In my years of experience, I encountered many such cases especially from women regarding this.
In my early years of my career, I use to think about the different variables of food and hormones and other things related to the body’s metabolism. which is still plays a significant role.
but as I got matured in my personal training career I figured out that the complaining people are actually lying about their situation even though they were not aware of it.
The TRUTH
The fact of the matter in the above case is that when a client complains that he/she is not losing her weight even though she is eating very little is in the following details.
- They are not tracking their food using any tools like a food scale or application that can calculate the calories of the food.
- even if they track the food on the application like fitness pal they are not putting the right combination of the food they have consumed.
The science of weight loss doesn’t lie about the Laws of Thermodynamics
which is the universal principle when it comes to the weight loss weight gain calculation.
You’ve probably heard the phrase—the laws of thermodynamics—before. Or maybe you’ve heard it as energy balance. Or “calories in, calories out.”
Let’s break down what it actually means.
Thermodynamics is a way to express how energy is used and changed. Put simply, we take in energy in the form of food, and we expend energy through activities like:
- basic metabolic functions (breathing, circulating blood, etc.)
- movement (daily-life activity, purposeful exercise, etc.)
- producing heat (also called thermogenesis)
- digestion and excretion
And, the truth is…
Energy balance (calories in, calories out) does determine body weight.
- If we absorb more energy than we expend, we gain weight.
- If we absorb less energy than we expend, we lose weight.
This has been experimented with over and over again by researchers, in many environments.
It’s as close as we can get to scientific facts.
Sure, many parts influence either side of this seemingly simple comparison, which can make things feel a little confusing:
Factors that influence Energy intake (CALORIES IN)
Appetite: Hormones, Regulate Hunger & Satiety
Environment: Political, Economical, Sociocultural.
Metabolizable energy: Food calories that are absorbed.
Palatability/Reward: Texture, Flavour, Energy Density.
Psychology: Mindset, Perceived control, stress, self-esteem.
Factors that influence Energy Output (CALORIES OUT)
Basal Metabolic Rate: Calories Used at Rest
Exercise Activity: Cost of Exercise.
Non Exercise Activity: Cost of Activity, not exercise
Thermic Effect of Food: Cost of Metabolizing Food
‘Energy in’ is cleverer than you think
This means:
Energy In = Actual Calories Eaten – Calories not absorbed
Reason 1: The number of calories in a meal likely doesn’t match the number of calories on the labels or menu.
This might sound hard to believe, but it’s true… the way companies (and even the government) come up with calorie and nutrient estimates are incredibly complex, rather imprecise, and centuries-old. As a result, food labels can be off by as much as 20-25 percent.
And even if those food labels were correct:
Reason 2: The amount of energy a food contains in the form of calories is not necessarily the amount of energy we absorb, store, and/or use.
Remember that the food we eat has to be digested and processed by our unique bodies. The countless steps involved in digestion, processing, absorption, storage, and use—as well as our own individual physiological makeup—can all change the energy balance game.
Means each of our body react differently to the same food we consume.
So, for instance:
- We absorb less energy from minimally processed carbohydrates, and fats, because they’re harder to digest. Like Whole wheat Sweet Potatoes and Fats from the Whole Nuts
- We absorb more energy from highly processed carbohydrates and fats because they’re easier to digest. (Think of it this way: The more “processed” a food is, the more digestion work is already done for you.) Eg: Noodles, Pasta, Ice cream lol.
For example, research has shown that we absorb more fat from peanut butter than from whole peanuts. The researchers found that almost 38 percent of the fat in peanuts was excreted in the stool, rather than absorbed by the body. Whereas seemingly all of the fat in the peanut butter was absorbed.
Besides:
- We often absorb more energy from foods that are cooked (and/or chopped, soaked, blended) because those processes break down plant and animal cells, increasing their bioavailability.
When eating raw starchy foods (like sweet potatoes), we absorb very few of the calories. After cooking, however, the starches are much more available to us, tripling the number of calories absorbed.
Interestingly, allowing starchy foods to then cool before eating them decreases the number of calories we can extract from them again. (This is mostly due to the formation of resistant starches).
Finally:
- We may absorb more or less energy depending on the types of bacteria in our gut.
Some people have larger populations of Bacteroidetes (a species of bacteria), which are better at extracting calories from tough plant cell walls than other bacteria species.
‘Energy out’ diversifies a lot from person to person.
‘Energy out’—again, energy burned through daily metabolism and moving you around—is a dynamic, always-changing variable.
There are four key parts to this complex system:
This means:
Energy out = Resting Metabolic Rate + Thermic Effect of Eating + Physical Activity + Non-exercise Activity thermogenesis
- Resting metabolic rate (RMR)
RMR is the number of calories you burn each day at rest, just to breathe, think, and live. This represents roughly 60 percent of your ‘energy out’ and depends on weight, body composition, sex, age, genetic predisposition, and possibly (again) the bacterial population of your gut.
A larger body, in general, has a higher RMR.
Example:
- A 65kg man might have an RMR of 1583 calories a day.
- A 90kg man might have an RMR of 1905 calories.
- A 115kg man might have an RMR of 2164 calories.
2 . Thermic effect of food (TEF)
This may surprise you, but it takes energy to digest food. Digestion is an active metabolic process.
TEF is the number of calories you burn by eating, digesting, and processing your food. This represents roughly 5-10 percent of your ‘energy out.
3 . Physical activity (PA)
PA is the calories you burn from purposeful exercises, such as walking, running, going to the gym, gardening, riding a bike, etc.
Obviously, how much energy you expend through PA will change depending on how much you intentionally move around.
5 . Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)
NEAT is the calories you burn through fidgeting, staying upright, and all other physical activities except purposeful exercise. This, too, varies from person to person and day today.
Not only that, but the idea of “eating too little” is subjective.
Think of it. By “eating too little”, do you propose…
- Eating less than normal?
- Eating less than you’ve been told to eat?
- Eating less than feels right?
- Eating less than you need to be healthy?
- Eating less than your estimated metabolic rate?
- Eating less than your actual metabolic rate?
And how frequently does that apply? Are you…
- Eating too little at one meal?
- Eating too little on one day?
- Eating too little every day?
- Eating too little almost every day but too much on some days?
Without clarity on some of these questions, you can see how easy it is to assume you’re “eating too little” but still not eating less than your actual energy expenditure, even if you did some test to estimate your metabolic rate and it seems like you’re eating less than that number.
Most times, the dilemma is perception.
As human beings, we’re poor at correctly judging how much we’re eating and expending. We tend to think we eat less and burn more than we do—sometimes by as much as 50 percent.
(Interestingly, Skinny folks trying to gain weight often have the opposite problem: They overestimate their food intake and underestimate their expenditure.)
It’s not that we’re lying (though we can sometimes deceive ourselves, and others, about our intake). More than anything, it’s that we struggle to estimate portion sizes and calorie counts.
This is especially difficult today when plates and portions are bigger than ever. And energy-dense, incredible tasting, and highly brain-rewarding “foods” are omnipresent, cheap, and socially encouraged.
Plus, humans are incredibly diverse.
Our metabolisms are too.
And yes, water retention is a thing.
Cortisol is one of our “stress hormones”, and it has effects on our fluid levels.
Food and nutrient restriction is a stressor (especially if we’re anxious about it). When we’re stressed, cortisol typically goes up. People today report being more stressed than ever, so it’s easy to tip things over into “seriously stressed”.
When cortisol goes up, our bodies may hold onto more water, which means we feel “softer” and “less lean” than we actually are. This water retention can mask the fat loss that is occurring, making it seem like we aren’t losing fat and weight, when in fact we are.
Also, legitimate medical problems cause issues.
This includes things like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), several pharmaceuticals (corticosteroids or birth control), severe thyroid dysfunction, sex hormone disruption, leptin resistance, and more.
Nevertheless, this is less obvious than most people think, and even if you do have a health issue, your body still isn’t breaking the laws of thermodynamics.
It’s just—as discussed above—that your calorie expenditure is lower than prophesied. And a few extra calories maybe sneaking in on the intake side.
The good news: weight loss is still possible (at a slower pace).
So what can you do?
Measure your Food Religiously.
Practice whatever tools you prefer. Your hands, scales and spoons, pictures, food logs, etc. It doesn’t matter.
Track your consumption for a few days or a full week, to see if it adds up to what you “thought” you were eating. We are often amazed.
Sometimes, just the act of tracking increases our awareness of our intake, which helps us make better choices.
Work with macronutrient levels.
Some people respond better to more carbs and fewer fats. Others respond abler to higher fats and few carbs.
There’s no particular best diet for everyone. We all have different preferences and even different responses to foods and macronutrients. So play with this a bit, and find what works for you.
Be Accountable like your life depends on it.
The heat of the tracking and monitoring goes very clinical in the first few weeks and eventually people lose the track of it because of motivation.
This needs to be addressed very seriously now and then.
Be very specific on your goals like if you have the plan to lose 10kgs in the next 3 months. be hyperfocused every day like you are going to lose 1kg tomorrow for sure but if you fail to track and workout you gonna remain the same. ( remember the instant gratification microdose mode from my yesterday’s article) keep giving micro happiness to keep you driving towards the final goal.
If you are still having a struggle, get coaching.
Behavior change and sustained weight loss are hard. Especially when we try to go it alone.
Seek out a qualified and compassionate coach or professional who can help you navigate these tricky waters.
Might I Suggest My online Coaching?
Cheers
