Eat Less, Move More – does this work?

The answer is YES. The way to lose weight is to be in a calorie deficit which means that you consume less calories each day than your body needs. You can decrease the food you eat to make this work or increase your movement or both.

So why is it so hard? The first reason is that we want instant results. This means that we decrease our calories to a very low level and start doing a lot of exercise. This might give us a result in the short term but it is not sustainable and before long we return to “normal” and the weight goes back on. Not many of us a content to live life on a small calorie deficit for a longer period of time and to build in extra movement like walking more steps.

How can we make it easier? There are a few things we should sort out to make the eating less and moving more thing work.

1. PROTEIN

First of all not all calories are created equal. If you make an effort to increase the calories that are protein and cut back on the calories that are in carbs you will be making your weight loss “journey” easier. Why? Because protein fills you up, keeps your blood sugar even and stops you craving. Think about how you feel after you have eaten a steak – do you feel like another steak? Compare this to how you feel when you eat a biscuit – you can find yourself eating the whole packet.

I am not saying to give up carbs completely because this will send you crazy. Just have smaller portions of carbs and try to get your carbs from vegetables and whole grains and other low GI sources. The other advantage to having protein is that the weight you will lose will not be from loss of muscle. It will be fat loss and this means an improved body composition.

2. TYPES OF EXERCISE

Instead of doing a lot of cardio which is basically only burning energy when you are doing it, prioritise resistance training – bodyweight (yoga, pilates) or using weights. This type of training will mean that for hours after you train, your body is continuing to burn calories at a higher rate. It will also result in your body having more muscle which means it needs more calories just to survive.

Apart from resistance training 3 times a week (with plenty of time for your body to recover), I would add walking. Walking is great for lowering cortisol levels (see below) and also will not make you feel hungry like more vigorous exercise might. It is convenient and low impact. You will not get injured. It can really make a big difference over your week to the number of calories you use.

3. SLEEP AND RECOVERY

This is an area that a lot of women neglect and it can make all the difference. If you are not sleeping well you need to work out how to fix your sleep if you want “move more eat less” to have a chance of working. Sleep deprivation results in your levels of cortisol being very high which means that your body will want to accumulate fat (particularly around the middle). Apart from sleep, a built in relaxation session in your week such as yoga or meditation, walking or swimming will also help you keep cortisol levels down.

Fixing up your sleep might mean having a good look at your sleep hygiene – routine before bed, your bedroom, your bed. If all of that is ok and you are still not sleeping well you might need to speak to a pharmacist or your doctor. Do not just accept crappy sleep. There are steps you can take which will help.

The final thing we need to take on board is to aim for CONSISTENCY – around nutrition and exercise. If you consistently watch what you eat (with the occasional blip such as Easter) and you consistently move, you will start to see results in how you look and feel.