As the New Year begins it is often a time when people are thinking about weight loss after the indulgence of the festive season. For many this can be focusing on a restricted eating pattern with an emphasis on calories in and calories out, and a push to take fat and often meat out of the diet! Unfortunately, this is not often a successful strategy for long-term weight management and health, especially as we age. So where should we focus if we want 2026 to start with an effective approach to losing weight and keeping it off?
Let’s be honest….losing weight can be tough and keeping it off in the long run can be even tougher, especially if you opt for a restrictive eating pattern. Most people who successfully lose weight by focusing on reducing their calorie intake regain the weight steadily and after 3 years around 80% are rapidly approaching their starting weight. Consequently, when I work with clients who want to lose weight as part of their health goals, one of the things I will never encourage them to do is count calories or restrict their intake of highly nutritious foods, such as meat, purely based on their fat or calorie content. Although it’s one of the best-known approaches to weight loss, studies have shown that it’s an ineffective way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight in the long run. A lot of people are surprised by this, although some are delighted that they can stop doing something they’ve tried in vain for years!
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m advocating that the number of calories you eat has no role in whether you gain or lose weight. If you eat an excessive number of calories you will put on weight. However, calorie restriction only (and even in combination with more exercise) is for the vast majority of people not a successful way to lose weight and keep it off. As you may know from your own experience, diets that purely aim to count and restrict calories are hard work from a will power perspective and often leave you feeling hungry, making them unsustainable over the longer term. They can also inadvertently lead to nutrient deficiencies by viewing food solely through the lens of energy.
Why doesn’t calorie counting work?
On paper, calorie counting makes sense – if you take in fewer calories than you use up, you’ll lose weight. It’s a simple and alluring equation: Eat less, move more. Easy. On the one hand, this arithmetic is right. If you can continuously take in fewer calories than you’re burning, it will work. However, the maths falls apart when we consider that the number of calories we are absorbing versus the amount we are burning is virtually impossible to calculate accurately. Plus, we are not simple machines ruled by the laws of thermodynamics and there is a lot more at play.
The imprecision built into the way calories in food are estimated, plus the difficulty of measuring portion sizes accurately and the impact on calorie content based on cooking methods all mean that we can never be 100% sure how many calories we’ve eaten. However, even if we knew exactly how many calories were in our meals, we wouldn’t know how many we’ve actually absorbed. People absorb highly varying amounts depending on individual factors such as genetics and the composition of their gut bacteria. The structure of food also affects how many calories we extract from it as not all the energy present may be available to use depending on the food matrix – how it’s held together and the compounds it contains. Calculating how many calories we have burned on any given day is also always an estimate based on some rather generic equations. So, for all these reasons we can see that counting calories can never be accurate. Now let’s look at, even if it was possible, why it doesn’t help manage our weight.
Research has shown that the type of nutrients in food makes a difference when it comes to weight loss. When people consume roughly the same number of calories, the amount of weight they lose depends on the macronutrient content of their diet (protein, carbohydrate, and fat). The calories in food are not equal and cannot be treated as such. It’s not the number of calories that matters but the nutrients and the overall quality of the food that is most important.
Food is so much more than the energy it provides. The number of calories in a food doesn’t tell you anything about the other nutrients present, how good it is for your gut microbiome, how quickly it gets absorbed, or how many additives and preservatives it contains. The number of calories will also not tell you about the impact of the food on your ability to control your blood sugar and your feelings of fullness after eating it. All of these other factors have an impact on our ability to manage our weight and if we pay attention to them then we will naturally consume fewer calories. Viewed in this way, meat and other animal products can be an important part of our approach to weight management.
So, what’s the right approach to weight loss?
Weight loss is about working with, rather than against, the physiological and biochemical processes at play in the body. Thought about in that way, weight loss then becomes about more than just eating the right number of calories, it also encompasses the types of food eaten, when food is eaten, and supporting the hormonal balance in the body. One central theme to making sustainable weight loss much easier to achieve is to eat in a way that keeps our blood sugar balanced throughout the day and maximises our sensitivity to insulin. Eating in this way ensures a steady supply of energy and an appropriate appetite, whilst also allowing the body to burn fat. This approach to weight loss avoids the feelings of hunger and drops in energy that often accompany calorie restriction alone making it easier to sustain over the long-term and a lot more enjoyable!
Of course, everyone is different, and people respond to foods differently so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. However, there are some general rules that apply to all of us in supporting our ability to manage our weight in an effective way;
Consider the macronutrient balance of meals and snacks
Include protein with every meal and snack – protein plays a vital role in the blood sugar balancing way of eating. This is because protein rich foods fill us up but have virtually no effect on blood sugar. A protein rich breakfast has been shown to be a particularly good way to manage hunger over the rest of the day.
Reduce the amount of refined carbohydrates – whilst this includes obvious items such as sugar, sugary drinks, cake and biscuits it also involves cutting right back on white bread, white rice, pasta, breakfast cereals and cereal bars. Consider all of these as occasional foods NOT everyday essentials.
Choose carbohydrates carefully – opt for carbohydrates that release their energy more slowly (brown rice, quinoa, oats etc) AND reduce the overall portion size (max 1⁄4 of plate at meal). Ideally include only 1 portion of these foods per day by swapping them out for alternatives.
Increase your vegetable intake – whilst vegetables do contain carbohydrate, they also contain fibre and lots of phytonutrients. Consequently, they are a great way to fill your plate in a way that provides lots of nutrients and keeps your blood sugar stable – aim for 1⁄2 a plate.
Focus on nutrients from real foods not calories
Opt for nutrient dense foods – focus on including highly nutritious foods that are also beneficial to health even if they are high in calories. Animal products, including meat, are some of the most nutrient dense options available and we don’t need a large quantity of them to make us feel full and provide the nutrients we need. Therefore, cutting out these foods to keep your calorie count in check is counterproductive.
Minimise ultra-processed foods – eat whole foods with their food matrix intact which will provide the nutrients we require, the fibre our gut bacteria need to thrive and keep us feeling full for longer. The structure of the food also means we must work harder to access the energy it contains, and we are likely to absorb less from the food as a result.
Avoid choosing foods simply because their calorie counts are low – while “diet” snacks or low-fat options may seem like a good option to reduce your overall calorie intake, these foods are often nutrient-light too and contain a lot of additives. Low-fat options typically contain added sugars to compensate for the reduction in taste by removing the fat! A small amount of a full-fat version will keep you fuller for longer and have less effect on your blood sugar levels, making it less likely you will reach for additional calories in the form of snacks between meals.
Beware of ‘empty calories’ and skipping meals to compensate – swapping out meals so you can include higher-calorie treats like cake or alcohol is likely to mean excluding nutrient-dense foods as a result and is best avoided.
Following these guidelines will support blood sugar balance, fullness, and appetite, helping to avoid hunger and overeating making weight management more sustainable. Focusing on nutrients rather than calories will also support overall well-being and the range of other processes such as sleep, stress management and gut health that also have a major role to play in weight management. If you are looking for more individualised advice, I’d love to support you to uncover the food and lifestyle choices that are right for you and your health goals, including weight management.
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