Weight  Optimisation

So, you say you want to lose weight?

Actually, you don't! You want to lose fat.

Nobody comes to a nutrition professional wanting to lose muscle, water or anything else other than fat. But -

What exactly is fat?

Our body stores fat in special cells, called adipocytes. These are found all over your body - under your skin, around your organs, in between your muscles (think marble steak!), even in your bone marrow, your eye sockets and the palms of your hands! 

Fat is actually an organ

with important functions for the body. We need it for life. 

But like everything in the body's biochemistry - too much of a good thing can become ... well, a bad thing.

We all have a certain amount these fat cells. Some of us have more than others. When our existing fat cells fill up, but excess energy keeps coming in, there are two options:

1. The body can either expand the existing cells so they can hold more; or
2. Grow new fat cells. 

Your genetic lottery

What your body will do in such a situation is determined by your genetics.

Some of our species, those with ancestry from colder parts of the world, are better equipped to grow new fat cells. We are able to store a lot of extra energy in order to survive a long cold winter. If that winter never comes, we can get significantly fat. But paradoxically, this protects us from type 2 diabetes. As long as the body can convert the extra glucose into fat and have a place to store it away, it will not leave it floating around in the blood. We have a bit "more time" before we develop type 2 diabetes.

Others, whose ancestors come from warmer climates, do not have this ability. When faced with excess energy coming in, our existing fat cells will expand, expand,...until they can't any more. After a certain point, the fat cell knows that if it lets anymore energy in it will burst and die. So in order to protect itself from untimely death it will do 2 things:

1. shut all doors to any more glucose coming in (this is called "insulin resistance"); and

2. spill extra fat into the blood stream (you will see this on a blood test as "high triglycerides").

For those of our species who "won" this genetic lottery, we will never get very fat. BUT, we will develop diabetes and, what is called, "metabolic syndrome" at a faster rate that our "larger" co-humans. (This is the situation in India, Asia, South America and other places in the world where the indigenous populations have seen rates of diabetes and metabolic decease skyrocket out of all proportion with the arrival of the "western diet").

The mechanics of fat storage 

No matter which genetic lottery you "won", if you want to lose fat, you need to get some of that fat out of your fat cells.

In order to understand how to do that, we must take a step back and understand how the fat got there in the first place. There are two possibilities:

1. Fat gets created in the fat cell from glucose; and
2. Fat from food gets absorbed in the intestine and eventually makes its way to the fat cell. 

But here is the thing -

Glucose and fats cannot just magically enter the fat cell by themselves.

It is a complex, multistep process in which the hormone insulin plays a key role. 

Insulin in an anabolic hormone - this means it stimulates the body to make things, and to grow. It also stops the body from breaking things down and encourages it to store.

So, when your insulin is high, your body :

• will store glucose in the form of glycogen and fat;
• will create new fat;
• will not be able to break down and use existing fat stores.

It is physiologically impossible to lose fat in the presence of high insulin.

The puzzle of fat loss

What causes insulin to be high?

Our pancreas produces insulin every time it sees glucose in the blood stream. When we eat carbohydrates, in whatever form they may be, they will all eventually end up as glucose in our blood. The more glucose the pancreas sees the more insulin it will continue producing.

So all we have to do is stop eating carbohydrates and our problem is solved, right?

Nope. Unfortunately it is not as simple as that. 

Contrary to what you may see elsewhere, (advocated by the proponents of strict low-carb or keto diets) carbohydrates are necessary and important for our body. (Yes, our body can make them itself in the amazing organ that is our liver - but we are not designed to operate like that 24/7 forever). 

Carbohydrates are the primary fuel source for our body. The body can readily and easily make energy out of glucose (which is what all carbs turn into after you digest them). In order to make energy from other things, like fats or proteins, it has to work harder. It is a able to do it, because it is amazing and adaptable, but that is "plan b". Making energy out of digested or stored fats is a survival response for periods of starvation or when glucose is scarce. Making energy out of protein, is like burning your furniture in your fireplace - proteins are building blocks for your body, not really designed as a primary source of fuel. 

Carbohydrates also sit in your cell membranes attached to proteins (in the form of glycoproteins) and are important as "signaling molecules". (Imagine little flags that stick out of the cell membrane). 

They are needed -

• for cells to be able to "talk to each other"; 
• for your hormones to pass on their message to the cells; 
• for the cells to recognise and stick to each other so that your tissues stay intact;
• for your immune cells to present the "bad guys" to their "colleagues" so they can "send in the troops". 
• They act as "channels" so that important things like glucose and water can go in and out of cells. 
• In your brain, they enable your neurons to communicate and for new neuronal circuits to be formed. Without these glycoproteins your brain will literally not work. 

Remember this next time you hear that carbs are not necessary. 

In fact, the longest lived people in the world - those that live in the so-called Blue Zones - consume a diet very high in carbohydrates. Animal experiments have also shown that a diet high in carbohydrates increases longevity when compared to a diet high in protein. 

"So carbs are "bad" because they cause insulin to go high, which prevents me from loosing weight, but at the same time they are "good" and I need to eat them?" 

Is your head about to explode? I totally get it.

Once again, the devil is in the detail. Like everything else in biology - its all about balance.

The secret to fat loss is finding the right carb balance for YOUR body.

What that looks like will differ from person to person. Every body is different - there is no one size fits all "magic diet". Be wary of anyone who is trying to sell you that. 

You need to understand where YOUR body is at to be able to tailor the right nutrition to what it needs AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME.

Then, as your body changes, you can adapt accordingly and eventually find a way of eating which is sustainable for you in the long term.

It should not involve hunger or deprivation. You should NOT have to rely on will power. That is a recipe for failure. No amount of will power can overcome powerful biological signals from your body. 

There are tools for figuring out where your body is at metabolically speaking. Testing the right markers in the blood as well as measuring your blood sugar (ideally continuously for a few weeks with the help of a continuous glucose monitor) can provide you with a massive short cut. 

Once you know your starting point, you can work on gradual, step by step habit change. 

It is a process of constant learning and optimisation.    

That's the only way you will lose that extra fat for good!