Why you’re not losing bodyfat! Part 1
Are you noticing stubborn lower belly fat – the spare tyre? Maybe you follow national health guidelines, you’ve been exercising, you think you’re eating well. Maybe you lost some weight at some point but for whatever reason, you’re back to where you’ve started, or you’re even heavier?
You’re consuming too much carbohydrate and protein
If you’re a young, lean, endurance athlete, training twice a day, exhausting your body six days a week, then you will need to replace lost energy (glycogen) from your liver and muscles with carbohydrate.
Good quality carbs are a vital energy source. Some people digest carbohydrates better than others and can get away with consuming more. However, if you're struggling with body fat, and eat a lot of carbs (especially refined types), the chances are that excess supplies of glucose are not helping your body.
Starchy carbs include sugars of all forms, as well as bread, grains, pasta, rice, pastries, fizzy drinks, legumes and even fruit and vegetables. Most will break down into simple sugars including glucose and will eventually be absorbed into your blood stream – to be transferred later to your liver or muscles for storage.
“Some people can get away with grains, some should stay away from them”
If your body's digestion process is carbohydrate intolerant, and you're eating excess starchy carbs, it's likely that you are storing the excess glucose as fat via a process called de novo lipogenesis.
Similarly if you’re eating too much protein and your body is experiencing toxicity and metabolic dysfunction, it’s possible that the excess amino acids from your protein sources are turning into glucose (via gluconeogenesis) and then being stored as fat.
This isn’t the only issue. Excess glucose in our bodies can affect your body's hormone balance, inhibiting fat loss. If you’re constantly bingeing on carbs your body will secrete more insulin - the hormone that stores glucose in your liver and muscles. If insulin is constantly high you will get fatter!
As Dr Jason Fung describes in his book ‘The Obesity Code’ how he can actually make someone fatter – just by giving them more insulin injections!
Insulin is vital for regulating blood sugar but if we are ingesting too much glucose, then we are increasing our chances of getting fatter and eventually becoming insulin resistant. This is when insulin can't work effectively and glucose can’t be converted to glycogen, so sugars in the blood remain high and the cycle repeats and we get fatter, as well as increasing the risk of other metabolic dysfunctions such as type 2 diabetes.
(If you are unsure about this – then I suggest you speak to a doctor specialising in endocrinology (hormones).
What can you change?
Take a grocery shop tour with me and learn how many food products are stashed with hidden sugars – even in foods that you wouldn’t expect - and what healthier alternatives are available.
If you’re exercising with the aim of losing fat, think twice about what you eat and drink before and after a workout. You might be replacing glycogen stores, which is fine if you’re training intensively and frequently – but it will also inhibit your body’s ability to give up body fat.
Watch out for those high energy cereal bars, sports drinks and protein shakes which often have hidden sugars. Protein shakes may support a lean muscle building training plan, but are unnecessary if you're focusing on cardiovascular work.
You’re doing the wrong type of exercise or you’re doing too much
Are you spending hours doing cardiovascular exercise (e.g. walking, spinning, swimming, cycling etc)? If you are that’s great, as there are plenty of health benefits but it won’t help you burn all of your fat stores.
The problem with excessive cardiovascular training is that you also start to break down lean muscle, often before you start burning your fat stores. One of the key reasons why the British rowing team and club athletes perform strength training is not just for power, endurance and speed, it’s also to minimise the loss of lean muscle from many hours of cardiovascular training. If you lose too much lean muscle you won’t burn as much fat. The same applies as we start to lose muscle as we age.
Maybe you're exercising too much? Too little recovery time can cause elevated levels of the stress hormone, Cortisol, impeding fat loss.
What can you do differently?
If you want to burn more fat, consider adding resistance and core (strength) training to your exercise programme at least twice a week. Resistance training also helps your muscles become more ‘insulin sensitive.’
Change your training programme. If you’re on the same plan for too long, your body will adapt and conserve energy. Just because the media says do lots of HIIT (high intensity interval training) don’t just keep doing the same thing. Add variety to shock your body into burning more fat.
Your eating plan is slowing down your metabolism
Many weight loss diets are not sustainable in the long term. Our bodies are like thermostats - they regulate several systems – digestion, neuro-muscular, cardiovascular, endocrine etc. You might have success for a few weeks by reducing calories but after a while the hypothalamus in the brain recognises this and tells your body to conserve energy.
Glands such as the thyroid may start to slow down production of hormones such as thyroxine, so things can come to a bit of a halt and you hit a fat loss plateau.
Reducing calories can be beneficial and gives the body a rest – but if you’ve been overeating for years, your body will have a set weight it remembers, which is why long-term weight loss can be difficult without a gradual lifestyle overhaul.
The other problem with cutting calories is stress. People on weight loss plans often get tired and obsessed about counting the numbers or get stressed about what foods that they are and aren’t allowed to eat. Stress raises cortisol levels, inhibiting fat loss.
“If you’re feeling stressed, by being on a diet - then stop counting the calories.”
What can you change?
If you’re feeling stressed by a diet plan you’re on, stop counting the calories. The science behind calories and counting is actually flawed and contentious. Instead consider reviewing your eating plan to ensure you’re getting enough nutrients and fibre to meets your body’s needs.
The weight you've lost hasn’t been fat!
Did you know that not all the energy that you burn through exercise will be fat? Calorie counters on gym equipment are misleading! As mentioned earlier, your body will store glucose as glycogen, which is often the preferred energy source for your body. For every gram of glycogen stored, there are approximately 3 grams of water. It’s this water that often gets released when your weight drops after the first weeks of exercise – particularly cardiovascular. But over time you’ll replace your glycogen stores again.
Some of your body mass, might be due to water retention. Too much salt in your diet, women’s menstrual cycles, other hormone related issues, side-effects of medications or other medical conditions could be the cause.
What can you do?
Be patient and don’t despair! Don’t be too obsessed about what your scales are telling you.
If you suspect water retention, check with your doctor for any underlying causes.
