Health Goals: Weight Loss
This article focuses on the science of weight loss. The inherent question of how to lose weight and keep it off.
The benefits of weight loss have been studied for decades. Here are some highlights:
Health benefits
Lower blood pressure
Lower blood cholesterol
Improved mental health
Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes
Reduced risk of coronary heart disease
Reduced risk of certain cancers
Reduced risk of all-cause mortality
Data actually suggests that the majority of dieters are successful in losing weight. The problem usually comes in the form of keeping the weight off.
A lot of the current research in the field of weight loss supports that a hypocaloric diet is the way to lose weight. That simply means eating less than what you exert. Yes, there are multiple diet strategies which can take you to your weight loss goals: ketogenic, paleo, atkins, low-carb, low-fat, intermittent fasting - you name it - with very little differences in efficacy. When calories and protein are equated all diets work. However the reason why you lose weight on these diets is simply because of you being in a hypocaloric state - i.e. eating less energy than you exert, not any specific magic diet. The same works in the opposite direction too. You can equally gain weight with the same diets if you consume more calories than you exert. If you are healthy then any diet which you can adhere to will eventually take you to your weight loss target. If you do have any underlying health conditions, such as diabetes or hypertension, some diets might be better than others so do make sure you consult with your physician.
Losing weight is technically quite simple. At the same time it is extremely difficult. Why? Because our bodies and minds work against losing weight. However, the majority of people trying to lose weight actually succeed in weight loss - at least in the short term. According to this study, about 60% of obese subjects who tried to lose weight lost more than 5% of their initial weight. The evidence then suggests that it is much harder to keep the weight off. One study indicates that of dieters, who had experienced substantial weight loss in the past 12 months, 34% regained their lost weight.
How to lose weight
So what is the optimal weight loss strategy which leads to sustainable results? One word: consistency. Being mindful of your body composition, weight and eating habits is truly a lifestyle choice, not a simple 12-week diet or a magic pill bought online.
Losing weight is also not a very good term in itself because you can lose weight in the form of fluids and, more importantly, muscle. That is very contradicting what is healthy and what you should be really after. In your weight-loss journey, most of the weight you lose should be adipose tissue, i.e. fat mass. During a hypocaloric diet it is almost certain that you will lose some of your muscle mass as well, but as muscle mass is a very important factor in your body’s ability to burn energy, it is therefore crucial to aim to preserve as much of it as possible. This can be done by resistance training and keeping your protein intake relatively high during your diet.
Consistency therefore means that you must build a long-term plan for your new self - not one which ends when the diet ends.
The approach
The best weight loss strategy out there is the one which is the most sustainable one for you. Therefore our suggestion is (any) hypocaloric diet where you track your food intake and macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates). There are multiple apps out there which can help you to track your food intake - one of the most commonly used being MyFitnessPal. This means that you do need to track every single bite, lick and taste you put in your mouth. Do you need a food scale? Yes - at least we do recommend getting one.
Despite there not being differences in fat loss between different diets when protein and calories are equated, there is some data supporting a more tolerable approach with time restricted eating or in other words intermittent fasting. However there is also some evidence that time restricted eating promotes more lean body mass loss compared to non time restricted eating, creating some challenges with this approach. However it could be well used as an additional tool in making your weight loss process more tolerable.
Establishing maintenance calories
In order for us to establish what it means to be in a hypocaloric state we need to start by determining our maintenance calories, i.e. daily amount of calories in which our weight does not increase or decrease.
We are all different as our bodies and activity levels can differ significantly. A good generic way to start estimating maintenance calories is to define basal metabolic rate (BMR) - i.e. how much the body needs energy for maintaining its basic functions without additional activity. A good rule of thumb in doing this is to take your weight and multiply it by 22 (if you measure in kilograms) or 10 (if you measure in pounds). Example:
85kg/187lbs male
22 x 85kg = 1870kcal
10 x 187lbs = 1870kcal
50kg/110lbs female
22 x 50kg = 1100kcal
10 x 110lbs = 1100kcal
When this has been established we take into consideration an activity multiplier:
Source: Dr Eric Helms
Example continues:
Our male example has a sedentary office job and does not walk around much, lifts 3 times a week:
1.4 x 1870kcal = 2618kcal
Our female example has a physical job and active lifestyle with 6 weight sessions a week:
2 x 1100kcal = 2200kcal
There is an inherent limitation in this formula, obviously, due to the fact that all of us are very different. However it is important to establish a starting point in terms of energy intake. What comes after the first step is crucial.
In the order of importance (for fat loss), calories are number one. Second is protein. Why protein you might ask? Because protein acts as a muscle sparing agent during your hypocaloric diet. Otherwise your body would utilise all available sources of energy - including your muscles. Protein also improves satiety and improves TEF (Thermic effect of food) - i.e. your body exerts more energy to burn a gram of protein than other macronutrients.
How to minimise muscle mass loss during weight loss?
Clinging on to your muscles during your weight-loss project is important due to various reasons:
Muscles contribute to your basal metabolic rate - burn more calories
Muscles contribute to your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) - burn more calories
Muscles contribute to your EAT (exercise activity thermogenesis) - burn more calories and be stronger
Muscles help keep you strong and active (Duh)
Relative muscle mass reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes
So now that that is out of the way, how should we determine the amount of protein to eat? A good rule is to aim at 1.6-2.2 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight (or 0.73-1 grams per pound of bodyweight). There has been a lot of discussion about health implications of high-protein diets especially from the perspective of kidney health. Data currently indicates that there are no negative health implications with high protein diets in healthy individuals. If you have any underlying conditions, do consult with your physician.
Example:
85kg / 187lbs male would require 136-187 grams of protein. We shall assume middleground, i.e. 150 grams of protein.
50kg / 110lbs female would require 80-110 grams of protein. Assume 100 grams.
How does this affect our caloric intake? Well each macronutrient gram has different caloric content:
Carbohydrates 4kcal per gram
Fat 9kcal per gram
Protein 4kcal per gram
Hence for our male example 150 grams of protein would equate to 600 kcal of our daily limit of 2618 kcal. For our female example the same is 400kcal of our daily limit of 2200kcal. We are left with 2018 kcal for the male and 1800kcal for the female to play with. This we must then divide between carbohydrates and fat. How we do it does not really matter and can be based on personal preference - keeping in mind the minimum requirements for fat and fiber intake. It is recommended not to go below 45 grams in fat intake per day. Furthermore, your fiber intake should be at least 25-30 grams per day. Fiber is a form of carbohydrate.
As for this example, we will assume a balanced approach and adjust the intakes as follows:
Male
Protein: 150g = 600kcal
Fat: 70g = 630kcal
Carbs 354g = 1388 kcal
Total (Kcal) = 2618 kcal
Female
Protein: 100g = 400kcal
Fat: 50g = 450 kcal
Carbs 313g= 1250kcal
Total (Kcal) = 2200kcal
Establishing weight-loss calories (and macronutrients)
As we now have established the calories and macronutrients to start with we should be eating exactly the same amount every day for a week and measure your weight daily. Based on our weight movement over the week (if weight increases then reduce calories by 10-20%, if weight decreases by the desired amount - max 0.5-1.0kg per week, then do nothing) and so forth. The first 1-2 weeks of the weight-loss project should be utilised in determining the maintenance calories.
1kg of body fat has about 7700 calories. So if one wishes to lose 1kg per week then the weekly energy consumption should be 7700 calories under maintenance calories (i.e. 1100kcal under maintenance per day). It is recommended to lose weight slowly rather than fast so do start from max 0.5kg per week. Also, it is recommended not to go below 1400kcal for a male and 1200kcal for a female.
As the diet then is under way, you start losing weight with the specific calorie and macronutrient amounts. Over time, however, our metabolism will slow down due to various reasons related to metabolic adaptation and hence the initial speed of weight loss will slow down and stall with the given calorie and macronutrient content. Hence we recommend to have a weekly “check-in” day which is your anchor day each week for weight measurement. The 7-day average of your weight on that check-in day will then determine the condition of your metabolism. When you reach the stage where weight loss stalls and stops all together, it is time to adjust the calorie intake lower. Another 5-10% lower. The two variables in the macronutrient content are fat and carbohydrates. Protein intake should stay the same across your weight-loss journey.
And this is how you continue to lose weight over time and eventually reach your goal. There are more tricks on how to ensure smooth sailing throughout your weight-loss journey, such as diet breaks, which will be discussed in subsequent articles.
The diet after diet
When reaching the desired weight and body composition, it is absolutely essential to take the next step carefully. Why? Refer back to the fourth chapter of this article on the risk of weight regain.
How do you ensure that the weight you have now reached is sustainable and that you will not regain all the weight you lost?
There is no magic trick. The simple truth is that consistency will enable sustainability in weight-loss. Hence the diet after the weight-loss goal has been reached should not change much. During a long weight-loss diet your metabolism will adapt to lower calorie availability and your maintenance calories will not be the same as they were in the beginning of the diet. Your maintenance calories will be much lower. Say your final calories on your weight-loss diet were 1500kcal. When you reach your goal, simply add 200-300 kcal to your goal and keep going. Track your weight on a weekly basis and if you still keep losing weight or maintaining the same weight, increase your calorie intake by 5-10%. Do this all the way to the point where your bodyweight starts to increase, take back 10% and voila. You have found your new maintenance level calories without putting on any/much weight.
Sustainability comes through mindfulness and a healthy habit of eating right for your body. A lot of this is simply tracking your food intake, eating mostly whole-food sources high in fiber with the occasional treat - whatever is your vice. We like to call this mindful flexibility. If you like ketogenic, paleo, intermittent fasting or low carbohydrate (or whatever) specific diet, you can simply continue doing this with your adjusted calories and macros!
The right Healthy Habits for Weight Loss
These are the methods different studies suggest and we have combined them for you here.
Measure weight (7x)
Commonly accepted concept is “what you measure in your life will start to improve”. Same goes with measuring and tracking your weight on a daily basis. Weigh yourself every morning after going to the toilet. Mark down your weight on a spreadsheet, app or a notebook daily. Then measure your 7-day moving average weight. Why 7-day average you might ask? Simply because daily fluctuations in your weight are largely explained by differences in your bowel movements, body fluid levels and so forth. Hence a better means to track your weight loss journey is to use the 7-day moving average.
Count calories (7x)
In order to lose weight you must be in a sustained caloric deficit as explained above. Calculate your goal calories / macronutrients and track all you eat & drink during the day. This is the foolproof method to be certain you will continue to lose weight in line with your original plan.
Sleep 7hrs (6x)
Sleep is one of the most important healthy habits you must focus on from your overall health and wellbeing perspective. Sleep is also very important from weight loss and weight maintenance perspective due to:
Sleep deprivation increases hunger
Adequate sleep increases your leptin levels by 29% (hunger suppressing hormone)
Sleep deprivation may cause metabolic syndromes: insulin resistance and increased risk of diabetes
During fat loss diets sleep deprivation appears to be associated with unfavourable nutrition partitioning effect, making more weight loss come from lean body mass rather than fat mass
Newsflash. We were designed, by evolution, to sleep 8 hours. Why? Our planet just happens to rotate every 24 hours, creating alternating phases of light and dark. Evolution, if anything, is sparing. It doesn’t do luxury. So if nature insists on 8 hours, why do we fight it? There is no reason. Sleep deprivation in animal studies is just a horror show, and many studies have been reproduced in humans.
Why EVERY night though? Well, science says that the average quantity isn’t enough. Sleeping 12 hours on Sunday morning doesn’t cut it. Consistency is half the battle. If you don’t allow sleep deprivation to accumulate, there’s no need to sleep in!
Calorie deficit (6x)
Losing weight requires a caloric deficit. Simple as that. This is the most important aspect of your weight loss journey. Hence download an app (for example MyFitnessPal) and buy a food scale and start tracking your calories today. Calculate your intake targets as described above and start your journey!
10K Steps (5x)
Targets: metabolism, stress, heart rate variability, deep & rem sleep
Stillness and sitting are not good for you, that much is known. Physical inactivity is on the rise, and correlates with increases in lifestyle and metabolic disease. While more isn’t necessarily better, 10,000 steps seems to have become an acceptable number and corresponds to a decent amount of daily activity. While you would ideally incorporate this into every day of the week, other forms of exercise complement a total weekly routine. From a weight loss perspective the simple truth is that the more you move the more you will burn calories and the easier it is to lose weight. So move. Take those 10k steps daily.
Intermittent Fasting (5x)
Targets: metabolism, hormones
Fasting is an ancient art that has become increasingly popular in the last decade. Trendy, even, if not eating can be a dietary trend. The benefits are wide-ranging, from better metabolic health to appetite and calorie control, in addition to potential cellular level prevention against many cancers. The easiest way to start is simply to skip breakfast before working days, and even save some money doing it. There is some evidence showing that a weight loss diet is more sustainable through time restricted eating (in other words intermittent fasting). Hence it is very much worth building this habit and sticking to it! We’ll allow you to keep brunch for weekends. You’re welcome!
HIIT (2x)
Targets: vo2max, metabolism, brain matter, stress
To mix things up, some intense cardio to get your heart rate up near its maximum capacity is a good idea, just not too often. Even one dose a week of intense cardio intervals will do wonders. You’ll find many programs and apps that offer HIIT programs, from brutal 4-minute Tabata intervals to more traditional 4x4 intervals.
Despite HIIT not being superior to LISS (Low-impact, steady state) workout from a fat loss perspective, it is another valuable tool in your toolkit to exert more energy and hence burn more fat. With all the other health benefits this habit is very much worth sticking to!
Strength Training (2x)
Targets: muscle mass, hormones, glucose metabolism, insulin resistance
Now we get into the heavy lifting part, literally. Rather than go all-out in one form of exercise, the current research indicates the best strategy is to cover all the bases. If you had to pick one, then strength training is a good place to start. You only need enough stimulus, and the goal here isn’t massive biceps but sustainable muscle mass and bone density. Two sessions of lifting heavy things, safely, will do the job.
Join the 100-Day Weight Loss challenge?
Building the right habits is the key to sustainable weight loss. Within 100 days you will have a good chance to build life-long habits which will eventually take you to your weight loss target in a sustainable manner and change your life forever. Hence we highly recommend you to engage in our 100 day weight loss challenge.
Remember that losing weight is not simply a project in itself. It has to be a lifestyle adjustment where you learn new eating and exercise habits and enjoy life to the fullest with your newly rediscovered self.