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Article Are you eating enough to lose weight?

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One of the first things people do when they want to lose weight is restrict their diet, hoping to take a shortcut to shedding their extra kilos.

‘Calorie in, calorie out’ no doubt seems to be a very simple concept.

It’s true that if you restrict your calories but still maintain a balance according to your energy expenditure and include exercise, a positive result can be achieved. However, a lot of people restrict their calorie intake beyond what they should, which can cause issues long term.

We are bombarded with a new crash diet every week promising rapid weight loss in a short period of time.

These diets generally advise to restrict energy intake and to quit junk foods. Some diets do promote some healthy eating messages, including eating plenty of vegetables and fruits. However, others require a complete elimination of one whole food group or promote theories that are not evidence based. These crash diets are very really about long term lifestyle changes.

Ironically, people who are constantly on a diet will find they are more prone to weight fluctuations.

If a diet only involves following a restrictive calorie meal plan and not lifestyle education, it’s very unlikely the diet will be sustainable. More often than not, when people ‘come off’ a diet, the weight they lost is easily regained. Most of the time, these dieters will bounce back to their original weight, or even gain more.

If a restrictive diet is not planned thoroughly, dieters will miss out on vital vitamins and minerals obtained from foods.

A lot of people choose 1200 calories to be the magic number for dieting, which is in fact too low for most healthy individuals. This amount of calories is also very unlikely to meet the entire recommended daily intake for vital nutrients such as calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A and folate.

Metabolism is very important in regulating how our body ultilises energy. Factors that affect metabolism include reduced muscle mass, age and (you guessed it) restricting calories over a long period. Restricting calories long term can cause a loss of lean muscle mass, which can contribute to a low metabolism.

The key to healthy weight loss is to increase your metabolism or maintain a high metabolism by ensuring a high muscle mass.

This can be achieved by retaining a low body fat mass through regular exercise (both cardio and weight training) and eating a balanced diet. What you eat should match your energy expenditure and include foods from all food groups. This means moderate amounts of whole grains and low GI carbohydrates, fresh meat, poultry and fish. You should also include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and healthy fats, like olive oil and avocado.

Losing weight shouldn’t equate to torture or starvation. I’ve seen a lot of examples where highly active clients wanting to shed kilos went on a low calorie diet. They started to feel tired, extremely hungry and grumpy throughout the day with NO weight loss. They felt better after introducing carbohydrates back to their diet, with more energy and lost body fat.

Healthy eating really is mind over matter. Eating is a conscious decision and creating healthy eating habits and a good relationship with food is far more effective then counting calories, binge eating and the guilt associated with yo-yo dieting.

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Comments

  • I don’t have too much trouble restricting the amount of food I eat, and often I can stick to pretty healthy eating during the day. But no matter what I do, I have sugar cravings in the evenings, and in 15 minutes I can blow all my good eating from during the day.

    Reply

  • Where do you go for honest reliable healthy eating / diet advice?

    • Hi CurlyTops, when seeking nutritional advice, it’s always best to ensure you are dealing with an Accredited Practicing Dietitian. APDs are university-qualified professionals who undertake ongoing training to make sure they are up-to-date and the most credible source of nutrition information, in line with the Professional Standards set by the Dietitians Association of Australia. I am a Melbourne based Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Accredited Nutritionist and Accredited Sports Dietitian. A great resource for finding an APD in your area is the DAA website: http://daa.asn.au/for-the-public/find-an-apd/
      Sarah Leung (Author).

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  • Im working on dropping some weight and ive just halved my breakfast. I tend to eat yoghurt with cereal mixed through it for breakfast and I really think that my major issue is portion control. So this is something i have altered for a start. I noticed that i was quite happy with the smaller serve and was not at all hungry by lunch time.

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  • this is good advice 🙂

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  • This article is so true. I have never been one to closely monitor what I eat. I do watch what I eat and try not to eat too much rubbish, but found in the past if I went on a “diet” I started to crave more sweet things. Now I have started a daily cardio and yoga routine, and eat what I enjoy (just not too much of any one thing). Lets hope it works to shed a few 🙂

    Reply

  • Nice stuff to be commited to stick to a duet to lose weight

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  • totally agree i have gained alot of weight since having three children and dislocating my knee last year and my specialist suggested to hit the gym so I did not have to continue with the physio after 3 months of going to aqua aerobics and the gym no weight loss. My Dr directed me to a dietician and just by adding more food to my diet and eating nuts when eating food to stop the sugar hike i have lost 4 kg in 4 weeks, and i feel great. It has made me not be so hungry all the time decreasing my need for large meals

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  • Thanks sometimes you just need a reminder

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  • I learnt a thing or two in this article.

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  • It can be hard to work out the right number. We all know about exercisinsg more, but it can be hard to work ot how much to eat.

    • Yes, our energy requirements all depend on our age, gender, genetics and exercise level so it is very individualised and everyone is unique. One of the benefits of seeing a qualified dietitian and nutritionist is the ability to find out the right eating regime according to your unique needs. Sarah Leung (Author)

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  • Interesting read, 1200 has always been the magic number as far as I have been told

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  • What I have done is, increased my proteins reduced my fats and increased my greens, and any other vegetable within reason, I try to implement that if it comes out of a box, it’s not good, because most things in boxes are highly processed.. To date I have lost 27kg following this eating arrangement( I don’t like diets).. I was 107kg and I tell you it was not easy breaking habits.. I still treat myself as we can’t be good all the time.. Not all eating arrangements work for everybody, But there is no point in trying to eat a healthier life style, if you don’t have a mind set, otherwise you are just going to end up where you started and plus some..

    • First of all, congratulations for ditching the diet and taking on healthy eating! I am sure it wasn’t easy but every little step you take brings you closer to your goals! Lots of crash diets focus on how to lose weight but what we need to do is find out why we gain weight in the first place and mindset definitely plays a big role most of the time. Sarah Leung (author).

      • I know the reasons I gained weight, laziness and poor eating habits, but when you get to a point in your life and realise that it’s just full of excuses of the way you are, you know it’s time to deal with it and change for the more healthier and more energetic person you want to be. Surrounding yourself with like minded people, is the best encouragement and support network you can get and keep you motivated..

    Reply

  • Good advice. It makes sense – if one eats more, then they should exercise more. Remember to keep moving and to limit those empty calories.

    • First of all, congratulations for ditching the diet and taking on healthy eating! I am sure it wasn’t easy but every little step you take brings you closer to your goals! Lots of crash diets focus on how to lose weight but what we need to do is find out why we gain weight in the first place and mindset definitely plays a big role most of the time. Sarah Leung (author).

    Reply

  • Soo agree with this. I have spent many years trying to loose weight but always lost energy and so the weight stopped coming off. Started using the My Fitness pal application and found that on some days due to my exercise I need double the amount of calories. This insight has allowed me to loose 11 kgs and still going. Finally!

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  • I always think balance is the way to go….. now to achieve that.

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  • I have never liked diets that make you remove a food or food group, I always find myself craving what I am not allowed to have, and generally find them harder to stick to.

    I do have a question regarding the exercise though, due to other health issues, what if you cant do cardio? I am unable to do anything “impact” due to nerve damage in my neck, and knees that have bad cartlidge.

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  • Very interesting. Well worth a go!

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  • So much truth in this article. I used to really limit my intake (a couple of rice cakes here, nibble of apple there, etc) and exercised daily and nothing was happening. Then I did a personal trainer course (just out of interest – have never worked in that area) and learnt that the more you eat of the right foods the more you’ll lose and keep off. I now graze all day on lots of nutritious foods and initially lost the weight and then have been able to maintain my weight for 14 years now. So nice not starving! 🙂

    Reply

  • interesting read thanks for sharing

    Reply
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