For years health professionals have developed weight
management programs that included the necessary components for successful
weight management-behavior change, nutrition education, and exercise prescription-yet
the overweight/obesity trend continues to rise. Why haven’t these popular
weight management programs worked? The reason is because they are missing one
key component-a person’s individual metabolism. The foundation of any
successful weight management program must be centered on a person’s individual
metabolic rate and the energy balance equation for long-term success. The
energy balance equation may be a new term for you but you certainly know the
concept--calories in versus calories out.
More specifically, if you want to lose weight, you must be
in negative energy balance (calories in < calories out). If you want to gain
weight, you must be in positive energy balance (calories in > calories out).
And if you want to maintain your weight, you must be in stable energy balance
(calories in = calories out). A lot of nutritionists still stick exclusively
with calories as the one and only factor that determines a person's ability to
gain fat or lose fat. They water-down the fat burning process to a simple math
equation. In other words, while
mathematics are clear and concise measuring tools, when it comes to fat loss,
they don't always work.
The concept is so simple to understand but it is so hard to
do because we don’t understand all of the pieces of the equation and don’t know
how to put them together to change our weight. Until now! Let’s take an
in-depth look at this concept in order to understand how to better use it.
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I'll get right to the point. Years ago, when I was studying exercise
and nutrition in college, all the teachers used the energy balance theory in
explaining how the body adds or drops body fat. The energy balance equation
holds that getting lean is nothing more than a math equation. There are
"calories in" from the food we eat on one side of the equation and
"calories out" (burned up) on the other side of the equation; sort of
like a scale in perfect balance. The overwhelming belief then is that a person
only has to create a calorie imbalance by eating fewer calories and the result
will be non-stop fat loss. See the math? "If you eat 2000 calories but your body
burns 2700 calories, then you'll lose body fat." But, is this really how
it works? Sometimes; but there's more to it.
In addition to
calories, hormones play a monumental role in regulating fat loss. There are
fat-storing hormones and fat-burning hormones. In general, when you eat fewer
calories than the body burns, the body will release a greater amount of
fat-burning hormones. And, if you eat more calories than the body burns, the
body will release more fat-storing hormones. However, with prolonged or extreme
dieting, the body sometimes changes its mind and actually stops releasing fat
burning hormones even when calories remain low (a defense mechanism to
starvation). At that point, the math no longer works.
Additionally, there are many other factors that determine
whether you'll produce fat-storing or fat-burning hormones. The types of
calories you eat-carbs, protein, or fat-- affects fat-storing and fat-burning
hormones, as well. In general, carbs tend to release fat-storing hormones while
protein tends to release fat-burning hormones. Dietary fat can do both
depending on what sources you consume. It can increase fat-storing hormones or
increase fat-burning ones.
Meal frequency (how many times a day you eat), protein
intake in relation to carbohydrates, the time of day you exercise, the type of
meal you eat before and after exercise, and supplements all influence whether
you will release fat-storing or fat-burning hormones. All these factors tend to
make the calorie balance theory somewhat obsolete. At the very least, you
cannot expect to follow the calorie balance theory exclusively and burn away as
much fat as you want. You have to gain control of your hormones.
I'll outline how the above factors play a role in skewing
the calorie balance theory.
(1) Carbohydrates
Carbs release insulin, which is a potent fat storing
hormone. Insulin drives carbohydrates (glucose) into fat cells causing the body
to accumulate body fat. Hormonally, carbs are a fat-storing food.
(2) Protein
Protein increases thermogenesis, or heat production(calorie
burning). In short, when you eat protein, the body experiences a mild increase
in body temperature. As body temperature rises even slightly, calorie burning
rises. The result is that when you eat protein, your metabolism actually
increases. Protein also influences thyroid levels so it can definitely be
considered a "fat-burning" food.
(3) Ratio of Carbs to Protein
If fat-burning is your goal, then no meal should contain
radically more carbs then protein. Why? The carbs override the fat burning and
thermogenic boost associated with protein. So, if you eat 3 cups of rice and a
small chicken breast yielding 600 calories or 2 cups of rice and 2 chicken breasts
also yielding 600 calories, you can expect greater fat storing effects when the
meal is higher in carbs then closer to a 50-50 balance of carbs to protein.
(4) Meal Frequency
This one is huge. If you want to lose body fat, eat 6 times
a day. First, every time you eat, you experience a small increase in metabolic
rate just by virtue of a greater thermogenic effect. Second, smaller meals
suppress the release of cortisol, a hormone that decreases testosterone levels.
Maintaining a higher testosterone level helps support fat-burning hormones.
Finally, multiple meals keeps blood sugar - the amount of digested
carbohydrates floating around in the blood - stable. Stable sugar levels, in
turn, tend to keep fat-storing insulin in a neutral state.
(5) Pre-Training Food
If you're going to hit the weights, stick with low glycemic
carbs-- oatmeal, cream of rye cereal, and sweet potatoes- in the meal prior to
training. These carbs digest slower which keeps insulin levels lower. Lower
insulin levels before training allow the body to tap fatty acids from body fat
as a back-up fuel source to muscle glycogen.
(6) Post-Training Food
Here's where you need to eat. You should eat a higher
protein and carb intake (from mostly high glycemic carbs) post-workout because
it speeds growth and recovery. After training, you want insulin levels to rise
(not explode!) because it's at this point that the body enters a serious
rebuilding mode. Insulin under normal circumstances can store body fat;
however, post-workout it kick-starts the rebuilding process, exclusively. That
means no fat storage. You see, insulin is both a fat-storing hormone and
muscle-potentiating hormone. Here's the catch; higher insulin levels after
training is desirable. It causes muscle growth without stimulating fat storage.
There's a happy medium here. You need the insulin to kick start recovery but
"shoot for the clouds not the moon".
(7) Night-time Eating
When you sleep the body releases growth hormone, which not
only helps rebuild muscle but also increases fat burning. However, when you eat
a lot of carbs just prior to bed, the body's natural GH release tends to get
suppressed. Stick with protein-- chicken, turkey, lean beef, egg whites,
cottage cheese and fish-- at night and add some low calorie vegetables to them.
That will keep your carb intake under control allowing for maximal GH release
to occur.
(8) Pre-cardio
Cardio burns fat by dragging fatty acids out of fat cells
and burning them within the muscles in small areas called the mitochondria.
Cardio also causes changes in the body that favor fat burning; greater total
calorie expenditure and an increase in fat-burning hormones. Eating before
cardio can put a damper on that hormonal shift. In other words, when you eat
before cardio-- especially carbs-you'll experience a smaller increase in fat
burning hormones which translates into less fat loss. That's why you should do
cardio on an empty stomach. Or, at the very least, don't eat any carbs. You can
probably get away with a small protein snack since that won't alter the
beneficial hormonal change brought on by cardio exercise.
