| Written by Malte Therkildsen 11-16-2023 |
As previously mentioned, the best weight loss strategy varies individually; ultimately, it comes down to which routines are easiest to implement in one’s daily life. The same applies to the advice I'm offering today. It's unlikely that you will need to adopt all of these tips, which I think would actually be quite a challenge. However, if you can apply just a few of the following tips, I am convinced that it will assist you in your weight loss process.
Hopefully, at the same time, I can ensure that you do not fall into the dark pit of weight loss myths. There are endlessly many false myths out there, so let me dispel some of the most pressing for you, so you can neatly avoid the false advice and assumptions that several self-proclaimed experts spread like wildfire on the internet.
But before we focus on the myths, let's start by looking at the knowledge and the advice that is indisputable.
Eat More Protein – It’s Not Just for Weightlifters
Protein isn’t just necessary for building muscle in strength training; it also has significant relevance in cycling, and there are clear advantages to be gained for your weight loss journey if you ensure a protein-rich diet.
What’s interesting about protein in this context is that it enhances the feeling of fullness. By consuming large amounts of protein, you simply won’t feel as hungry as you otherwise would. Additionally, protein helps prevent muscle mass loss, which is always a risk when you are in a significant caloric deficit. For obvious reasons, it's important for most cyclists to preserve muscle mass in their legs.
Another interesting aspect of protein is that calories from protein cannot be equated one hundred percent with calories from carbohydrates and fats. It might sound odd, but protein has what’s called a higher thermic effect. This means that the body actually uses more energy to break down protein than it does with carbohydrates and fats.
In practice, this means that 200 calories from protein are stored in the body as less than 200 calories. The exact difference can be hard to specify as it varies individually. Most people will absorb between 150 to 180 calories in the body if they consume 200 calories from protein.
This naturally means that you can eat more by consuming many protein-rich foods, but it can be incredibly difficult to know exactly how much you personally store in the body from those 200 calories of protein. So the safest way is, of course, still to log 200 kcal in your calorie account, even though they come from protein, but then you at least have the knowledge that you likely have stored fewer calories than what you have logged in your account, and such a buffer is good to have.
One last thing worth mentioning about protein is that research shows protein helps promote mitochondrial adaptations in the muscles after endurance training, which is extremely important for your fitness.
The more mitochondria we have, the better shape we will be in; it is one of the most important adaptations to training. Therefore, protein is not just for weightlifters and bodybuilders. It’s not crucial for your weight loss per se, but protein can still contribute quite effectively, as we touched upon in last week’s article, where more watts equate to more calories burned.
A good rule of thumb is to aim for 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So, for a rider weighing 70kg, that would be 140g of protein per day.
It’s best to spread your protein intake throughout the day. Ideally, you should consume your protein every three to four hours, as it’s not possible to absorb very large amounts of protein at once.
Plan When You Eat "Unhealthy"
Everyone, even the most extreme and dedicated cyclists, will occasionally crave sweets. My view is that there is no reason to restrict yourself and banish various foods.
A strategy I often use with my clients is to plan their calorie intake ahead of a "feast meal." That means if you know you are going out to eat pizza, you should control your calorie intake earlier in the day.
For example, before your calorie-dense meal, you could eat low-calorie foods that are high in protein, which, as mentioned in the previous chapter, provides a good sense of fullness despite the low calorie content. Skyr could be a good choice for a food that contributes to this effect.
This way, you have room in your calorie budget when you later consume the calorie-dense meal. If done correctly, you can still end up in a calorie deficit for the day, whether your calorie-heavy meal consists of McDonald's, a large serving of ice cream, a bag of chips, or similar. So be proactive ahead of your calorie-heavy intakes.
If you become proficient at planning and logging your calories, you will most likely find that there is room for more "cheat meals" than you might think before you started your weight loss strategy. Although it might not seem like it, many people discover that monitoring calorie intake and expenditure offers more freedom than the alternative, where you try to live like a monk, always having to say no to big temptations.
If you apply some of the above advice, you will undoubtedly find it much easier to meet your total daily calorie goal. Use the tips that feel most relevant to you and easiest to implement in your daily life.
In the end, daily habits are crucial, so take your time to plan your weight loss journey and ensure it fits your personality and daily life. Make all necessary measures into habits, and you will likely succeed.
One thing to be prepared for is the myriad of temptations, especially when motivation is at its lowest.
If you have done your groundwork well, you need not worry too much about succumbing to caloric temptations occasionally; in the grand scheme, it does no harm if you quickly return to your healthy habits.
It’s the other kind of temptations that worry me, the ones that abound on the internet. The temptations that almost seem like magical shortcuts.
It can be incredibly tempting to look for "shortcuts." I fully understand the rationale behind it. The problem is that more and more outrageous weight loss tips are shared indiscriminately, tips that seem so promising that you think, "it must almost be too good to be true," and amusingly, that thought also contains the whole truth. In the vast majority of cases, what seems too good to be true is exactly that—far too good to be true.
Most recently, I saw a neat video that explained how you could miraculously increase your fat burning significantly by bathing in cold water. It's as crazy as it sounds, and additionally, it's completely false.
As mentioned, there are countless such myths, the worst cases being those where the myths are packaged in a super sleek and professional video, because then it's clear that the tendency to fall for them is greater.
I wish we could eradicate all these fake news stories, as they lead exercisers with good intentions astray and can end up causing them to train, eat, or live according to principles that don’t help them at all.
Hopefully, I can help debunk more of these myths; granted, I can’t comment on them all in this article, but in the following chapters, I have tried to highlight and dismantle some of the most persistent myths about weight loss, which may trigger some thoughts in you and strengthen your personal "bullshit-filter".
Myth: "The harder you train, the higher your afterburn."
- Largely false!
For many years, there has been a persistent claim that high-intensity training results in significant afterburn. According to this theory, you would continue to burn calories while relaxing on the couch after your workout.
Unfortunately, it has a negligible effect on your weight loss. It is true that high-intensity training results in afterburn, but we're talking about a minimal amount. Over the course of an entire day, intense exercise may result in an increased afterburn of about 30 to 70 calories. When you look at the big picture, where the maintenance calorie intake for most people is 2000-2500 calories, it's clear that we're talking about marginal differences.
There are many other good reasons to engage in intense exercise, reasons we have discussed; afterburn just isn't one of them.
Myth: "I've always had trouble losing weight because I have a slow metabolism"
- False claim or perception in most cases.
You've probably heard someone claim that they have a super low metabolism, and that's why they can't lose weight, no matter what they do. Fortunately, this is rarely the real reason they can't lose weight. In fact, low metabolism as a medical condition is so rare that it only affects 17 out of 100,000 men and 48 out of 100,000 women annually in our country.
Natural variations in metabolism will not have any significant effect on whether one can lose weight or not. If there is a problem with the metabolism, it is an actual disease, also known medically as hypothyroidism. In this condition, the thyroid gland produces insufficient amounts of thyroid hormone, or it is due to a lack of signals from the pituitary gland in the brain.
If you are unfortunate enough to suffer from this disease, it requires medical treatment. So, if you do not lose weight over a long period, despite being in a calorie deficit, it would be a good idea to get thyroid function tests done by a doctor.
However, for the vast majority, blaming a slow metabolism for a lack of progress in weight loss is an incredibly poor excuse, which is actually good news. It means that in most cases, we can indeed take responsibility for our weight loss and, with hard work, achieve the results we dream of.
Myth: "I need to focus a lot on zone 2 in my training because it's my fat-burning zone, and thus the one I need to activate to lose weight"
- False!
Let me clarify two things emphatically:
- The fat-burning zone does exist.
- You just don't lose more weight by cycling in your fat-burning zone. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Zone 2 is often considered the fat-burning zone, but the difference between fat burning and fat as a fuel source often gets thoroughly muddled.
The fat-burning zone refers to an intensity level where you primarily use fat as a fuel source instead of carbohydrates, but it has absolutely nothing to do with burning more body fat or more calories by cycling in that zone. It is crucial to distinguish between these two aspects.
As mentioned in the previous article, you burn the most calories, and therefore the most fat, by training at the highest possible wattage for as long as possible. Yes, I know it's complicated, but the fat-burning zone is one of those zones where you burn the least fat.
Unfortunately, there's no way around it; if you want to increase your burning as much as possible, you need to train as hard as possible.
Myth: "Fasted training is a more effective weight loss strategy."
- False!
Yes, this might come as a surprise to you as a reader, since I have indeed talked about the positive effects that fasting can have on your weight loss.
In this case, however, it turns out differently: training in a fasted state is simply not more effective than training after you have eaten. Again, it all boils down to the calorie balance over the course of the entire day.
For some, it might be easier to lose weight by training fasted, for example in the morning, because it reduces the number of hours during the day available to eat.
Conversely, many people experience a drastic increase in appetite after fasted training, which can lead to "overeating" afterward. Therefore, it might end up that you consume more calories throughout the day than if you had not trained in a fasted state. This effect is also supported by several studies.
Therefore, the best thing you can do is to assess and experiment with what works best for you.
Myth: "I need to start walking 10,000 steps a day to lose weight."
- False! If anything, it's a false sense of security. Walking 10,000 steps is a waste of time.
Over the past several years, there has been an extraordinary focus on the importance of walking many steps, especially the 10,000-step rule has become extremely popular.
My comment might be a bit provocative because, of course, there are benefits to walking many steps a day. It's healthy, good for the bones, good for the brain, and a thousand times better than not moving at all.
That said, you burn very few calories by walking 10,000 steps—only around 200 calories.
So, when you consider the time and energy it takes to walk that many steps, it's not the most effective activity if the goal is to increase your calorie burn. You will burn far more calories by spending your time on high-intensity training or general exercise that gets your heart rate up.
Myth: "You should stand more at work; it increases your calorie expenditure."
- False!
I have unfortunately just as disappointing news when it comes to the difference between standing up, sitting on a chair, or even lying down in bed. There is practically no difference in calorie burn in these different scenarios.
There are certainly many benefits to standing rather than sitting. For example, it is seen that blood supply to the brain increases quite significantly, which can be a major advantage in terms of cognitive function.
However, increased calorie expenditure is not one of the benefits of standing up.
Myth: "There are several legal supplements that can increase your fat burning."
- False!
The key word here is legal. There are plenty of medical drugs that can increase your fat burning, but none of them are legal, and all are on the doping list, so these are certainly not preparations I would recommend.
Unfortunately, there are many manufacturers who claim that they produce legal supplements that can increase your fat burning. This is not true. There is no evidence that any of these supplements have any significant effect. It's a complete waste of money.
However, there is a bit of positive news if you are an asthmatic. Recent research shows that daily intake of the medication type Beta 2-agonists results in increased fat burning.
Of course, you should not take asthma medication if you do not have asthma, but if you do suffer from asthma, then you have a small advantage here.
Remember, your health is just as essential as your weight loss
It's important to distinguish between what increases calorie burning and what is healthy. As I've already mentioned, standing more at work or taking a long walk has many health-promoting effects and can also enhance your mental health. Therefore, the debunked myths mentioned above should be viewed in the light that they relate solely to calorie expenditure.
In other words, if walking a lot benefits you significantly, you should naturally not remove it from your daily routine. However, if you start targeting 10,000 steps or standing a lot at work solely to increase your calorie expenditure, there are other measures that will help you much more effectively.
The same applies to all the debunked myths; if something positively contributes to you and your daily life, by all means, continue doing it, but be aware that the gain in terms of your expenditure is not as significant.
Thank you for reading.
If you need help with structured training or testing, you'll find a range of offers at 2ned Training.