For those of you who are new to Bootcamp (and low carbing) - or even those who are old hands - here's a really interesting and informative piece from Zoe Harcombe about why calorie counting doesn't work:
Why you mustn’t try to eat less if you want to weigh less
We shared yesterday that we’ve all done every calorie deficit diet under the sun and found that nothing has enabled us to lose weight and keep it off. It is completely understandable, having ‘failed’ so many times, to expect to fail again. There is a completely logical part of your mind, right now, doubting that you can lose weight and keep it off.
Logical as this is, we need to explain why you can ditch that thought and move forward with complete faith and confidence. Calorie counting doesn’t work. Trying to eat less doesn’t work. Trying to do more doesn’t work. You have not failed. Diets have failed you and, if those diets rely on trying to reduce your calorie intake, they will always fail.
The information today explains why calorie counting hasn’t worked and won’t work. Don’t blame yourself. Blame bad advice. Be angry for all the years you’ve wasted trying to starve yourself, getting hungry and miserable. Channel that anger into an absolute determination to do the right thing. The way to lose weight is to eat better – never less. You’re on day 2 of doing the right thing – don’t ever look back.
Following 20 years of research into weight loss, obesity and overeating, I have concluded that the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to work with your body – never against it. The current advice to count calories/eat less/eat low fat etc is destined to have your body fighting you all the way.
Here’s what happens directly when we try to eat less:
1) We get hungry & our body tries to get us to eat.
This alone ruins most diets. Your body doesn’t know that you’ve read a diet book – it thinks you’ve landed on a desert island. It will send out many signals to try to make you eat – shaky hands, rumbly tummy, irritability, inability to concentrate; indecisiveness and an unusually high preoccupation with food. Many people experience these symptoms at c. 11am and 4pm on a daily basis, when their blood sugar drops, and this is the most dangerous time for the munchies.
2) Our body stores fat and uses up lean muscle.
Lean muscle uses up more calories (energy) than fat does. Back to the desert island situation – your body is in survival mode when you try to eat less, so it needs to ‘dump’ the part of you that needs the most energy. This is the lean muscle – so that needs to go first. Your body hangs on to the fat a) because it uses up less energy and b) because it is going to be a valuable reserve if you are on the ‘desert island’ for a long time.
3) Our metabolisms slow down.
Your body does this to conserve the limited energy that is now coming in. This then means that you will need fewer calories to live on and you will put on weight if you try to eat the number of calories that used to maintain your weight.
… and guess what else happens when we try to eat less/count calories:
1) We increase the proportion of carbohydrates in our diet.
Fat has approximately nine calories per gram while carbohydrate has approximately four, so calorie counters choose carbs over fats every time and thereby increase the proportion of carbohydrates in their diet.
2) We reduce the variety of food eaten.
We tend to go for the regular favourites that give us ‘the biggest bang for the buck’ (the most food for the fewest calories). We probably have a set breakfast – our calorie counted bread, or cereal, every day. We probably have a set lunch also – a shop bought calorie-counted ready meal or calorie counted sandwich or cereal bar. We may vary the evening meal a bit more, but it is still likely to have the same ingredients in it and always more carbs than fats.
3) We weaken our immune systems.
This happens because:
a) We are not eating as much fuel (calories) as our body needs;
b) We have cut back on fats, which are essential for our immune system;
c) We develop nutritional deficiencies by not eating enough calories and fats and by eating a limited variety of foods.
This is taken from an email sent out today, as part of her Back to Basics 14-day plan.
The Harcombe diet focuses on slightly different things from Bootcamp but it is, essentially, a low carb approach. Zoe has a very interesting take on things like cholesterol too, so it's definitely worth checking her site/forum out.