DISCLAIMER: this is me sharing what I have found. Nowhere in this is advice for you. I’m not pretending to be an expert here, I am just sharing my thoughts.
I’m sure at one point or another we have all wanted to lose weight and everyone has heard the same boring crap. Eat less, move more. Although it is much more complex than that… (Basal Metabolic Rate accounts for almost all our calories and just eating less is the jam, providing we can avoid eating disorders).
I’ve heard these all:
* cut your carb intake
* fasted cardio
* don’t eat with a screen
* eat slower
* don’t eat junk food
* you can eat junk food as long as its within your calories
* portion sizes
* plate sizes
Have I missed any?
Now the main issue for me is always my hunger! Maybe I was born with an appetite or maybe I’m a glutton but I always have seconds, I always want more and I always have room for dessert.
My wife’s parents literally call me “Fan tong” which is Cantonese for “rice bucket” 😂 based on how much I eat when I go to their house.
SOooooo, the issue was always:
How do I eat a calorie deficit without feeling hungry?
When I did a cut last year, it was hell, it was long and it was minimal in terms of results. I cut for 3 months! 500 calories a day and some days felt like I would die of hunger. Who wants that?
The Secret Hack
Whilst watching a video of Mitchell Hooper, a strongman competitor, he mentioned something so quickly in passing that I almost missed it. BUT I got it and I reversed it. and that’s when the weight loss started.
Here are the 2 most important points
1 - XXXXXXXXXXXXX
and
2 - XXXXXXXXXXXXX
What? I’m gonna give it away in the post? Listen to the audio! This is a primarily audio thing dammit.
Ok, I’ll give it up. But only coz I like you.
Number 1 is to chew your food until it’s a paste. Increasing the chewing means the signaling to your system to turn down the hunger signaling hormone (ghrelin) and turning up the satiety signaling hormone (leptin). It is all controlled through chewing, nothing to do with being distracted by screens, or managing plate and portion sizes. It’s all bollocks I’d say. Chewing more. Chew your food until it is a paste. Number 2 is that it introduces a “chew-ability scale” or how many chews and calorie load per bite. If you eat a cookie, one bite may contain, let’s say 30 calories, but the chews-per-bite metric is low, perhaps a max of 10 chews before it is paste. Therefore, many calories, few chews results in still feeling hungry with a lot of calories consumed. Let’s say we have chicken with some kind of vegetable, depending on how you cook them, you will change how many chews-per-bite they require. Generally, it will take about 30-50 chews-per-bite in order to chew it to a paste. For the amount of calories in the bite, let’s assume the same, perhaps even more than the cookie, you are sending the signal to the body to turn down hunger and turn up satiety. However, any kind of ultra-processed food is usually fewer chews-per-bite, and more calories-per-bite, making it a poor trade-off. Whereas whole foods tend to be more hews-per-bite, and fewer calories-per-bite, also more nutrients-per-bite. You get the picture. Hacking these ultimately led to my weight loss.
What I’m tracking and doing
I do 3 things…
1 - I track my calories using the myfitnesspal app. This way I control CALORIES IN. This eventually becomes easy as you get the hang of it. This is as tough as it gets, it’s downhill from here on out.
2 - I wear an apple watch which, through the app Athlytic, I can see my burned vs consumed calories. This way I also see CALORIES OUT. Literally don’t need to do anything. It is all collected automatically and is there for me to see whenever I want.
3 - I measure myself on the fitindex electronic scale every morning, this way I can keep an eye on the effect of my previous day’s efforts. This is how I see the RESULTS. Once again, I literally just stand on the scale in the morning with the app connected and it logs everything for me. I’m so lazy 😄
CALORIES IN - CALORIES OUT = RESULTS?
Muscle loss avoidance:
Losing weight could mean both muscle and fat, this is true. Looking at all the advice, there are some things to ensure I am keeping the good stuff and shedding the unwanted stuff.
Firstly, consuming enough protein. Menno Henselmans is the pro that I’d cite here, saying 1.6g/kg of bodyweight (at the high end, just to be sure)
Secondly, using the muscles. When you do strength training, it doesn’t burn quite as many calories as cardio however using your muscles signals your body that you still need them and therefore the body doesn’t break them down. That is the concept, and this is advice given by many pros in the space who see clients who only do cardio and neglect resistance training during a cut, losing as much muscle as fat.
Thank you for subscribing, a bit of an unusual post today as I don’t normal like to talk about physical training too much, but I’m really enjoying myself at the moment.
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