stomach is growling here are five great options to fill you up and keep you on the fat-burning track:
Almonds – 1 ounce of almonds contains 6 grams of protein and 9 grams of monounsaturated (healthy) fat
Oatmeal – 1 cup of oatmeal has 4 grams of fiber, which will fill you up and keep your regular
Salmon – Full of omega-3 fats, a 4 ounce serving has 25 grams of protein
Quinoa – Quinoa is higher in protein than other grains like barley or couscous, and is extremely versatile
Black beans – 1 cup has a whopping 15 grams of protein and 15 grams of fiber!

Adding these foods to your 6-meals-per-day eating plan will ensure that you are always feeling satisfied and have the protein and healthy fats that will help to burn that stubborn body fat!

Friends Don’t Let Friends Fail on Their Fat Loss Diet

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According to researchers at the University of California at San Diego and Harvard, if your friends or family are overweight, there is an increased chance you are (or will be) overweight as well. A 32-year study tracked the weight records of more than 12,000 people, and found that the chances of becoming obese went up if a friend, sibling or spouse also gained too much weight – an increased risk of 57 percent, 40 percent and 37 percent, respectively. Researchers concluded that the participants were influenced by similar attitudes, behaviors and acceptance of obesity – in other words, you may not feel so bad about being fat if your best friends and closest relatives are fat. The researchers suggested that their findings may have implications for how to better deal with obesity – rather than treating individuals, it might be more useful to treat groups of friends and relatives together.

Sit Down When You Eat to Succeed on Your Fat Loss Diet

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Before choking down a quick bite, have a seat. People who snack while sitting at a set table eat fewer calories in their next meal than people who are snacking on-the-go, according to a Canadian study. Researchers served identical portions of soup with crackers, a sandwich, yogurt and fruit to study participants, who either ate while standing at a counter or at a cloth-covered table. Those who were seated consumed a third less calories when returning for dinner. When you feel like you are eating a formal meal, it makes you feel like you are eating more than you actually are, increasing your satiety levels, according to the study’s author.

The 90/10 Rule for Your Fat Loss Diet

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Life is not perfect – and your fat loss program shouldn’t be either. You can’t expect yourself to follow your program to the letter every second of every day until you reach your goal. If you do, you are setting yourself up for failure. That is why you need to apply the 90/10 rule to your nutrition and exercise.

The 90/10 rule is very simple – if you are on your program 90% of the time, then you will not be hurt by the 10% of the time you are not on your program. Your fat loss plan should have a minimum of 5 meals per day, with 6 meals a very good goal. So following the 90/10 rule with 6 meals a day (or 42 meals a week) means that you have 4 meals a week where you can go off your program without halting progress.

So is that permission to eat 50 chicken wings and a 12 pack of beer for breakfast tomorrow? Not exactly! But if you wanted to have a couple of slices of pizza with two beers, or a burger, fries and a shake (NOT super sized!) then go ahead. Maybe a piece of chocolate cake after your on-program dinner? Sure! Just get back on your program with your next meal. I try to stick to 2 meals a week where I go off-program, but that can vary depending on my schedule.

Same rules apply to exercise. Let’s say your schedule permits you to work out 4 days per week. So in a month, you have 16 workouts – and following the 90/10 rule, you can miss 1 or 2 workouts without derailing yourself. However, I don’t encourage you to skip workouts just because you can. Save your “skips” for times when you really need to skip – like a poor night’s sleep, illness, or hectic travel schedule.