As much as many of us hate to admit it, calories do matter. You will gain or lose weight based on energy balance. One note before delving into this; when we discuss counting calories, we aren’t actually counting “calories”, we are discussing counting kilocalories. Kilocalories are the actual value of energy that a food supplies; the term “calories” is often used instead for simplicity. To use an analogy, using the term calories is like saying I need gas for my car, and kilocalories is like referring to gallons of gas. When in doubt substitute the word energy for calories. The attached hallmark study demonstrates that calories do matter. In this classic military study, Army Rangers were given a calorie restricted diet (about 1200 calories) and had to perform inordinate amounts of exercise. Energy deficits were well over 1000 calories a day. They were given a 1 week reefed at the 4 week point and were allowed to go back to normal eating after the 8 week course. They measured size and body fat as well as the levels or testosterone, thyroid, cortisol, leptin, IGF-1, and others at the beginning, along the way, and at the end. A year later, they basically did the same study again for comparison (with the primary differences being that they let them eat 1600 calories each day and that they did final measurements 5 weeks after it ended - week 13). They found that the group eating the lowest calories (first experiment) lost the most body fat with almost all getting down to under 5%. T3 (3,5,38-Triiodothyronine , thyroid), Testosterone, and Leptin (a major regulator of body weight and metabolism) all fell during the first 4 weeks but came back up during the 1 week reefed. The levels then went down again during the next 4 weeks of restricted eating, but again the levels came back up to normal. T3 fell further in the first group (with a bigger caloric deficit) than the second group. IGF-I levels declined by about half of the baseline value by the middle of the study but were were temporarily restored to normal levels after 1 wk of refeeding. IGF-I started going down again when food was again restricted. Cortisol (stress hormone) rose throughout the course and correlated with the amount of body fat lost. The people with the lowest body fat levels had the highest levels of cortisol. The first group (the most calorie restricted), gained excessive amounts of weight after the program finished. Now, I am not recommending that we all do this to get down to 5%. Obviously there are much better, safer, and healthier ways to achieve low body fat, but it proves the principal; you lose weight based on energy balance. No one will gain weight if they are burning more than they are consuming and absorbing. No one will lose weight it they are burning less than they consume and absorb. It also demonstrates the survival mechanism that kicks in when our energy balance is threatened. Declines in testosterone, t3, and IGF-I occur in order to reduce energy requirements so we can survive longer. In general, if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. There are many, many variables that make this rule complex but the basic principal is true. Even weight-loss diets that help you lose weight but don’t focus on counting calories are actually creating a caloric deficit, you just don’t realize it. They just tell you things like “cut out carbs” or “don’t eat after 7 PM” and other tricks that actually help you unknowingly create a caloric deficit. This can work for some people because it helps to take their focus off of food. There are two sides to the energy balance equation; the energy you take in (eat and drink) and the energy you expend (at rest, while exercising, while fidgeting, and even while eating – eating and digesting food burns calories). It is the energy expenditure side that is most complex and frequently leads to frustration and quitting meal plans. The major variable that makes the energy balance rule complex is that everyone is that everyone’s metabolism is different to some degree based on gender, genetics, age, lean body mass, environmental conditions, whether you have lost a large amount of weight recently, and whether you have an eating disorder). These all effect the Resting metabolic Rate (RMR), or the calories you burn at rest. Additionally, as you lose or gain weight, the RMR adjusts upward or downward with the new condition. Another variable is the belief that you are burning more calories with exercise than you really are. Many people believe they are burning 700-800 calories an hour every time they workout. Fewer people are actually doing that than we realize, and many of these are athletes or former athletes or the obese. Another factor is that typically as we diet we are not as active as we were before embarking on the weight-loss program due to the fact that we are simply more tired. This variable is called Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenosis, or NEAT. When people are leaning out, it is inevitable that you will tire out earlier in the day due to the energy deficit. You will fidget less, get up less, walk less, and many times go to bed earlier. All of this adds up to fewer calories burned. This is particularly a problem in people who get too heavy in the offseason (or wait too long to start their pre-contest diet) and end up severely restricting calories or doing hours of extra cardio to lose fat in the final weeks. We are not just looking for weight-loss, we are looking for fat-loss. So while we need to create an energy deficit, we have to organize the training and food variables to optimize muscle gain and fat-loss. This means including a good balance of progressive resistance training, HIIT cardio training, LISS cardio training, and a meal plan that helps build lean mass and keep you lean. It means implementing properly scheduled reefed days (based on how lean you are) to raise leptin levels and maintenance reefed weeks to help bring t3 and T levels back up after diet periods. It means minimizing stress and getting enough sleep to keep cortisol under control. It means potentially avoiding endocrine disrupting chemicals if you are especially sensitive. Yes, you can do it like they did in the study and yes you will lose weight. But, you will negatively affect your health and like the people in the study, gain excessive amounts of weight afterward. Doing it correctly requires balance. The bottom line is this; don’t gain too much fat in the offseason, don’t cut calories too deep, and don’t over-exercise trying to compensate for eating too much. Understand that you WILL have to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight. But, if you have to cut your calories down to 1000 a day and do 2 hours of cardio a day, then you either didn’t allow enough time to prep for your show or you weren’t disciplined enough in the offseason (or both). Keep an eye on body composition throughout the whole year (and not necessarily the scales) and create a leaning schedule that allows for refeeds and maintenance weeks. In other words, don’t procrastinate starting your diet until there is just enough time to barely make it. Make fitness a lifestyle and not a seasonal activity. Know what you are eating and be disciplined. Your body and your mind will thank you for it! jap.physiology.org/content/88/5/1820.full.pdf+html
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 21:42:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015