How Fat Loss Actually Works
Navigating the ‘weight loss diet’ space is very tricky and confusing with conflicting messages everywhere making it near impossible to understand what works, what doesn't and why.
You’ll hear people say things like ‘you must avoid carbs to lose weight’, yet numerous high carb diets such as the vegan diet also produce weight loss.
Some people swear by fasting, yet others say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You’ll even hear people say things like “a Calorie deficit didn’t work for me”.
The thing is, all diets have the potential to work, and if they do, it’s always for the same single underlying reason.
A large part of the issue is that we tend to approach weight loss nutrition the wrong way around.
Rather than focusing on the diet method, or the diet approach, what we should be doing is considering the underpinning principle of weight loss first, before seeking to fit the diet method around it.
Selecting the diet method should also consider the following:
Personal preference
Safety
What's feasible and realistic and;
What is least likely to bring negative side effects that may impact other areas of our life.
This blog seeks to arm you with a basic understanding of the ‘whys and hows’ behind weight loss diets, by explaining underlying mechanics and common traits of all diet approaches that have ever achieved successful weight loss ever.
Having a basic understanding of the underlying mechanics behind weight loss can help you avoid confusion and being misled.
It allows you to know what’s legit, what’s BS, what might work, and what is or isn’t an efficient way to go about weight loss nutrition. Above all, you’ll be able to decide which approach or diet works best for you!
The weight loss principle.
As mentioned, whenever weight loss occurs, it’s always for the same underlying reason or the adherence to a particular principle. ‘Energy balance’ is the principle that governs weight change over time.
On a basic level energy balance refers to ‘energy in versus energy out’.
It’s the total amount of energy used by the body for internal function, sub-conscious movement and planned activity compared to the total amount of energy eaten and absorbed through energy containing foods and drinks.
When referring to how much energy we eat and burn, the unit of measurement is almost always Calories. Given this, another way of thinking about energy balance is ‘Calories in versus Calories out’.
If we’re seeking to lose weight, a Calorie deficit or a ‘negative energy balance’ where the amount of Calories we burn, or use, exceeds the amount of Calories we eat, is required.
The opposite applies, if weight gain is the goal, which would be referred to as a ‘Calorie surplus’.
So in short, the principle determinant of weight loss is the consistent presence of a Calorie deficit, on average over time.
However, leaving it there, doesn’t solve much of the confusion, or provide a sufficient understanding of energy balance for one to address and navigate many ‘diet beliefs’ that seemingly ‘throw shade’ at the energy balance model.
Why it’s a little more complex.
Whilst in theory, energy balance is simple… it’s more complex when applying it to a human, who lives a real-world life.
It’s more than just a binary equation.
The main reason for this is because energy balance is dynamic, meaning it’s forever changing.
It involves moving energy inputs and outputs that are intertwined in nature.
These variables are influenced by so many factors including our behaviours, thoughts, feelings, and even each other.
A particular approach can facilitate a Calorie deficit, but that's not to say it’ll continue to do so, in a week, or a month from now.
Energy balance is difficult to identify, gauge and interpret, it’s also full of moving targets.
Therefore, deciphering why weight loss did or didn’t happen, and what to do, in order to address it, can be very tricky.
Sometimes what we think is the reason for a weight loss outcome, or a lack thereof, often couldn’t be further from the truth, and conflicts with the actual root mechanistic reason.
How fat loss works versus how you think it works.
A 2020 review of 121 weight loss studies, and a similar 2014 review comparing weight loss outcomes of various ‘named diets’, essentially concluded that adherence to Calorie restriction is the variable that underpinned the amount of weight lost, with the diet approach, or macronutrient split not really mattering [1,2].
It’s important to recognise that all diets have the potential to work and be successful if they facilitate a Calorie deficit on average over time and that we all lose weight for the same reason.
That right, weight change works the same for everyone. However, that doesn’t mean that the same diet intervention or approach will facilitate a Calorie deficit in all those who do it.
For example, two individual people might cut carbs from their diet.
Person 1 might cut those carbs, and therefore eat fewer Calories, creating a Calorie deficit and subsequent weight loss.
However, person 2 might unconsciously increase their portions of other foods, thus compensation for any Calories that were saved by doing a low carb. Person 2 fails to create a Calorie deficit, and weight loss does not occur.
To make matters worse, person 1 has correlated the reason for their weight loss with cutting carbs,claiming that carbs caused the weight loss.
Now this is actually true, but not directly.
What actually happened was, the elimination of a whole food category, resulted in a reduction in Calorie intake.
This facilitated a Calorie deficit, and weight loss resulted.
Another popular approach is an intermittent fasting diet which often involves skipping breakfast and only eating in the afternoon and evening.
Skipping a whole meal will obviously save you a bunch of Calories, and if you manage to avoid compensating for those Calories later on, chances are a Calorie will be present.
The issue here is that the intention of an intermittent fasting diet often doesn’t involve creating a Calorie deficit, so it's easy to conclude that not eating in the morning causes weight loss.
Directly this is not true, however, indirectly it facilitated a Calorie drifict.
These are just two examples of how the concluded reasons why weight loss did or didn’t occur is misleading and not a reflection of what actually happened.
No matter what, when you peel away the thoughts, feelings, perceptions, opinions and beliefs, it’s still a game of energy balance.
The bottom line is that if weight was NOT lost, despite what someone might think, a Calorie wasn’t present. They might even say “I was in a Calorie deficit”, but if they didn’t lose weight… then that simply wasn’t the case.
We can create a Calorie deficit numerous ways.
We don’t necessarily have to eat less, we can also move more to increase our Calorie burn.
But focusing on controlling Calorie intake is probably the most efficient and reliable way of ensuring a Calorie deficit is present.
A combination of a diet intervention that controls Calorie intake with a moderate amount of exercise is probably the way to go. [3]
What are some ways we can achieve a ‘Calorie deficit’?
Now that you’re privy to the fundamental ‘why’s’ behind a weight loss outcome, we can then move to identify the diet methods that are going to work for us.
As mentioned, all diets that are successful/have been successful are for the exact same fundamental reason.
When we say “find a diet that works for you”, what we’re talking about is safety, feasibility, and whether an approach might be deleterious to other areas of our life - but above all, one that we can enjoy and stick to. Weight loss physiology is the same for all humans, so the fundamentals are uniform across the whole human population.
Technically it doesn’t matter how you create/facilitate the presence of a Calorie deficit.
However, that doesn’t mean any old diet that controls Calorie intake is a good idea.
Given a ‘plan’ is only as good as one's ability to follow it, we must consider the ‘effort cost’, and whether adherence is feasible.
We should also consider health more broadly, remembering that health is more than just how much fat we have.
Health includes factors such as how financially, socially, mentally, and intellectually ‘well’ we are.
For a diet to achieve total success, it shouldn’t just create a Calorie deficit, but at the very least not impact other areas of our health in a negative way.
The amount of ‘possibly effective diet methods’ out there, is infinite, and what is ‘the best’ method for you will also change overtime.
For example, you might start with a meal plan(s), then as you build autonomy and understanding you might transition to Calorie tracking through an app.
Then after a while, you might use ‘food selection’ to act as a non-tracking method of Calorie control. Ultimately we should choose the right tool for the job. As long as it ticks all the boxes, it has the potential to be a great approach.
What to do when weight loss isn’t occurring.
The first thing to acknowledge is that if weight loss isn’t happening, it simply means a Calorie deficit isn’t present. From here the question then becomes “so why isn’t a Calorie deficit present”?
I think it’s good to start off by considering whether the approach we’re taking even has the potential to control Calories in the first place, or does it instead focus on things that are unlikely to have any impact on how many Calories we eat or use. If that's the case, we know a change needs to be made.
Before progressing with troubleshooting further, it’s also important to ensure weight loss isn’t actually happening.
Are our expectations aligned with a realistic rate of weight loss?
Have we given the ‘diet’ enough time to work, knowing that weight loss is often delayed by several weeks behind the presence of a Calorie thanks to daily spikes and fluctuations to body water and ‘gut content’.
If we’re confident weight loss isn’t happening, we need to explore why a Calorie deficit isn't present.
Are we simply eating too much, or moving less/too little?
Are we eating more than we think, are we moving less than we think?
We may have overestimated how many Calories we should eat to be in a Calorie deficit, or maybe we’re not quantifying our Calories accurately thanks to inaccurate Calorie tracking methods (if Calorie tracking is the chosen diet method).
Perhaps we’re not sufficiently consistent with our Calorie deficit, thanks to overly indulgent weekends?
These are just a few examples of questions that need to be meticulously, objectively and honestly answered.
A qualified nutrition professional can help you select a diet method that adheres to the Calorie deficit principle, and/or take you through the troubleshooting process.
When things are not going as planned, reframing the question to “why isn’t a Calorie deficit present” puts you in the best position to troubleshoot effectively.
Take home message.
Ultimately your approach to fat loss should be ‘principle aligned’, with the method fitting within individual values, preferences, feasibility and more.
Start off by identifying the principles you must adhere to, for the goal. In the case of weight loss we’re talking about a Calorie deficit. Then build your approach out from there.
When weight loss isn’t occurring, being aware that it’s always because fundamentally a Calorie deficit isn’t present is a major component of an efficient and effective troubleshooting process.
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