Dieting: cutting calories simply does not work

WEDNESDAY, JAN 30: Colin Ayliffe is a certified Personal Trainer and Holistic Lifestyle Coach with over 10 years experience in training clients. Colin is Head Trainer at Court House Squash and Wellness in Hamilton. He graduated from the University of Surrey with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Science and is also a CHEK Practitioner, Golf Biomechanic and accredited by the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Most of us who want to lose weight have tried dieting at some point.

Dieting is a multi-million dollar industry. Considering 7 per cent of the global adult population is obese and the World Health Organization has described obesity as an ‘epidemic’, it is no surprise to learn that dieting is a very popular method for weight loss.

There are over 2,000 diet books to choose from so does that just mean most people are simply eating too much or have no self control? This is very unlikely.

Essentially we just need to eat right to bring the body back into balance and the main concept to grasp is that calorie restriction simply doesn’t work.

I have had numerous clients complain to me about not losing weight even though they’ve been cutting down on their calories. This is the biggest mistake you can make.

I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t keep a careful eye on what we are eating but we have to recognise that the human body needs 1,500 calories a day just to stay alive.

Consuming anything less means we are slowly dying, not dieting.

Famine

Cutting calories is a signal to the body that famine is coming. The brain tells the thyroid gland to turn down our metabolism and basically puts the body into starvation mode.

During this state, the hormones fluctuate causing an increase in insulin and cortisol which are responsible for fat storage.

So although you may lose weight temporarily purely because you haven’t eaten that much, over time the weight will come back on as the metabolism is even slower than it was in the beginning.

All dieting teaches us about is imprisonment and we learn to restrict food for months. Eating right is a lifestyle not a fad.

It is impossible to lose weight and keep it off while cutting calories.

The more calories you cut out, the more stress to the body and the more your body will eat itself. This causes hormones to be out of balance and more fat storing hormones are released in order to fuel the body whilst your metabolism slows down to keep what little fuel has to survive.

Your chances of losing weight this way are slim to none.

Try following the points below for a more effective weight loss strategy and you’ll never have to diet again!

• Never skip meals. The more meals you skip, the more fat-storing enzymes are released.
• Always combine carbohydrate, protein and fat in every meal and/or snack.
• Never cut calories. If you eat correctly and exercise regularly you shouldn’t over-eat.
• Eating processed foods or non-foods is worse than skipping meals.
• Move your body and drink plenty of water— at least three litres per day.
• Get to bed by 10:30pm. Disrupting your sleep/wake cycle will lead to hormonal imbalances.