No one can defy the laws of physics

I have been running my weight loss coaching business for 5 years now, and supported countless people with managing their weight, whether that be in my intensive 1:1 weight loss coaching work right down to my free weight loss resources and everything in between, like my Accountability Club.

Here’s what I have found…

No one can defy the laws of physics.

You may remember from your school physics lessons that energy can neither be created nor destroyed.

Fat is simply energy that our bodies stored from food we ate but didn’t need at the time that we ate it.

We put on weight (and I’m talking about fat here) when we consume more energy than we need.

We lose weight when we consume less energy than we need.

We maintain our weight when we consume … the amount to needed to maintain it.

But how do we know how much we need to eat to reach our goals, whether that be to lose weight or simply maintain our weight?

 

How to lose weight

It doesn’t matter what diet plan we follow – Slimming World, Weightwatchers, Atkins, Keto, Paleo, simply healthy eating by our own design, using a food tracking app, or even medical interventions such as a gastric band, or the new weight loss injections.

They all work by creating a calorie deficit, when followed properly.

I have yet to work with someone who didn’t lose weight when we got the calorie intake right.

The biggest problem we face in how to lose weight though, is in developing our ability to eat the right amout of calories for our goals. It’s harder than ever because of all the factors that influence us both on the inside and outside.

It is our behaviour (our habits really) that needs first to be understood, and then to be changed.

But when it comes to losing weight we don’t focus on that. We tend to just focus on trying to eat differently, in a way that feels alien, and then wonder why we can’t be consistent with it.

It’s because we’re missing the most important step… which is taking time to understand the problem.

 

What are the factors that influence our eating habits?

Here are a few…tell me if they resonate.

• We get too tired so we reach for the comfort foods or order in the takeaway
• We get too busy and stressed to pay attention to how much we’re consuming
• We’re feeling sad or angry and turn to food to soothe our emotions
• We’re celebrating by eating out or buying in lots of rich foods
• We may have medical conditions that influence how our bodies process the energy from the food we eat and cause us to be more hungry and have cravings
• We may be on medication that influences appetite
• We might be cutting back too much and then bingeing
• We might be doing a lot of exercise and then getting really hungry
• We might be influenced by the temptations all around us

How much do you need to cut your calories to lose weight?

Unfortunately one of the reasons why it’s so hard to lose weight is that the margins between being able to lose, maintain and gain weight are really small!

It only takes 120 calories a day over what we need, to gain a stone in a year. That’s a banana! E.g if you need 2000 calories to maintain your weight and you eat 2120 per day on average that’s going to accumulate to that stone over the year. So if we’re eating more than the 120 extra per day it’s going to go on faster.

And if we’re not paying attention, then we’re not going to even be aware that we’re overeating.

It can also get very confusing as we’re told if we eat more healthily we’ll lose weight. Yes, you may do, but only if you are taking in less calories than what you need.

‘Healthy’ food is less addictive, has more fibre, and fills us up more, but it still contains energy, and we still won’t lose weight, or may still gain, if we’re eating too many calories for weight loss.

The good news is that the reverse is also true… once you know what energy you need to eat daily for maintenance, and you eat 120 calories a day less than this, and you’ll likely lose around a stone in a year. (Bear in mind though that our needs change as we lose weight, as smaller bodies need less energy.)

If you want to lose weight fast you can go lower. But this has consequences and is not usually sustainable. Eating just 1200 calories a day is neither fun or effective for anything other than a short term period for most people.

We can’t go too low on calories as our bodies and brains fight back as they are not getting the nutrition they need. So when we do, we end up overeating again, or even bingeing. Undoing all our hard work.

And of course we don’t track those days that we overeat, so it’s almost like they don’t count and so we believe that we can’t lose weight on any more than 1200 calories! You’re right, you can’t… because this is what happens when you try.

It’s not because your body won’t lose the weight, but because you don’t give it long enough, and you don’t shine the light on what you’re doing on the days that you are not trying to lose weight.

Trust me it’s very revealing when you do, so why not give it a try.

 

How can we solve this problem?

The best weight loss tip I can give you is to look at what you are consuming in energy in the same way as you are advised to look at how much money you’re spending.

Just as financial health requires setting a budget and sticking to it, so does physical health. We don’t tell someone who is struggling to manage their money to ignore their bank balance and the prices and to spend as much as they like. Quite the reverse!

If we were to manage our energy the way we are advised to handle our finances, we might find ourselves making more informed, healthier choices. If we don’t know how much we are spending, how will we know if we’re spending the right amount.

Equally if we don’t know how much energy we are consuming, how do we know if we are consuming the right amount?

Imagine knowing the “prices” of foods (calories in food items), your “budget” (the daily caloric intake your body requires to either maintain or lose weight), and your “bank balance” (the scale or other measurement tools).

With this information, you could strategically plan your food and drink to get the best value — not just in terms of cost, but in health benefits too. And you’ll learn so much more about what you’re eating than if you’re following an off the shelf plan.

It helps you make sure you’re eating enough for your needs, too, as the tendency when trying to lose weight is to want to cut back more than is healthy for us.

However, it’s essential to be realistic and compassionate with ourselves. We’re only human, and the temptation to indulge in delicious, high-calorie foods will always be there. It’s natural and normal and there’s no need to cut anything out. It’s about making it fit within your energy budget.

 

In it for the long game…

Accepting that we need lifelong awareness if we wish to control our weight healthily is crucial.

It’s not exactly the most thrilling or glamorous task, but it is infinitely better than the alternative… weight gain, decreased functionality, and a wardrobe of unworn clothes due to discomfort with our bodies. I know which scenario I would prefer.

The problem often lies not in the eating, but in the ignoring or avoiding of the hard numbers and facts about what we consume.

When we choose not to face these figures, that’s when we encounter issues. Knowledge truly is power, especially when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight.

Before heading into weight loss, I encourage my clients to spend at least a couple of weeks monitoring their current food intake without judgement, and see what is happening with their weight, so that together we can work towards finding their own individual maintenance level based on how they currently like to eat.

Then we have information from which to start making sustainable changes that put them into a deficit, get sufficient nutrition and energy, and feel do-able. But it needs to be monitored consistently in order to be effective long term.

This understanding brings us to an important realisation: if we think it’s necessary to manage our finances indefinitely, why do we stop managing our energy consumption after achieving initial weight loss goals?

The key is continuous management, not a temporary fix. Stopping our awareness of consumption after reaching a weight loss target is like stopping looking at our finances after saving for a year. It’s unsustainable and often leads to reverting to old habits.

Awareness with compassion is everything. Being conscious of what and how much we consume, without harsh self-judgement, enables us to maintain control without feeling deprived. It’s about finding a balance that works for our individual lives and bodies, which can change as our circumstances and needs evolve.

It’s important to bear in mind that our energy needs change according to various factors including our total weight and our muscle mass. So being able to monitor our needs on an ongoing basis is crucial for success. 

 

I was you

I appreciate it’s easy for me to say all this… after all, I don’t have a weight problem.

But I used to, from my early teens up to my late 30s, (I’m now 51).

I don’t anymore because I accepted that I needed non-judgemental awareness of what I was consuming, and how that was impacting on my weight, for life, not just for the diet. I needed to face up to and change my eating habits for life.

Studies show that those who keep their weight off continue to self-monitor their weight and their consumption, like I do.

That doesn’t mean I’m constantly tracking my food, but it does mean than I am making conscious choices and being aware of what I am eating, how much I am eating, and why I am eating, to ensure I don’t consistently exceed my energy budget.

 

What about exercise and weight loss?

I also make sure I am being active, which is a really powerful weapon in the mission to keep the weight off.

However, you may have noticed that this article isn’t talking about calories out.

That’s because in my personal and professional experience, while being active is extremely important for good health, by far the biggest influence on our weight is calories in.

Some of my clients can’t exercise at all, yet they are still able to lose weight.

And of those that do, the amount of exercise they do doesn’t seem to have any impact on their weight loss, yet their calories in show an extremely close, almost perfect correlation with their weight.

Furthermore, the calories burned data we are given is notoriously inaccurate meaning we often end up eating all our exercise calories back without realising it, because the tracker overestimated it, or because we get ravenously hungry. And then we wonder why we’re doing all this exercise and not losing weight. So we give up.

By all means count your time in exercise but don’t take any notice of the calories burned in relation to how much you are eating.

The old saying ‘you can’t out-train a bad diet‘ really is true in my personal and professional experience.

It’s important to get the balance right between diet and exercise. You can read more about this here.

 

Next steps

The studies mentioned above also show that it’s incredibly challenging to lose weight and keep it off without support.

That’s the real value of the work that I do… helping my clients past the initial weight loss, into long term sustainability.

So if you’ve been struggling for a long time with your weight and you’re ready to get highly personalised support from someone who’s been there and understands, and who has also overcome their weight struggles and can show you what’s possible, then consider booking a complimentary chat with me.

This isn’t just about losing weight; it’s about gaining a deeper understanding of your relationship with food and yourself, empowering you to make choices that support lasting health and satisfaction.

Managing your energy budget is like investing in any other critical aspect of your life — it requires understanding, continuous effort, and occasional adjustments to align with changing goals and conditions.

Whether it’s your finances or your caloric intake, the principles of awareness, planning, and management apply universally.

In conclusion, managing your energy intake isn’t just a dietary concern; it’s a lifestyle approach that emphasises informed decisions, continual awareness, and personal growth.

With the right tools and support, you can unlock your stored energy to maintain not only a healthy weight but to Energize Your Life.