Eat fat to burn fat?

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Many of the common diet trends, myths and ideas are derived from an element of truth that gets misinterpreted by the time it trickles down through to the general population. Companies will often twist the message of research to promote and sell their product.

A classic example is the concept of 'eat fat to burn fat', which in the past and still continues to form the promotion basis of products or diets that align with the high fat, low carb, keto trend.

It's true. If you increase the proportion of fats within your diet your body will indeed increase its propensity to utilise fats as a greater predominance of fuel. 'You burn what you eat'! [1]

But! Fat loss and fat utilisation/burning are not the same thing. Fat utilisation, commonly termed 'burning' just refers to fuel source predominance. For fat loss, or getting leaner a Calorie deficit still needs to be present over time with the ratio and amounts of carbs and fats after Calories, and protein being matched doesn't really matter.

In addition to the above. Predominately utilising fats is not 'better' for sports performance and/or fat loss.

So whilst the idea of 'eat fat to burn fat' is true, and being able to use fats are a fuel source in the absence of glucose (carbohydrates) is a good thing, it's not necessarily better and isn't an outcome that should be specifically sought after.

It's briefly worth noting that training in states of low glucose (carbohydrate) availability may be a good idea for optimising endurance training adaptations, but not in instances where best performance is required such as race day. Most often for most sporting, training endeavors and/or optimisation of the appearance of ones physique the question is 'what is the quantity of CARBOHYDRATES, required to fuel the activity?' Very rarely is that question asked with fats.

If you’re like more clarification on common nutritional trends and terms along with the individual guidance on how you can implement certain strategies to improve your training, recovery, overall health and body composition; reach out to us by clicking the button below and telling us more about yourself, current nutrition and your goals.

[1] Diet, Muscle Glycogen and Physical Performance

4 Factors of a Good Diet

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A very common question, that is easily answered via a self-assessment using the following 4 criteria / questions. 

Whether the following criteria are adhered to via a tracking or non-tracking / mindful eating method doesn't matter. Tracking might make assessment easier, which may be a needed to eliminate variables if tight control is required and/or if mindful eating dieting methods are not yielding progress. 

1. Calories. 
Is roughly the correct amount of Calories being consumed on average over time? For the goal of fat loss, this will be a deficit relative to energy expenditure, also terms an energy deficit, Calorie deficit or negative energy balance. 

2. Sufficient protein
Is a sufficient amount of protein being consumed access a daily basis? For the tracking crowd anywhere between 1.4-2g/kg per day will suffice. 

3. Sufficient plant fibre
Current recommendations stand at 15-18g per 1000 Calories consumed [1]. Of that 80% should come from plant matter. Current recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake start at around 300g, & 400g respectively [2]. 

4. Mostly wholefood food selection. 
Most of your diet should come from minimally processed whole foods with the general rule of thumb being 80%+. 

So before you message every Insta diet guru (most of which don't know much about much) just self asses 'the diet' in question against the above. There you will find your answer.  

Bonus factors. 

1. Post diet transition to maintenance eating. 
Sustainability of a diet is surprisingly not a factor here as doing something slightly unsustainable is perfectly fine provided someone has the ability to healthfully, and effectively transition into the post diet maintenance free from rebounds, development of disordered relationship with food etc. For this to be obtained often basic diet know-how, autonomy and education is required. Which begs the argument of another important factor of a successfully diet being; education & autonomy. 

2. Ratios & amounts of carbohydrates & fats. 
Are sufficient carbohydrate amounts being consumed to meet needs? For most 'general-pop' folks who have low levels of activity, and low/ if any training volume and intensity carbohydrate needs are low so how you fill the rest of your Calories after protein has been covered doesn't really matter, so use preference. 
For high-level athletes or those with high training demands carbohydrate needs may be hugely elevated compared to the typical so a carbohydrate bias ratio is almost certainly the best idea with fat intakes only meeting minimum requirements of about 1g/kg of body weight, or 20% of total intake. Typically speaking there are more benefits to learning towards a carbohydrate bias in most situations. Your "body type" is not a factor to consider here.

3. Meal frequency, meal timing, and nutrient timing. 
Again for most people the number of meals you eat, when you eat them and when you time certain macronutrients (Protein, carbohydrates, and fats) relative to the day or training doesn't matter so dedicate your stress elsewhere. 
For high-level sports, or physique athletes and/or goals, or those who are very lean looking to get leaner timing of meals but more specifically protein feedings matters. Ideally, protein should be evenly spread across waking hours in even dosages. Carbs should be emphasised around training to promote best training performance for sports progression and/or optimal muscle growth / retentive stimulus. Timing of fats doesn't matter a whole lot, but I see value in going on the lower end of fats in the pre training feeding window. 

[1] Dietary guidelines for American 2015-2020

[2] Australian dietary guidelines  

Shifting Away from "Burning Calories"

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'BURNING CALORIES/FAT' IS NOT A GREAT PURPOSE OF TRAINING.

SHIFT YOUR TRAINING MINDSET AWAY FROM FAT LOSS.

Fundamentally fat loss or weight maintenance is a game of energy consumed through food and drink versus the energy expended through living, lifestyle, and activity. 

Training with weights has it's benefits and plays an integral part of fat loss for health, human function and muscle retention with a strong argument, and reasoning behind why it should be prioritised (not exclusively) over cardio style training...

But you won't burn a whole lot more Calories doing it...

Therefore there is a strong argument that weight training to 'burn fat or Calories' is not an efficient approach, as the amount of extra energy you'll expend isn't anything requiring great attention at least ahead of diet and general activity levels. [1] 

If you had to unblock a river, it would make sense to worry about removing the big boulders before the little pebbles right. If we apply this mindset towards fat loss, it's not the say weight training deserves less thought and that it's effects aren't worthwhile or vitally important. It's just to say that diet and general activity deserve more emphasis, and the why behind training for a fat loss goal should be shifted away from 'burning Calories', and focused towards muscle retention, health, mood, stress-relief and function.