It seems like every other month a ‘new diet’ emerges in the press or on social media as the latest craze to get you ready for your holiday or fit into a wedding dress. People get sucked in by emotions and by fancy terms and words thought up by others. But how does the keto diet or the paleo diet actually work? Read on to find out.
This week I had the hardest training session I’ve had in a long, long time. My heart-rate was through the roof (in a good way), I pushed myself hard and emptied the tank. I was so stiff the next day but again, in a good way. Anyway, instead of moaning about being stiff and sore I’ve just had one of those weeks where I feel really grateful that I’m physically able to do what I do. Not everyone is as lucky to be capable of getting up and going to train 3 times a week. If you’re able, be grateful for the ability you have and make the most of your body, others would absolutely kill for the simple opportunity to train and move freely, if you have it, use it.
Before I get into how these diets help people lose weight, I want to debunk some utter tripe that is often associated with these ridiculous diets. Also, if you have opinions based on Netflix documentaries, they’re wrong, soz.
Okay so one of the biggest diets over the last few months has been the ketogenic diet because it puts your body into ketosis and that burns fat… in the words of Donald Trump, Fake News. I’m going to break this one down and debunk some of the history around it first. The claims are quite enticing to be fair, a diet that forces your body to burn fats instead of carbohydrates, sounds too good to be true. Did you know the ketogenic diet has been around since the 1920s and is a medical diet? It was developed for children with drug-resistant epilepsy, the diet greatly reduced the amount of seizures in children who adhered to it. However, it wasn’t just butter and bacon they were having. There are a number of side effects associated with the keto diet including, but not limited to, lower energy levels, hypoglycemia and gastrointestinal distress. The diet does however have the potential to help with some neurodegenerative diseases but the research on those benefits is inconclusive. Either way, it’s a medical diet and not one to be doing ‘to drop some fat’ because you’ve a lads holiday coming up. If you genuinely think it will benefit you go to a registered dietician and get them to give you their professional opinion.
How does the keto diet get results out of people though? Well, by eliminating carbs. If you automatically cut one of three major food groups from your daily intake obviously you’re going to lose weight but think, what’s the actual reason? Not ketosis, not the actual absence of carbs… CALORIE DEFICIT!!! If you’re eating the exact same food minus carbs you’re going to be in a calorie deficit. There are no fat burning foods or super foods. There are more nutritious and less nutritious foods, calorie deficits and calorie surpluses. Let’s look a bit deeper into it. In a normal diet up to 40% of your calories can come from carbohydrate sources, cut them out and over the course of 30, 60, 90 days of course you’re going to lose weight. But have you actually learned anything about calories, portion control or adequate nutrition? What happens when your event is over and you return to eating ‘normally’? well in most cases the weight lost returns when people go back to their regular diet, pretty obvious.
This isn’t specific to the keto diet, check out any diet craze and critically analyze the requirements. What it is asking you to not eat is the key here. What food or food group is it trying to get you to eliminate? Heck, some crazy, delusional companies even ask you to stop eating food altogether and just have juices or shakes… mad all together. Imagine drinking a juice to get all the vitamins and minerals from fruit and veg when instead you could just eat fruit and veg.
In an ideal world all these fad diets and pyramid scheme companies wouldn’t exist, there would be no marketing campaigns claiming to have the latest superfood, nutrition would be fairly simple in that world.
Professionals exist for a reason, mechanics fix cars, doctors diagnose and treat illness, dietitians and nutritionists create sustainable nutrition habits and educate on the topic.
I am not a registered dietitian or nutritionist, but I do have enough knowledge to get by most of the time, I also have enough knowledge to see through fad diets and explain how to actually do it.
So how do you actually diet?
Well firstly, I hate that word so from now on we’re just talking overall nutrition, k.
Going back to basics is always the best place to start. Why do we eat? For energy to complete daily tasks, therefor, the better overall quality of my nutrition, the better I function. For weight loss, which is what the majority of fad diets promote, I should be in a deficit of roughly 200-300 Kcals a day depending on my activity levels. To calculate your own calorie target, use this simple formula I got from my friends Honest_2_bod nutrition.
Body weight (KG) x 22 (female) or 24 (Male) = Basel Metabolic Rate (BMR)
BMR x Activity (usually 1.1-1.3) = Kcals.
Great I have my calorie target, now I need to figure out my macronutrient breakdown. Protein is one of the biggest key factors here. During a calorie deficit, adequate levels of protein with correct training will help me maintain my muscle mass. Take your body weight in KGs and multiply by 2. That’s the amount of protein in grams you should be consuming every single day. It could be anywhere from 25-40% of your daily calorie needs, another 30% should come from fat sources and the remaining x from carbohydrates.
From there, you need to find out what works for you and your lifestyle in terms of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. This can take some trial and error, but you have the freedom to experiment with foods you like and make them fit into your calorie and macro goals. Use apps like MyFitnessPal to track your progress over the course of the day and see how much calories you’re consuming.
Gaining an understanding of calories is liberating. When you realize that it’s a simple equation of calories in Vs. calories out and nothing to do with ketosis, hormones, sugar, fat or any other silly myth out there you can no longer fall victim to smoke and screen marketing ploys. If you’re not losing weight, you’re eating too much or not patient enough.
Lastly, the importance of training can’t be understated here. While nutrition will determine your weight loss, training will determine your end product. For leaner, toned and muscular looks you need muscle. A mixture of strength and cardio training is ideal for cutting fat and getting lean. Now, I’ll never bash any activity that gets a non-active person active, unless it’s dangerous of course but not all exercise is created equal. However, I think that’s for another blog.
Hopefully this clears up some questions around fad diets. The more people who understand they’re marketing ploys and not entirely healthy or achievable the better. Invest in educating yourself more on the How of fat loss and you’ll be liberated from €80 juices and fear of tasty foods.
Don’t forget to check out last week’s blog on mindsets and if you’re a strength coach or someone looking to get into the industry, my latest performance blog on time under tension can be found here.
Until next week,
Rory.