When Calories and Exercise Seem to Fail.

Weight balance for people trying to lose weight can seem confusing. Today, we will briefly discuss on some issues outside eating and exercise as to why you aren’t seeing results. 

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Scenario: Mary and Jane are roommates. Mary is 33, Jane is 34 and both 72kg. A couple of weeks ago they decided they wanted to drop of few kg for their booked summer holidays. They decide they will go for the same morning run, and more or less eat the same foods that they prep together each day. After 4 weeks, Mary has lost 3.5kg, but Jane has is hovering between 0.5-1kg loss. Naturally Jane is disheartened, struggles to understand and wants to give up! 

 This story may be all too familiar to some, two people of similar age, weight and same gender having two completely different experiences with the same practice. There is good news and bad news. Some things you can’t control, but there are things you can.

Things You Can Control 

  • Sleep: Inadequate sleep (quality and quantity) is now thought to be associated with multiple health issues and a higher BMI (5). Poor sleep in linked to  disrupted appetite control, cause greater feeling of hunger, and even increase calorie intake (1). On the other hand research has indicated that those who achieve more optimal sleep of 6-8hrs (quality and quantity) have greater weight loss outcomes (2). Therefore – could a differences in sleep be the reason for differences Jane and Mary’s weight loss?

What can you do:The good news is sleep can be something we can control and improve. Monitor you sleep and how tired you are for a week, identify if sleep is something you need to work on. Aim for 6-8hours of good quality (feeling rested) sleep each night. 

  • Stress: Life is full of stressors, work, family, even stressing over wright loss itself. Some stress is good as it keeps us motivated. However, chronic stress can wreak havoc in our bodies. When our bodies are under chronic stress it can activate  systems in the bodies that cause imbalance to hormones, potentially resulting in the accumulation of visceral fat and related health issues (2). Therefore, Jane and Mary’s stress could be very different, causing very different action within the body. Good news – stress is definitely controllable. 

What can you do:Many people manage stress in different ways – mediate, play music,  hobbies, exercise. Find what works for you and make time to unwind.  

  • Hormones:Hormones are chemicals messengers in your body, they are involved in so many functions in your body from metabolism (energy), growth, sexual function, mood and reproduction. As you can imagine any imbalance in these can cause dysfunction in the body. However, asides from dysfunction in any hormone, our regular hormone activity can influence weight loss potential. For example, female hormones change in menstrual cycle – what point you are in your cycle you are in can influence the amount of calories you burn (1). 

What can you do: Of course there are some elements that you cannot control but managing stress, optimising sleep, exercise and nutrition could minimise hormonal disruption. If it is a medical issue, ensure to seek medical professionals. 

  • Training/Fitness: Training and fitness status will affect how a person utilizes energy – as we get fitter our bodies adapt (they are clever) to become more efficient for a given exercise. Therefore as your body adapts to the same 5km, the less you may burn!  This is why many people plateau, they don’t adapt their exercise routine. Training intensity is also important, higher intensity sessions actually use more calories in recovery period in a process called EPOC (Exercise post oxygen consumption), essentially your body is owed oxygen and this comes at an energy cost. So therefore, the fitness of Mary and Jane may differ, therefore the intensity of their run may be different for each of them – resulting in a different rate at which they use up calories. 

 What your can do: This is controllable – Ensure you have the right exercise prescription for you Individual goals and challenge yourself.

 

Methods to Increase NEAT.

Methods to Increase NEAT.

  • NEAT: (Non exercise activity thermogenesis): NEAT is there energy used for everything outside sleeping and structured exercise (e.g. the 5km run). Essentially the amount of movement outside you exercise need to be considered, you can’t just go the gym and sit for the rest of the day. Occupation (sedentary vs. active job), body weight, genetics, commute to work etc are all variables that can influence NEAT. Increased NEAT may can support the calories we use throughout the day (4). Once again, this is a controllable, and could be the difference between Mary and Jane.

    What you  can do: See infographic >>>>>

What Is A Little Harder To Control

  • Genetics :Unfortunately, some of us naturally have a higher metabolic rate (1), what this means, some people naturally burn more calories than others (uncontrollable). That is not permission to say you have the “fat gene”. Therefore, Mary and Jane may differ in the ability to utilise energy and impact how they may lose weight.   

  • Epigenetics:Our cells are involved in all aspect of our body, the instructions for these cells are determined by our DNA (which are made of gene sequences). Epigenetics control these genes. Importantly epigenetics are influenced by both nature (e.g. our cells- uncontrollable ) and nurture (environmental stimuli – partly controllable). Genes can be switched “on” and “off”. With regards to inherited genetic material, there isn’t much we can do, however, let’s say someone has a gene to put them at higher risk for obesity. Sleep, exercise, nutrition, aging (can’t control) etc,  can influence the “on” or “off” of this gene over time. In fact,  scientists have found that when a pregnant woman’s diet is poor and/or if she is obese, epigenetic the baby goes may be at an increased risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease (3). Therefore – epigenetics could be part explanation for differences. 

  • Brown Fat: We have 2 types of fat in our bodies, white and brown fat. White fat, the type seen in obesity, is more common and stores extra energy. Brown fat breaks down blood sugar (glucose) and fat molecules to create heat and help maintain body temperature. Cold temperatures activate brown fat, which leads to various metabolic changes in the body (1). It is thought those with higher levels of brown fat have a higher metabolic rate (i.e. burn more calories). Therefore – it could be possible that Mary has higher proportion of brown fat.

What can you do for the less controllable:  Although the above may be out of your control it is important to not get disheartened. Instead find what exercise, nutrition and lifestyle works for you to optimise health. 

 

Take Home Points. 

Our ability to utilise calories can be determined form multiple factors. For Jane and Mary it could be any one of the above for the difference (maybe Jane was secret eating – always be honest with yourself too). Before you start blaming genetics, be honest with yourself, are you really doing your basic calories and exercise correctly? 

What is important to know is there are controllable (NEAT, Diet, lifestyle, exercise, stress) and uncontrollable (genetics, age, hormones) factors. Getting consumed by the things you cannot control will not aid you weight loss. 

Awareness of your possible limiting factors in weight loss is essential, and working to manage these will allow for greater outcomes (in both weight and health). Above all what appears to continually achieve success in health and weigh management, is consistency in a well-balanced diet, exercise and lifestyle (stress management, sleep, NEAT).

References

1.    Berardi, J. and Andrews, R., 2013. The Essentials of Sport and Exercise Nutrition. Certification Manual. Second Edition. Precision Nutrition Inc.

2.    Elder, C.R., Gullion, C.M., Funk, K.L., DeBar, L.L., Lindberg, N.M. and Stevens, V.J., 2012. Impact of sleep, screen time, depression and stress on weight change in the intensive weight loss phase of the LIFE study. International Journal of Obesity36(1), pp.86-92.

 3.    Godfrey, K.M., Reynolds, R.M., Prescott, S.L., Nyirenda, M., Jaddoe, V.W., Eriksson, J.G. and Broekman, B.F., 2017. Influence of maternal obesity on the long-term health of offspring. The lancet Diabetes & endocrinology5(1), pp.53-64. 

4.    Levine, J.A., 2004. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Nutrition reviews62(suppl_2), pp.S82-S97.

 5.    Watson, N.F., Harden, K.P., Buchwald, D., Vitiello, M.V., Pack, A.I., Weigle, D.S. and Goldberg, J., 2012. Sleep duration and body mass index in twins: a gene-environment interaction. Sleep35(5), pp.597-603.

 

Sophie Conroy