Calorie Deficit

Question
Hi Tom, most people know that the main point of dieting for weight loss is to create a caloric deficit to burn more calories than consumed. However, according to some sources, carbs at night are stored as fat, excess of unhealthy sugars throughout the day can cause weight gain, and obviously unhealthy fats all cause weight gain. My question is then, is caloric surplus the only thing that causes weight gain? what if i ate 6 small meals a day that were high in saturated fats and had most of my carbs right before bed but i kept it so that i was at par or at a caloric deficit? What factors ACTUALLY contribute to gaining weight?

Answer
Hi Marc,

First of all, no one understands all of the factors involved in weight gain / weight loss and the exact biological mechanisms by which someone will gain or lose weight. The human body is far more complex than the human mind can understand, despite what "weight loss experts" will tell you about their secret formula diet program.

Hormones are a big component to weight gain, which is why eating food late at night causes weight gain in most people - because it disrupts your hormones having to digest the food right before sleeping. Stress hormones like cortisol have been shown to increase weight gain - meaning two people can eat the EXACT same foods but one person gains weight because they have higher levels of cortisol and other stress hormones.

I teach people to eat whole foods and avoid processed foods for overall health and weight loss seems to be a huge benefit of it. I've never seen someone who cut out processed foods from their diet and added in lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and berries who didn't lose weight, whereas I've seen hundreds of people who tried calorie restriction or some other fad diet and never lost the weight.

I hope that helps!

I take a lot more about weight loss and nutrition in my newsletter, you can get access to it for free at www.AuthenticHealthCoach.com

Wishing you wellness,
Tom

1. Prev:Want to lose some weight...
2. Next:Kids Weight Loss Plan