Weight Loss / Fat Loss

Fat Loss Troubleshooting

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Working out why you're not losing weight.   

Fat Loss Troubleshooting

Have you ever started a new 'diet', gotten results initially, but soon after plateaued and failed to progress further? Or have you observed the success of a particular 'diet' only to fail to obtain progress when trying it yourself?  

It is this dilemma where people feel a lot of confusion and develop 'diet desperation'. All of a sudden there is a gap for fads and nutrition BS to be marketed and successfully sold for financial gain. 

Rather than reaching for 'that next thing', this article will give you a step by step list of questions, and things to think about when it comes to fat loss troubleshooting.

Question 1: Are you sure you aren’t progressing?

1. Are your expectations of rates of progress not feasible, therefore leading you to think you're not progressing? Often people just don't realise how slow fat loss happens over time. 

-If you're looking at scale weight alone (full of limitations) the upper limit of whats generally feasible is 1% body weight drop per week. 

2. Are you controlling, considering and accounting for confounding variables when assessing progress?-Limitations & inaccuracies of DXA and other assessments of body fat%. 
-Acute influencing factors of scale weight

-Have you potentially gained muscle mass? (body recomp)
-Influence of thoughts and feelings on a subjective sense of progress?

-Is fat loss occurring in the absence of weight loss?

3. Do you realise fat loss is not linear, especially when considering the ways we may assess fat loss?

4. Have you given 'the diet intervention' enough time to see if it's working?

You're 100% sure you're not progressing. It's now time to fat loss troubleshoot. 


Weight change over time is not method driven, it's principle-driven. Before you start troubleshooting, you need to reframe the question from 'why is the diet not working', to 'why is an energy (Calorie) deficit, not present consistently over time'. 

Question 2. Are you actually eating as little as you think?
This is almost always the reason for lack of weight loss. Diet under-reporting, even for those who track Calories has been demonstrated well. In fact, a study by Lichtman and colleagues showed obese subjects who claimed to eat less than 1200 Calories a day, under-reported their intake by a whopping 47%, meaning that ate over 1000 Calories more than they thought. 


Play devil's advocate on your diet adherence (and/or tracking if that's the way you're choosing to control your Calories). Consider gaps in tracking/dieting practices and see if you can identify why there may be a difference between the Calories you think you're eating versus the Calories you're actually eating. Consider weekends, eating and drinking, sauces, cooking oils, things you 'forgot', etc. Because it's all the little things that can add up and cancel out a deficit. 

You know you're not progressing and you're 100% sure you're controlling variables sufficiently, yet still not achieving fat loss results?

Question 3. Have you overestimated your weight maintenance Calories?

If you've overestimated the number of Calories you need to maintain weight, then you've likely overestimated an appropriate intake of Calories to lose weight. 

Usually, we use predictive equations to estimate total daily energy expenditure but at the end of the day, these equations are just estimations based on averages, that honestly only form a rough starting point to monitor and adjust from. 

The activity factor you used in your predictive equation might have been a little optimistic. It's worth considering the fact that you might just burn less energy than you think. It might be worth trying lowering your intake by ~10% to see what happens. 

However, sometimes you're already eating so little, and eating even less doesn't quite add up, you need to consider the possibility of adaptive thermogenesis. 

You know you're not progressing, you're 100% sure you're controlling variables sufficiently and the idea of you overestimating your maintenance Calories is unlikely, yet still not achieving fat loss results?  

You might think you're in a deficit, not seeing progress and therefore beginning to question the Calories in versus Calories out model. Here is the thing... you're not in a deficit. In fact, you might even be 'energy-deficient' but still not in a deficit.  But, it's not really your fault...

Question 4: Is your lack of fat loss results due to increased energy efficiency?

This is where the following terms or phrases come in. 
-'A slow metabolism". 
-'Metabolic damage'. 
-'Metabolic adaptation
-'Adaptive thermogenesis. 

What do these terms all sort of essentially mean?
A reduction in 'metabolism'. 


What is metabolism?
It's simply just the summation of chemical reactions that occur with in the body... It's a unit of 'fuel', or 'energy burn'. It's how many Calories your body uses.

So with that in mind the aforementioned 4 phrases, relate to a reduction in the amount of energy your body burns. 

The good news is; These reductions are not forever,... they're acute. Meaning permanent slow-down or 'metabolic damage' can basically be deleted from the periphery of thought. You're not broken, but you may just be acutely adapted. 

Your metabolism (or the components of your daily energy usage/needs) can be broken up into two main categories. 

1. Resting energy expenditure - Human function at rest, and the energy cost of digesting and absorbing food. 
2. Non-resting energy expenditure - All spontaneous, planned and unplanned physical movement, activity, and exercise. 

Both of the above components of energy usage can change over time, both will impact your ability to create an energy deficit, but it's increased 'resting energy efficiency' that can impact your health and wellbeing.

Weight maintenance Calories required at 'full human functional capacity' versus weight maintenance Calories at any given time which could potentially be in a suppressed state are not the same thing. What was once an energy deficit Calorie intake, might now have become weight maintenance Calorie requirements. The body is smart and really adaptable in the name of survival. In the event of a famine or a food shortage. The body can learn to function with less energy, it can become more efficient with its usage and thus can function and survive on fewer Calories. This is great for the human race if a famine was actually present. This efficiency-seeking 'is what we're talking about when we say 'metabolic slowdown or adaptation. 

However, while the body is smart, it doesn't actually know if there is a famine. It can only get an idea based on energy availability. The outcomes of 'metabolic slow-down' might not be wanted or needed. Functioning well enough to survive versus thrive is different. The 'survival mechanism' of metabolic adaption doesn't come 'free of charge'. When the body has limited energy available it needs to prioritise the things that really matter. The means the 'other stuff' that doesn't matter so much, gets put aside. These impairments are not desirable (unless a famine is actually present). Not only do they make fat loss harder, but they may also severely impact health and wellbeing. 

'Energy deficiency' or 'low energy availability' can affect health and wellbeing in many ways. Shifting hormonal markers can result in a cascade of negative effects ranging from low bone mineral density, impaired cognition, muscle and strength loss, low testosterone (males), loss of the menstrual cycle (females), suppressed immunity, and more, all leading to performance loss, increased risk of illness, injury, poor health and poor self-image. 
So in short, the reason why you might not be in a state of negative energy balance (not losing fat) is because you may be experiencing a reduction in the number of Calories you expend over time due to 'metabolic slow-down'. 

The likely solution to 'metabolic slow-down'. 
Well, we can just 'do more, and/or eat less' but there is a limit to this because you can't just keep 'doing more and eating less', to stay ahead of metabolic adaptation. 

The solution might blow your mind. If I went straight to the solution without explaining metabolic adaption it would only add to the confusion, which would only result in you, the reader questioning 'Calories in versus Calories out' even more. 

Eat more. Increase your Calories for a period of time. Give the body the confidence to revert back to energy 'inefficiency', and therefore function at its full ideal working capacity which will, therefore, mean Calorie usage skyrockets back up. After you're in full functional health, only then can you start to consider recreating an energy deficit. 

At this point, your body will be far better primed for successful and 'healthier' fat loss results. 

Often a concern among people trying to lose weight when being told to eat more is the fear of gaining weight. As previously stated metabolism is dynamic and any adaptions are acute. As you increase energy availability (eat more) the body will just start doing the things it really wants to do, and therefore, as a result, will only just churn through the additional Calories up to the point where 'a true' surplus of Calories is created. 

Do you need to do a slow reverse diet? Probably not. Almost always it's not only fine to go straight up to 'ideal weight maintenance Calories', but it's also going to help up-regulate any suppressed factors of metabolism the fastest. 

Summary

To recap, if you’re having trouble with fat loss reflect on the following?

Are you sure you aren’t progressing?

Are you sure you’re adhering to a deficit?

Are you miscalculating your energy requirements?

Finally, are you perhaps in a state of increased energy efficiency?

If you currently aren’t seeing that fat loss results you’re after, it might be time to reach out to us for some more guidance, education and support to help you move towards that goal.

For more information on our 1 on 1 service, contact us today.

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Weight Maintenance

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Most people can lose weight. Most people who try to lose weight, do so. However, most people who lose weight put it back on within a few years (1). 

Maintaining weight loss is a challenge. The body can actually encourage weight regain by lowering the amount of energy burned at rest, impacting hormones relating to hunger and fullness (2)(3)(4). 

Weight maintenance does not have to signify the exact same weight every day . Long term maintenance of weight is defined as consistently being within 3% of weight (5).

Successful weight loss maintainers typically combine diet and exercise and may rely more on exercise to maintain body composition compared to the initial weight loss period (2).

The key to weight loss is a Calorie deficit, easiest through a reduction in energy intake. However to maintain weight loss, physical activity likely becomes more useful in conjunction with a sustained lower energy intake (2).

  • Weight loss - reduce intake > perform some physical activity

  • Maintenance - increase physical activity > maintain reduced intake

Community support can aid self regulation of diet and flexible restraint rather than strict restraint is likely to be more successful. 

  • Eg: Have a community of like-minded people for ongoing support and learn to manage overall nutrition with flexibility, rather than following a meal plan. (6)(7)(8)

Weight Maintenance (1).png

Weight maintenance is something that is not defined regularly and there is really only one main research article which is cited when defining weight maintenance as within 3% of body weight (5). 

Just because one day the scales show a slightly higher number does not mean you are not maintaining your weight. It does not mean you have “regressed” or “failed”. It’s expected. Normal. Part of the fluctuations of life. 

Weight maintenance does not mean the exact same weight every day. 

There will be times in the year where your weight is slightly higher:

  • Holidays, the festive season, travels where food choices are harder to control, winter when we might be less active and seek some stodgy comforts. 

These times will be offset by:

  • Times of high motivation for home cooking and meal prep, summer when the days are longer and we are typically more active, breaks from work when we have more control over food choices. 

It will be different for everyone but the point is that life isn’t the same every day, every week or every season. We can’t expect to eat the same thing every day and burn the same amount of energy every day. Things change, life is varied and so is our food intake, choices and movement. 

So what’s the point? 

Give yourself some flexibility with body measurements over time but also set yourself some parameters (3%) which will signify a time to focus more on nutrition and activity. Don’t worry if there are small variations to your body and weight during the year. Recognise if the slight change corresponds to your current situation, then plan for when and how things will be balanced. It might be committing to a mini-cut after a holiday, setting a date to return to meal prep and morning gym sessions after New Years or finding a new active hobby when motivation drops. 

Check in with yourself. If you notice your body changing away from what you want, take some measurements and averages. Don’t consider a daily weight fluctuation as part of weight maintenance (5). Take at least 3-4 measurements over the week and average them out. If the number on average has crept up to your 3% parameter, it’s just a reminder to make some little reductions in Calorie intake and/or make an increase in Calories burned.

Plan some steps (not just physical ones), some real steps with times, dates and locations, to ride the wave of maintenance back away from the little weight increase. “I will meal prep on Sunday in my kitchen at 2pm and I will cook Spaghetti Bolognese with zoodles and half a serve of pasta.” Make it specific, make it actionable.

Make sure you are confident in how you lost weight. Not just that it happened, but how and why and record what you did. Write down what works for you. Write it out in enough detail so that someone else could pick it up and understand without the need for clarification. You might need this refresher one day. 

If you lost weight but you don’t understand how it corresponded to energy balance (Calories in / Calories out) please take steps to have this explained. There is no nutrition magic - all weight loss strategies relate to energy balance. Understanding your “how” could help with long term maintenance. 

Social, community support may be a very helpful tool in creating nutritional awareness, habit/behaviour change and maintaining weight loss (7)(8).

At FNC, we’ve created an online community where all of our members belong to a community of like-minded people. The community offers educational videos and articles, meal inspiration and recipes as well as weekly opportunities to ask questions (even anonymously). It’s an opportunity to be part of an online group of like minded people, develop knowledge and ask about your “how” if unsure.

With the maintenance of weight loss being difficult, we give all of our 1-1 clients a full 12 months access to the community.

Reach out to us if there is something we can help you with in 2020!

  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16002825

  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30801984

  3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/

  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18842775

  5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16302013

  6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23265405

  7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221350/

  8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18020940



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5 Tips for Maintaining Muscle Whilst Dieting

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Top 5 Tips for Maintaining Muscle Mass Whilst Dieting

  1. Resistance training

  2. Set your deficit

  3. Protein target split across 4 meals / 4 hours apart

  4. Measure progress, adjust deficit if needed

  5. Consistently sleep at least 7 hours a night

Minimising muscle loss during a diet

The very simple answer is resistance training and protein at each meal. If you are not lean, don’t want to track food intake closely and your goal is to drop some body fat whilst minimising muscle loss, this is probably fine as a guide. 

In nearly all cases of dieting and weight loss, the goal is actually to reduce body fat mass whilst maintaining as much muscle mass as possible. The loss of some muscle and strength during a diet is thought of as a reality of having a reduced amount of energy available for a sustained amount of time. 


How to predict your rate of weight loss
A fairly consistent recommendation is to aim for a body weight reduction of about 0.5-1% per week during a diet, to try and minimise any potential muscle and strength loss.(1) The larger the deficit being the predictor of more muscle loss. (3). There is another school of thought that you may consider dieting as hard and fast as possible, get down to goal weight / goal leanness faster, then finish the diet earlier in order to be able to then start training again at maintenance energy levels.

First you need to have a good idea of your maintenance Calories. You could use an online calculator or track your food/drink intake and body weight for a couple of weeks. If your weight is fairly stable, you will have your average maintenance Calories. 

The 3500 Calorie rule, as it’s known, is more of a general guideline which estimates that to lose 1 pound of fat (about 0.5kg) you need to a Calorie deficit of about 3500 Calories. So if you were 100kg and were aiming to lose 0.5% per week, you would estimate that you need to average a weekly deficit of about 3500 Calories. It is not an exact science though and may need to be altered over time depending on progress. (2).

The website of the USA National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases hosts a “Body Weight Planner” which is an interesting resource for looking at estimated rates of weight loss and could give you some insight and reasonable expectations about you goal and the length of your diet. (https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp)


Training

It’s a bit of a “use it or lose it” story with muscle. Continuing a resistance training program whilst dieting is more important than nutrition when it comes to minimising reductions in muscle and strength.(3) 


Rates of weight loss and protein in studies

A major consideration is going to be your starting point.


In a study of overweight young men who were not regularly participating in resistance training, the study gave a great insight into “newbie” gains and gaining muscle while losing fat. Two groups were both set a 40% Calorie reduction for 4 weeks. One group consumed 1.2 grams of protein / kg body weight / day and the other group 2.4 grams of protein / kg body weight / day. Both groups lost the same amount of body weight, the lower protein group maintained lean body mass and the high protein group, despite a 40% reduction in energy intake, actually increased lean body mass. Also of note is the difference in average protein content per meal in the groups. The low protein group averaged 0.23 grams / kg body weight / meal whereas the high protein group averaged 0.48 grams of protein / kg body weight / meal.(4) The amount of the amino acid leucine per meal is a driver of muscle protein synthesis (muscle growth) and it is estimated that around 30-40 grams of protein per meal would be needed to reach a leucine threshold high enough to stimulate muscle protein synthesis (1).

In a study of track and field athletes, two groups were assigned either a 750 Calorie/day deficit (24% deficit) or a 300 Calorie/day deficit. Both groups consumed 2.1 grams of protein / kg body weight / day. After the four weeks of dieting, the larger deficit group lost 2.2kg body weight on average, with 0.5 kg being fat free mass (body weight - bones and fat). The smaller deficit group lost 0.4kg body weight on average with 0.2kg being fat free mass. So with a larger deficit, a little more fat free mass was lost but significantly more fat mass. What is really interesting about this study is that athletes with a body fat percentage of more than 10% at the start of the study were able to preserve more fat free mass. (5) In practicality, except in very specific sports and physique competitions, it’s unlikely many people would (or should) try to diet into single figure body fat percentages anyway. 


An interesting study of young athletes actually compared rates of weight loss, with one group targeting a reduction of 0.7% bodyweight per week and another above the mentioned guidelines of 1.4% bodyweight per week. The slower group had a 19% Calorie deficit and the faster group 30%. The slower group consumed 1.6 grams of protein / kg body weight / day and the faster 1.4 grams of protein / kg body weight / day. Both groups trained 4x per week. Both groups dieted to lose about 5.5% bodyweight. The fast group took 5.3 weeks on average and the slow group 8.5 weeks. The slow group actually increased lean body mass a little whilst losing fat and the fast group lost a tiny amount of lean body mass. (6) What would be interesting would be if this study had the fast group then consume their new maintenance Calories and continue training up until the 8.5 week mark to then compare the two methods. Would the fast group have regained that minimal loss and potentially gained some more muscle in those 3 weeks? There is also a difference, although slight, in protein intake and in reality, whilst the fast group was targeting 1.4% weight loss per week, they actually average 1%. 


In a study of young athletes who were regularly resistance training (4-5x per week) they were seperated into a lower protein group 1 grams of protein / kg body weight / day and a high protein group 2.3 grams of protein / kg body weight / day and a high. Both groups had a 40% reduction in energy intake for 2 weeks and lost a similar amount of body weight. The low protein group however lost about 5x more lean body mass than the high protein group on average. (7)

Those studies are some “food” for thought when considering the size of your intended deficit. 


Protein

We’ve already touched on protein a little and the studies above have some interesting data on protein targets across a day and at each meal. 


If dieting, the amount of protein consumed should be higher than someone focussing on muscle gain or re-comp. This is due to the Calorie restriction during a diet meaning that less carbs are available for energy and some protein may be broken down and used in place (3). How high this protein intake should be will depend on the individual circumstances. Looking at the above studies, 1.2 grams / kg body weight / day was enough to preserve lean body mass in untrained overweight males when combining diet with a new resistance training program. However under the same conditions, 2.4 grams / kg / day was actually better. 


In athletic and training groups, the range of 1.6 - 2.3 grams of protein / kg body weight / day performed well in slow and faster diets in relation to the preservation of muscle. 

A systematic review of protein intakes for athletes and resistance trained individuals gives a guideline of 2.3 - 3.1 grams of protein / kg body weight / day scaled up with the size of the energy deficit and leanness of the individual. (8)


Fats and Carbs

After choosing the size of the deficit you are going to aim for and your protein intake target, whatever Calories you have left to budget will go to carbs and fats. You probably don’t want to go below 20-25% of total Calories from fat, then the rest would probably be best spent on carbs as fuel for training. Remembering that training is most important for muscle retention. However personal preference really can determine these ratios. (3).


Sleep

Sleep and recovery will be important, not only so you feel as good as possible whilst dieting and can train well. It could also play a role in how much weight loss in a diet is fat and how much is muscle. A study of overweight and sedentary adults had groups with a sleep opportunity of 5.5 hours or 8.5 hours per night. The short sleep time resulted in 60% more weight loss from fat free mass compared to the longer sleep group. In the short sleep group, 25% of weight loss was fat mass, whilst in the longer sleep group 56% of weight loss was fat mass. These groups were not resistance training, however the results would certainly encourage giving yourself the opportunity to sleep longer. (9).

Summary and Recommendations

  1. Be very clear with your goals, expectations, starting point, length of diet and best practice recommendations. 

  2. Have a resistance training program and stick to it. 

  3. Know or calculate predicted maintenance Calories.

  4. Set your deficit based on step 1 and strongly consider the 0.5-1% weight loss guideline.

  5. Set your protein between 1.6 - 3.1 grams / kg body weight / day depending your circumstances in step 1.

  6. Spread protein intake out across your meals, with probably at least 4 meals and close to 30 grams of protein per meal as minimum. 

  7. Calculate your remaining Calories and distribute to fats and carbs, not going under about 20-25% of total Calories from fats (or about 0.5 grams / kg body weight / day).

  8. Monitor progress with a number of methods, scale weight, hip and waist measurements, progress photos. Also monitor training performance, mood, sleep and take all into account regularly. You may need to change your plan at some point depending on all of these variables. 

  9. When happy with your body composition, calculate your maintenance Calories based of your new weight and start consuming that amount of energy whilst continuing to monitor the same measures of progress. 


To learn more about how a nutrition coach can help you maintain your lean body mass whilst dieting, contact us today.

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Managing urges, impulses and unplanned eating

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This blog is not intended to replace medical and psychological support and guidance. If you believe you may have any risk factors for an eating disorder, please speak to a medical professional.

Why do we overeat in situations even when we don’t want to? We often discuss the benefits and importance of controlling your environment (you can’t eat what isn’t there), however sometimes it goes beyond that and it isn’t just as simple as setting up an environment that is conducive to your goals, especially when we think of work, family and social settings.


Firstly, let’s define a few terms.

Urge: a strong desire

Impulse: a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act (in this instance to eat)

Binge: loss of control episode of eating, unplanned 

*these are all generally opposite to a goal behaviour

A few studies have been done on the mindset of dieting. 

These results confirm that merely planning to go on a diet can trigger overeating in restrained eaters, reflecting the dynamic connection between dieting and overeating. (Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we diet: Effects of anticipated deprivation on food intake in restrained and unrestrained eaters: D Urbszat - ‎2002)

The last supper effect : merely thinking you’re on a diet can trigger overeating. It can promote a good vs bad foods, all or nothing, on/off diet mentality. 


The brain doesn’t seem to hear “don’t, no, can’t.” So when you say no pizza, no chocolate, no biscuits, no ice cream, the brain just hears pizza, chocolate, biscuits, ice cream. This strategy is also used for athletes in skill development by instructing them what to do, not what to do.

In nutrition, saying eat more protein, eat more plants instead of don’t eat this, don’t eat that.

Some people may be bored of their diets and seek highly palatable foods. A strategy for this is to improve the taste, texture and variety of your meals within your energy needs that are aligned with your goals. So looking to flavour your food with low calories sauces, herbs, spices and seasoning.


Emotions are complex processes. Our emotions also need to be nourished and can drive unplanned eating. When our emotions become stimulated by something the whole body gets in on the action. It is an idea to learn to gain a sense of knowledge over your emotional states and the physical sensations/urges your experience as a result of your emotions.

But when it comes to nutrition and food choices reflect on the following:

  • Is food a form of comfort? Excitement? Only source of enjoyment? 

  • Is it a form of safety? A way to distract from emotions?

  • Is it a form of rebellion or self sabotage?

What we can do is collaboratively work together (client and coach) to find out why this is happening. If not with a coach, then play detective on your own.


Now some people use food as a reward to self medicate as a result of stress, emotion, anxiety, depression, etc. This is to achieve a sense of control and also by choosing highly rewarding foods that signal a dopamine, pleasure response.

The eating episodes are driven by vulnerabilities such as:

  • Thoughts: “I deserve a treat”

  • Emotions (sad/anxious/angry)

  • Physical (hunger/tired) 

There are 5 Stages of Impulse control:

  • Urge 

  • Tension

  • Acting

  • Relief

  • Guilt / Consequences


The urge and the tension is a bit of a chicken and egg situation, it is unsure which comes first and it may also be dependent on the situation/individual.

Example:

  • Tension Build Up

  • Followed by a thought: “I can’t stand it”

  • Followed by physical urge to eat

  • Followed by thought: “I must do something” to relieve tension/urge

  • Followed by the behaviour of eating 

  • Followed by relief

  • Followed by thought: “Why did I do that?” as a result of guilt/consequence. 


If you experience bouts of emotional eating you can learn to describe your experience.

  • Where do you feel it? Are there physical symptoms?

  • List your emotions/feelings/mood

  • How bad are the urges/cravings on a scale of 1-10?

  • How long do they last?

  • What happens afterwards?

  • Is it a true impulse or has it been influenced your environment?


A lot of our unplanned eating episodes are affected by our vulnerabilities.

  • Hunger

  • Anger, negative emotions, low mood

  • Self sabotage

  • Loneliness, boredom, procrastination

  • Tiredness, feeling overwhelmed

  • Peers, environment

  • Access to highly rewarding foods, high risk situations such as functions, work/office/buffets

  • Peer pressure

Our vulnerabilities tend to be our antecedents: a thing that existed before the behaviour of unplanned eating, which is then followed by a consequence.


A way we can learn to overcome these bouts of unplanned eating is to do a CHAIN ANALYSIS.

The term chain is used, because you can break the chain at a number of points and prevents the following sequence of events..

The CHAIN ANALYSIS looks at:

  • Vulnerability (hunger/tired/low mood)

  • Prompting event (access to food)

  • Links to thoughts (deserve the treat)

  • Problem behaviour (over eating)

  • Consequence

Attached is an example of a CHAIN ANALYSIS you can complete next time you experience an unplanned eating episode.

VULNERABILITY + ENVIRONMENT = HIGH RISK OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOUR


Remember, beating yourself up won’t help the situation.

Look over the chain analysis, the events leading up to the episode and see where it can be broken. Can you reduce/avoid the high risk situation? Can you work to reduce vulnerabilities such as hunger, mood, fatigue? 


Just as before where we mentioned the brain doesn’t hear no’s/don’t/can’t, suppressing feelings doesn’t help either. Trying to suppress a thought/feeling increases it. 

If I ask you to think about a shark, you might be able to.

But if I ask you not to think about a shark, you’ll only think about sharks. 


Strategies to put into practice:

*Key word PRACTICE. They won’t work first time every time. 

Retrain the brain

Practice doing something different is the same circumstance. Create new habits, patterns, pathways, memories.

Practice new behaviours in a challenging but not high risk situation to build the skill. 

Practice portion control when you’re strong/confident not when tired/vulnerable.


Urge Surfing

  • Ride out the cravings until they go away

  • Remember urges pass by themselves, we normally give in before the urge passes which reinforces the craving/behaviour

  • Just like ocean waves urges start small, grow in size then break up and dissipate

  • Practice mindfulness regularly and sit with it

  • Watch your breath, notice your thoughts, describe your thoughts and feelings

  • PRACTICE THIS DAILY or when the craving/urge regularly occurs


In summary, identify and list the steps that lead up to the episodes of unplanned eating. 

  • Where in the order of events can you break the chain? 

  • What strategies can you put in place to avoid/reduce the risk of the situation? 

  • Can you create a new set of behaviours to positively deal with emotions/thoughts? 

  • Can you ride out urges/cravings?

If you feel you need further assistance identifying/controlling/dealing with your thoughts/emotions/feelings, this is beyond our scope so please don’t be afraid to talk to your GP to get referred to a qualified practitioner. 


To learn more about controlling your environment or food choices that are aligned with your goals, contact us today

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Intermittent Fasting

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Intermittent fasting seems to be gaining in popularity and some people have been getting great results with it. There are a number of different strategies, such as; eating regularly for 5 days of the week and eating next to nothing for 2 days, or fasting for 16 to 20 hours of each day and only eating in a short window of time.

There are no magic tricks though, some people just find it easier to eat less in a day (or overall in a week) when they have set times when they can and can’t eat. The most important thing in terms of our weight is how much we are eating and drinking each day, not the actual times we are eating. The underlying principle of body weight management is energy balance. The amount of energy we consume in a day versus the amount of energy we burn in a day. It is totally fine to look at energy balance with a weekly average too. Calories are the unit of measurement for energy. Weight loss requires a Calorie deficit (consuming less energy than we burn) and weight gain a Calorie surplus (consuming more energy than we burn). 

Intermittent fasting, whether we are talking about fasting for certain days of the week or certain periods of each day, can be beneficial for many people aiming to create and sustain a Calorie deficit for weight loss. However, reviews of numerous research studies conclude that whilst fasting is a viable strategy for weight loss, it is not superior to creating Calorie deficit through other means, such as monitoring Calorie intake but eating throughout each day. 

Having rules around when one can and can’t eat might help people eat a little less each day, especially if they are prone to snacking/grazing. It means the window in which they allow themselves to snack is much shorter. It can also help to show people that dealing with a bit of hunger is possible and we don’t need to be eating at all points of the day.

However if you eat the same amount of food between 12pm and 7pm as you would between say 8am and 7pm it will not make any difference to your body weight.

Fasted cardio is another linked strategy which is believed to be a winning combination for weight loss. Not eating anything before doing some form of exercise in an aim to burn more body fat. Again, through scientific research, we see that fasted cardio is not superior to simply managing the amount of energy being consumed and burned each day. When study groups consumed the same amount of Calories, it made no difference to fat loss whether the first meal was before or after exercise. 

There are also conflicting ideas about when is the best time to eat when using a fasting strategy. There is research showing greater weight loss when most food intake is in the morning. However there is equally as much research showing greater weight loss when food intake is skewed towards the evening. The greatest influence on the results appears to be personal preference and to what an individual can adhere. Tuning into your appetite can help you develop the best strategy that works for you. If you are not often hungry in the morning, but feel ravenous in the evenings, it would likely suit you to eat most of your food in the evening. And if you are hungrier in the mornings than evenings, the same applies in reverse. 

There are some loud voices in the nutrition world encouraging everyone to practice fasting due to improvements in autophagy (turnover of cells), inflammation and other markers of health. However research has shown that weight loss by any means improves these markers and the maintenance of a healthy body weight is just as influential. Again, finding the best strategy for you personally, to reduce and maintain a healthy body weight long term is the key. 

With any nutritional strategy, we believe it’s important to consider whether it is a sustainable long term approach. Do you see yourself continuing with his strategy for years, even lifelong? If the answer is no, then it might not be the best strategy for you. 

You can practice intermittent fasting without having hard rules about the times you can and can’t eat. If you are not hungry in the morning, you don’t have to eat. Some days you might be hungry and choose to eat earlier than other days. Some days it might suit you and your body more to eat in the morning, especially if exercise performance is a consideration. If you can listen to your appetite and eat accordingly, this may mean that you actually fast some days whilst other days not. 

For muscle building specifically, intermittent fasting is likely to be sub-optimal. To optimise muscle growth, we ideally want to spread protein intake throughout the day. By restricting times in which we are consuming a protein rich meal, we may not be optimising our muscle growth potential. Current recommendations from the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN) are to spread protein intake across at least 4 meals to maximise muscle growth potential. To do so whilst restricting the times in which we eat through fasting is unlikely to produce optimal results. 

In conclusion, consider your goal, your preferences and how you like to eat. Fasting absolutely may suit you personally and even if not completely optimal for your goal, might still work in your favour if it helps you maintain a consistent eating schedule and consume the appropriate amount of energy for your goal. 


Not sure if you can do it forever but are interested? By all means try it. We just suggest that you don’t give yourself rules which are too strict and encourage you to try fasting in conjunction with listening to your appetite and developing a way of eating which you enjoy. 

If you’ve tried fasting but it didn’t work for you, don’t feel like you failed. It was the strategy that failed you and there are plenty of other viable fat loss strategies.



If you would like to learn more about nutrition and how you can find a way of eating that suits you, contact today.


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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

Non-tracking diet methods

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A DIETING METHOD THAT WORKS FOR THOSE WHO PREFER NOT TO WORK WITH NUMBERS AND DATA. 

If you're someone who just doesn't mesh well with numbers and data, tracking Calories and macros probably isn't a viable option as a longer than short term dieting strategy. Not everyone can get away without tracking anything, but looking into a non-tracking method of dieting might be a good idea if the aforementioned sounds like you. 

There are many non-tracking dieting methods out there that can be used in combination. Using food selection to manipulate automatic Calorie intake is easily one of the most prominent methods. 

So what is it, and how does it work?
Focusing your food selection mostly on 'low-Calorie-per-bite', voluminous or filling foods allows you to eat a filling portion of physical food for not a lot of Calories. The high food volume, surface area or mass you're able to ingest will stimulate greater appetite satisfaction for fewer Calories than more Calorie dense options. The result being an automatic reduction in Calorie consumption with very little to no impact on meal hunger satisfaction. This automatic reduction in Calorie consumption will often place a dieter in a Calorie deficit leading to weight loss outcomes. 

Typically these filling foods present themselves in the form of plant matter being fibrous fruits and vegetables. But the idea of low Calorie per bite food swaps extends further to meats, dairy and grains. 

Practical examples that reduce Calories per bite and encourage a lower consumption of Calories include the following:
Fatty steak ➡️ lean steak

Full fat yogurt ➡️ nonfat yogurt 

Pasta ➡️ potato 

White rice ➡️ kidney beans 

Olive oil ➡️ avocado 

Noodles ➡️ ‘zoodles’

Coke ➡️ Diet Coke 


You can also change the ratios of ingredients within single meals to reduce the Calorie density. An example would be increasing the fruit to oat ratio in your morning protein oats.


Typically speaking edging towards a lower fat, higher plant, higher fibre approach to food selection will result in reductions in the Calorie content of your food without really changing the physical amount of food you can actually eat. 

It’s worth considering if you want to diet but don’t prefer the idea of tracking numbers and data and/or are suffering from heightened hunger levels during a period of intended Calorie restriction. 

To learn how to use non tracking methods to help you move towards and maintain your goals, click the button below

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