Is a calorie deficit no longer working for you? I have the reason why…

If you haven’t read this book yet, I highly recommend you do. It is fabulous at breaking down the science into lay terms. If, however, you only have 5 minutes, continue reading here and reap the health gold nuggets within.

So, eating less and moving more is no longer working for you hey? Well there is science behind that.

Calories are helpful, but they’re only 1 piece of the puzzle…

Of course if you eat too much and don’t move your body, obviously you will put on weight. However it’s not the full picture. It’s just 1 piece in a very complex puzzle, which unfortunately means you can be in a calorie deficit and still get fat.

It’s a bit like weighing yourself using conventional scales. Again it’s not the full picture. I could weigh 5kgs less than my friend, however my friend could have more muscle and less fat, so not only look better, but also be healthier.

The other problem with counting calories, and why it should not be used as a stand alone measure, is it doesn’t take into consideration the quality of the food.

Just imagine 2 people eating the exact same number of calories for 6 weeks, yet 1 person is eating nothing but fresh meat and vegetables, and the other person is eating nothing but chips and chocolate.

Quite obviously these different food plans will have different impacts on the body and those 2 people will have very different outcomes in terms of body weight and composition.

Okay, so if it’s not just about calories, what else is involved?

What are the other pieces to the weight loss puzzle? And why was obesity never a problem 100 years ago?

Put simply, it all comes down to 3 main things:

What we are eating — too much processed food.

When we are eating — no down time for digestion.

How we are living — too much stress and not enough sleep.

All 3 of these factors are vastly different to what they were 100 years ago, and it’s wreaking havoc with our hormones, particularly insulin - aptly named the fat storing hormone.

Don’t know a lot about insulin? Let me introduce you ….

Every time we eat, insulin is secreted. One of its major jobs is to push glucose into our cells so it can be used as an energy source. Picture insulin like a key, it unlocks cell doors to let the glucose in. Without insulin the cells can not be opened and the glucose stays in the bloodstream and can not be used for energy. When there is excess glucose, insulin stores it in the liver, muscles and fat cells. Normally this is a well designed system. We eat and insulin goes up and we store energy. When we don’t eat insulin goes down and we use our stored energy. As long as the feeding and fasting periods are balanced, this system works.

So insulin isn’t the bad guy, our body needs insulin — however our modern lifestyle has pretty much got this poor hormone working 24/7, which can lead to insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes.

What is insulin resistance?

When insulin is high for long periods, your cells become resistant to it. Much like how our bodies become resistant to antibiotics when they are overused, our cells become resistant to insulin when exposure is high. Insulin can no longer ‘unlock’ the cells to push glucose in. This means glucose stays in the bloodstream causing more insulin to be released, starting a vicious cycle of constantly high insulin levels.

So the downer to this is, even if you start doing all the right things, and even if you’re in a calorie deficit, you may still be insulin resistant for a while, which in itself causes high insulin and therefore weight gain. So you may need to be patient with your body and kind to yourself as your body starts to heal and get everything back into balance.

But I’ve never had a weight problem before, why am I now gaining weight even though I’ve changed none of my behaviours?

It turns out the body has a ‘set point’ for weight. So when you reduce calories, although initially you may lose weight, the body always finds its way back to the ‘set point’.

So the reason weight loss is not sustainable for a lot of people is because the ‘body weight set point’ is too high. And the reason some people put on weight as they get older, even when they change none of their behaviours, is due to the ‘set point’ slowly increasing.

Now who do you think has a say in what this ‘body weight set point’ is? You guessed it, ole mate insulin. When insulin is continuously high, the ‘set point’ for body weight goes up.

So you should be able to see now why maintaining healthy insulin levels is key to maintaining a healthy weight. If not, weight gain is imminent, it’s just a matter of time.

So what’s the solution?

The great news is there is a solution, and even if you have high insulin levels now, it is reversible. And the even greater news is the solution is nothing you haven’t already heard before. The difference, I’m hoping, is that you now understand why some lifestyle changes may be necessary. And why calorie counting alone isn’t the answer.

So let’s go — here are some simple suggestions of where you can start:

Step 1

Get a fasted insulin test done so you know where you are at.

Just a heads up, you may need to be assertive with your doctor. Mine refused initially stating that this test is only conducted if you have a high glucose result. Remember though, you can have normal glucose levels for a long time whilst insulin works harder than it should keeping glucose low. Do you really want to wait until you’re insulin resistant and pre-diabetic before getting this test?

A fasting glucose test is a lagging measure. A fasted insulin test shows you what is really going on. Advocate for yourself and stay strong and request the fasted insulin test.

Step 2

Reduce (preferably cut out) highly refined carbs and added sugar and replace them with whole foods (ie meat, veggies and fruit).

Highly refined carbs are full of sugar and every time you eat sugar your glucose levels spike, and guess what, in comes our buddy insulin. The more of this type of food you eat, the more glucose in your blood, the more insulin is secreted, the more fat is stored — you get the picture. Highly refined carbs include things like bread, pasta, cereal and pretty much any food that comes in a box, can or packet.

In terms of added sugar — from a former chocolate and lolly lover, I can honestly say that when you cut sugar out of your diet completely, you no longer crave it so you don’t miss it. Never did I ever think I would say that!

Step 3

Eat less often.

Every time we eat our body breaks the food down into glucose which then prompts the secretion of insulin. So if we are constantly eating, insulin is constantly required to move glucose around, and only so much can fit into the liver and muscles, meaning the rest gets stored as fat.

Even eating 1 teeny tiny biscuit will still cause your body to secrete insulin. And if you’re doing that ‘little snack’ all the time, your body will be flooded with insulin all the time, inching you towards insulin resistance and diabetes.

I’m not necessarily advocating for intermittent fasting as this topic seems to be somewhat controversial these days and has many different definitions. However, the science is clear that every time you eat, your blood glucose goes up and hence insulin is released. So, if nothing else, remove snacks from your diet and just eat 3 meals a day. Your body then has time when insulin is low so it can burn the stored energy. And you will find that if you swap out processed foods for real food, and eat plenty of protein and healthy fats, you won’t get hangry between meals.

Step 4

Move your body.

You can’t outrun a bad diet, however exercise certainly does help. The more muscle mass you have, the more glucose can fit into your muscles, meaning there is less left over to store as fat. Also simply walking after eating will help to burn the glucose. And ladies if you need another reason to exercise, it also boosts collagen production and improves bone density!

Step 5

Reduce your stress levels — I know this is easier said than done...

Cortisol is the stress hormone that mediates the fight or flight response and makes glucose available to the body for quick energy. This is brilliant if you actually need to run from a predator, however let’s say you’re sitting at your desk stressing over work instead of running from ‘said predator’, this means the glucose stays in your blood, which means insulin gets released yet again to mop up the mess.

When you think about it, this is quite amazing, but not in a good way. Stress has no calories, yet can still lead to weight gain simply by making your body produce excess insulin.

Step 6

If you’re not sleeping well, lock that down (again, easier said than done).

Sleep deprivation is a major stressor. A single night of sleep deprivation can increase cortisol levels by more than 100% thus leading to weight gain. There is a great book called ‘Why we sleep’ by Matt Walker — highly recommend. Not only does it explain succinctly why sleep is so important, it also gives tips on how to get better quantity and quality sleep.

So in summary:

Continuous high insulin leads to weight gain. The causes of high insulin are:

* Eating foods that are high in sugar

* Continuously grazing throughout the day

* Insulin resistance

* Stress

* Lack of sleep

Consistent high insulin levels also:

* Steps up your ‘set point’ for body weight making it even harder to lose weight.

* Leads to insulin resistance and eventually diabetes.

A good mindset shift to consider — you don’t lose weight then get healthy, you get healthy then you naturally lose weight.