Bite Back with Abbey Sharp - Everything You’ve Been Told About FAT LOSS Is Wrong (Metabolism, Body Composition & Best Practices EXPLAINED)

Starting point is 00:00:00 If you lose fat on either of these diets, it's just because they've helped you create a calorie deficit. No fat-burning magic to see here. Welcome to another episode of Bite Back with Abby Sharp, where I dismantled Diet Culture Rules, call out the charlatans spinning the pseudoscience, and help you achieve food freedom for good. In today's solo episode, we will be talking about one of the most missing, understood and mystified concepts in the fitness and health world. And that is fat loss. So here's the thing. Colloquially, our society is obsessed with losing weight. But if we were to get technical, we don't actually want to lose any old weight. We want to lose fat. And this is important because weight loss

Starting point is 00:01:00 and fat loss results in wildly different aesthetic and health outcomes. So today, I'm going to be breaking down all of the myths and facts around fat loss. Can you spot reduce that stubborn spot? Do those fat burning hacks and diets actually work? And most importantly, what are the best evidence-based strategies to help you preserve that precious muscle mass while in a calorie deficit. I also want to shout out to my amazing colleague, Dr. Eric Williamson, who is the Director of Nutrition at Canyon Ranch Resorts for all of his insights that have helped to shape this episode. I'm going to be leaving a link to his social media

Starting point is 00:01:45 in the description if you're looking for another amazing evidence-based science communicator. And I also want to clarify that nothing I'm sharing today should be taken as a suggestion that you need to lose weight or lose fat. I'm simply sharing what the evidence says about how to minimize risks if you have decided that weight loss or fat loss is a goal for you. Finally, if you haven't already, I would love if you would check on my brand new book, The Hunger Cushing Compot Method. I go into a lot more detail on best practices for achieving fat loss goals in the book

Starting point is 00:02:21 in a safe and gentle way. All right, folks, let's see. get into it. Okay, so first a little anatomy lesson on weight loss. So our body weight is made up of multiple components. There's body fat and then there's lean tissue which includes things like muscles, bones, water and even the weight of your organs. And unfortunately, when the number on the scale goes down, it doesn't exactly discriminate between these compartments. You will be losing fat yet. You but you could also be losing valuable muscle tissue or in many, many cases, just basically shedding water weight. That's why the scale, while very simple, is such a blunt and often misleading

Starting point is 00:03:16 tool. And the distinction between weight loss and fat loss matters for a number of critical reasons that really just cannot be ignored. So for one, muscle drives your metabolism. muscle is metabolically active tissue. So even at rest, it burns more energy than fat does, about six calories versus two calories per pound for fat. So the more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate, meaning you burn more calories just by existing. If you lose muscle during weight loss, your metabolism slows down where each pound of muscle loss lowers your total energy expenditure by about 15 to 20 calories per day. So if you lose 5 pounds of muscles, you're burning around 100 calories less per day.

Starting point is 00:04:12 For active people, this number would be even higher. And this is one of the reasons why people who yo-yo diet may end up heavier than where they started. They've essentially chipped away at their muscle stores to make their total, quote, calorie budget smaller over time. Number two, muscle is generally essential for good health and health span. Muscle tissue provides the building blocks of our immune system, hormones, neurotransmitters, and so much more. Plus, it helps prevent frailty and falls to prolong independence as we age. We literally call muscle mass the currency of aging. Muscle cells are also a major consumer of the sugars in your blood. So having more muscle mass helps to soak up blood sugars,

Starting point is 00:05:06 reducing the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance also independently can contribute to fat gain. So keeping that muscle on deck can reduce the risk of that messy little cycle from even starting. Number three, muscle mass supports longevity. Research consistently shows that higher lean body mass is linked to lower rates of chronic disease and all-cause mortality and a longer lifespan. And finally, muscle mass affects how your body looks when you've lost weight. While I would argue that aesthetics are the least important reason to maintain muscle, most people who are trying to, quote, quote, lose weight, want to look toned, not deflated or gaunt. And you could look at two people who weigh the exact same, and depending on their muscle

Starting point is 00:06:05 mass, they could look remarkably different. So when we diet, how much muscle do we actually lose? Well, most studies estimate that between 20 to 30 percent of weight loss is typically from lean mass, including muscle. This means that if you lose 20 pounds on the scale, four to six pounds, of that could be that precious muscle that you worked so hard to put on. When we look at GLP1 medications like OZempe and Wigovie, that number is estimated to be on average around 25 to 40 percent lean mass. So what can we do differently than your average diet or to shift our body into burning fat over lean mass? Well, according to a ton of celebrity trainers and wellness gurus and Fitness Girlies online, there are a plethora of magical fat-burning hacks you can try. But are any of

Starting point is 00:07:06 these tips actually legit? Let's do some myth and fact-busting, shall we? Claim number one, you can spot reduce fat. Sadly, this one's a bust. Unless you are an elite physique athlete with a very low body fat percentage, most people cannot intentionally lose fat from a specific area with any one specific exercise or food. If we could, there would be some simple universal exercise protocol that we all followed to essentially look like Barbie. The truth is, fat loss doesn't work like chiseling away clay to make a perfect sculpture. Body fat is stored in adipose tissue throughout the body.

Starting point is 00:07:52 And when you're in a calorie deficit, your body mobilizes fat more or less systematically. Genetics, hormones, and your inborn fat distribution pattern help determine where fat comes off first and where it comes off last. So for me, unfortunately, if I get sick and unintentionally lose weight, my arms and my legs always turn into string beans before anything happens around my midsection. This has been demonstrated in a number of studies, including a landmark study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that looked at participants who trained one arm with resistance exercise for 12 weeks. That arm got significantly stronger, but fat loss occurred all over the body, not just in that one arm. Another study on abdominal

Starting point is 00:08:46 training found that six weeks of intense core exercise led to stronger abs, but no significant change in belly fat. I know. Annoying, right? But here's the nuance. While spot reduction in the traditional sense is a myth, there is evidence for something called spot lipolisus. This means that exercising a particular muscle can increase blood flow and fat mobilization in the fat tissue nearby. For example, an avid hardcore cycler might notice leaner legs because of the localized fat breakdown happening around those working muscles. But, and this is a really, really big butt, mobilizing fat from a specific area doesn't guarantee it will get burned for energy. Unless you are in an overall calorie deficit, your body can just restore that fat elsewhere. The only other way you can technically spot reduce is with visceral fat, which is that dangerous

Starting point is 00:09:55 fat that is stored around your organs. Research shows that aerobic exercise is particularly effective at reducing visceral fat, even without massive changes in body weight. And this is huge because visceral fat is the substrate most strongly linked to metabolic disease, diabetes and heart disease. But there's another big bud here. Visceral fat isn't the pinchable fat that you can see and grab around your midsection. So while some people who lose visceral fat may notice a reduction in that kind of hard belly look,

Starting point is 00:10:34 a lot of people won't see a visible difference at all because that subcutaneous fat is still there on top. Moving on, claim number two, doing fasted workouts burn more fat so they help you lose body fat while keeping muscle. Yes, and then no. When you work out in a fasted state like first thing in the morning before eating anything, your body has lower glycogen stores to work with so it relies more heavily on fat for fuel during that workout. So yes, you do burn a higher percentage of fat calories during the workout compared to exercising after a meal. But here's the big fat catch. Fat burned during exercise isn't the same as losing body fat.

Starting point is 00:11:37 What matters for fat loss is your total energy balance over 24 hours, or really over the weeks and months to come. If you burn more fat in your morning workout, your body simply compensates. later on in the day by burning more carbs and less fat or increasing hunger and nudging you to eat more. Exercising fasted also doesn't offer a muscle preserving advantage. In fact, if you're lifting heavy or doing high intensity training, being fasted may increase the risk of muscle protein breakdown since the body doesn't have immediate dietary amino acids available. So when we look at studies comparing fasted versus fed exercise, we see no significant difference in overall fat loss when the calories are controlled. So whether you eat before or after, fat loss comes down to the

Starting point is 00:12:33 calorie deficit, not the timing of that fuel. Claim number three, keto or intermittent fasting burns more fat than other diets. So one of the most common claims I hear is that diets like or intermittent fasting give you a quote-quote fat loss advantage because they prevent insulin from spiking. The argument among the low-carb shellotins is that since insulin is the quote-quote big bad fat storage hormone, if you keep it low by skipping meals or cutting carbs, you'll burn fat more efficiently and you'll lose more weight. It's a sweet little story, really, but it is not the whole truth. Insulin's main job is to help shuttle nutrients like glucose and amino acids from the food that we eat into our cells

Starting point is 00:13:24 so that we can move and build muscle and do all the things we need to do in life. And yes, when you eat, insulin levels do rise and it does temporarily inhibit fat breakdown, aka lipolysis, because your body is prioritizing using incoming energy first. But this is a very short-term response. Once the insulin levels go down, fat breakdown resumes. Now on keto, insulin levels stay lower, so your body can shift to burning more fat as fuel. Likewise, when intermittent fasting, the percentage of fat that you burn during the fasted window may increase because insulin is low when you're not eating. But in both of these cases, you are burning the dietary fat that you just ate, not necessarily the fat stored in your body. And research on both of these diets have

Starting point is 00:14:20 found that they do not result in more fat loss than calorie-matched higher carb diets or continuous caloric restriction for keto and fasting respectively. If you lose fat on either of these diets, it's just because they've helped you create a calorie deficit. No fat-burning magic to see here. But finally, let's talk about all those fat burning supplements and teas. Will those help you get the snatched body you crave? Again, prompts not. Most of these alleged fat burners contain stimulants like caffeine or compounds that may slightly increase fat oxidation like EGCG in green tea extract and CLA.

Starting point is 00:15:05 But again, even if a supplement shifts your body to burn a higher percentage of fat for energy, that doesn't mean you're tapping into stored body fat. It often just means you're burning the fat from the last meal instead of the carbs. As I discussed in my episode on metabolism hacks, which I'm going to link in the show notes, even the most effective quote quote metabolism boosting supplements that can help you burn an extra 150 calories a day or medications that force you to literally pee out an additional 300 calories a day, don't actually result in fat loss. So the big question, of course, becomes if none of these fat burning hacks and helpers actually work, how do we prioritize fat loss while preserving muscle loss?

Starting point is 00:15:59 So here is everything you need to know. Number one, resistance training is a must. Research suggests that people who engage in resistance exercise and consume adequate protein while in the same calorie deficit still lose the same amount of weight as those who do not do resistance exercise. But the key difference here is in what they lose. Without resistance training, an average of about 25% of the weight loss is lean mass and about 75% is fat. With resistance training, nearly all of the weight lost comes from body fat, while lean mass is preserved or in some cases potentially even increased. The ideal sweet spot seems for most people to be around 10 sets of an exercise for each muscle group per week, or what ends up being at least three workout days per week at a high enough intensity that you are training near or two muscle failure. If that feels impossibly intense, remember that all movement is good movement and will help to support muscle preservation over time. And this brings me to the second critical recommendation here, which is to focus on protein.

Starting point is 00:17:22 There is a reason why the vast majority of popular weight loss diets promote higher amounts of protein. Not only is protein king in the satiety hierarchy, but having ample amounts. amino acids on board helps to spare our muscle from being broken down. The faster your weight loss rate, the more protein needed to gain or even maintain that protective muscle mass. So best practice for fat loss is to aim for around 1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight or 20 to 30 percent of total calories from protein. So for a 150 pound woman on a weight loss diet, hypothetically consuming 1,700 calories, that would be at least 100 to 125 grams of protein. And if that sounds like an insane amount to you, it could be hit by having an omelet in the morning

Starting point is 00:18:18 with two whole eggs and two egg whites, plus a piece of whole grain toast with nut butter, a cup of Greek yogurt with cheese seeds and berries for a snack, a veggie and quinoa salad with grilled chicken for lunch, a protein shake in the afternoon, and a stir fry with lentils and salmon for dinner. Yes, it takes some more intention, but it is certainly not impossible. Finally, the third critical piece here to help promote fat loss without excess muscle loss is to dial back your calorie deficit. I know it's tempting to cut as many calories as you possibly can to lose weight as quickly as we can, But research suggests that the greater the deficit and the faster the rate of weight loss,

Starting point is 00:19:05 the greater the muscle mass loss, especially in already lean individuals. So to maximize fat loss while minimizing muscle loss, best practices generally recommend no more than 0.5 to 1% body weight loss per week, or around 1 to 2 pounds max, with a deficit of around 500 calories per day, accompanied by resistance trainings and the protein targets we just discussed. I go into a lot more detail in how to do this simply and intuitively in my new book, The Hunger Crushing Combo Method. But to recap what we covered here, all weight loss diets come with at least some risk that some of the weight you're losing is from metabolic muscle and not fat. And there are no magic pills or exercises or foods that will

Starting point is 00:20:00 completely eliminate that reality. But you are significantly at higher risk if you're already very lean or underweight. You're losing weight faster than 1% body weight per week. You're following extreme fasts or one meal a day style diets. You're not adding resistance training to your protocol, your under-eating protein, or you're over 65. If any of these apply to you, seeking the support of a registered dietitian is key to minimizing further damage. And for everyone else, focusing on regular strength training and protein intake with a gradual, slow weight loss pace will offer you the best chances of a healthy body composition and reduced risk of chronic disease long term. And on that note, that is

Starting point is 00:20:51 all that I have for you guys today. A reminder that this is not a directive that anyone should be dieting. It is simply a science-backed roadmap for those who choose that path and want to do it as safely as they can. But if you could please like this episode, I would love if you would give bite back a five-star review and leave me a comment and subscribe to the channel because it really does help me out. And don't forget to check out my new book, The Hunger Cushing Compot Method, if you're looking for more science-backed tips. And on that note, signing off with Science and Sass. I'm Abby Sharp.

Starting point is 00:21:26 Thanks for listening.

Bite Back with Abbey Sharp - Everything You’ve Been Told About FAT LOSS Is Wrong (Metabolism, Body Composition & Best Practices EXPLAINED)

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