Here’s How To Actually Lose Weight

Lose weight, get faster. It sounds simple, but it can be difficult. I've looked at the latest science and broken it down into seven key tips to help you lose some excess pounds. There are no fad diets here, no silly meal replacement shakes. I'm not trying to sell you anything. Just give you some good advice and these are things that I've done myself to help me become a better cyclist. The amount of cycling that you need to do to lose weight is probably a lot less than what you think. In fact, it's probably not what you think at all. Cycling can have a problem with eating disorders, but the fact is, if we're honest, most of us could be a bit leaner unless, of course, you are Jonas Fingergaard. The first thing is that science suggests that exercise does not help you lose weight. That is a very big statement and one that's quite nuanced. I can already hear the clatter of keyboards as you furiously write away in the comment section saying, yes, it does. As I said, it's nuanced and it's a very complicated subject that weighs beyond the scope of this particular video. If it's something that you would like to see me investigate further, let us know in the comment section down below because I would love to delve into it. While you're there, it'd be really great if you could subscribe because I can tell by looking at the analytics that most of you don't. If you're more eager to do, well, it just really helps us improve what we do and we need your support more than ever. The basic premise for this statement is something known as the constrained energy model devised by a scientist called Ponser. The research showed that by doing a load of cardiovascular exercise like going on a big bike ride, your body then conserved energy the rest of the day, meaning that you would probably go home and chill out on the sofa and watch GCN. You often do this subconsciously too by tapping, fidgeting, or gesticulating less and people diet compensate as well by eating more. Overall, what you eat, your diet has been shown to have a much bigger impact on your weight and body composition than exercise. That's what I'm going to focus on in this video. The fact that you're watching this video means that you're probably a cyclist, which is great because exercising has been shown to have a whole host of other benefits for health, such as your VO2 max has been shown to be a very strong and independent predictor of how long you'll live. Keep exercising, stay healthy, just don't necessarily do it for weight loss. Remember, you can't out-train a bad diet. The first tip is just to avoid fad diets. The internet is awash with charlatans selling various different fad diets. Often, these people have no credible qualifications behind them, whether it's just eating carbs or eating just raw vegetables, or the keto diet, or the tapeworm diet, or whatever it may be. There are some exceptions in very limited cases. For example, the keto diet can be beneficial to some individuals with epilepsy, but on the whole, these things are all absolute rubbish. There is no easy fix. Getting in shape and losing weight is not easy. It requires consistency, time, and you need to create lifestyle changes, which you can stick to in the long run. First thing, eat more plants. Now, plants are less energy-dense than ice cream and chocolate, which is disappointing and probably doesn't come as a surprise, but they contain a huge amount of fiber and other micronutrients, which are extremely beneficial to your health and for your gut microbiome. Your microbes love diversity, but unfortunately, industrialized farming and processed foods have reduced that variety and diversity, so much so that 75% of the world's food comes from just 12 plants and five different animals. The advice is to try and consume at least 30 different plants a week. Now, that sounds hard if you think it's just vegetables, but it's not. It also means fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, beans, and spices. Frozen and canned foods are often packed full of nutrients and are really good, and good quality dark chocolate counts. Popcorn counts too, winning. Most of us don't get enough fiber in our diets, but once you start eating more plants, it becomes a lot easier. The next tip, avoid ultra-processed foods as much as possible. Why? The evidence against them is overwhelming. They are far more readily absorbed into the body, leading to spikes in blood sugar and weight gain, and they also decrease the diversity of your microbiome. They also typically have the fiber component stripped out, and in its place, contain a chemistry set of emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners, gums, and thickening agents. The scientific research increasingly suggests that these substances have negative health outcomes. What is an ultra-processed food? Well, it's better to think of them as edible food-like substances. The best way to determine if a food is ultra-processed, because there are different levels of processing, is a definition that was defined by a Brazilian scientist called Carlos Montero. He would say, ask yourself these two questions. First, does it come in plastic packaging? Tick, yes. Then, does it contain one or more ingredient that you wouldn't normally find in a kitchen? Here we have tapioca starch, gluten-free oat flour, corn fiber, medium-chain triglyceride powder from coconut, micronutrient blend, panothenic acid, biotin, bloody hell, rice flour, emulsifier, lecithin, thickener, gel and gum, sucralose. Yes, it's a chemistry set. Ultra-processed. Approximately half the calories consumed by Brits and Americans comes from ultra-processed foods. Sadly, our waistlines have become a reflection of that. There are a lot of foods that we eat that you may not realize are ultra-processed, such as pretty much all breakfast cereals, energy bars, most yogurts, pre-made sandwiches in packets, and pretty much all bread too, although not fancy artisanal bread, but that is generally far more expensive. Fruit juices too, they're often marketed as healthy, but they have most of the fiber stripped out. Fun fact for you, there's more fiber in a cup of coffee than there is in orange juice. Yes, I am so much fun at parties. Meal replacement shakes, absolute guff. Ultra-processed food does not benefit you. It's designed around increasing profit and profitability. Scientific studies have shown that when people are matched for macronutrient content, when they eat a controlled diet of ultra-processed food versus people on a non-ultra-processed diet, the ultra-processed cohort consume more food and put on weight. Don't be orthorexic. In the modern world, it's unavoidable, especially if you're busy or traveling, but just be aware that even if you reduced your ultra-processed food intake by 20% each week over the course of a year, that would add up to make huge benefits to you in terms of your overall health and body composition. As a cyclist, having some sugar that's readily absorbed is hugely advantageous, especially if you're on a really long ride or you're in a race and your body is using it and wants to get fuel in as quick as possible. My advice, though, would just be to go for some sports nutrition that has more natural ingredients in it rather than a full-on chemistry set such as precision. The next tip, stop counting calories. I've made videos in the past where I spoke about counting calories and tracking your diet that way, but I've since changed my mind because of science. Now, counting calories should be filed firmly under bro science. I can already hear the keyboards once again clattering away in the comment section, but bear with me. There are a couple of very good reasons for this. The first of which is that there have been no long-term studies that show that caloric restriction leads to weight loss beyond the first couple of weeks. Your body's evolutionary mechanisms kick in and change your metabolism. You go into a shutdown mode, which means that people often lose some weight in the short term, but then bounce back past where they actually were. A best example I can think of of this is probably the famous TV show, The Biggest Loser, in which most of the contestants lost weight in the short term, but then after the show had finished, put on more weight than where they started. This is once again related to Ponce's constrained energy model that I mentioned earlier. Calorie counting has the slight benefit of being able to broadly explain to someone who knows nothing about food that a muffin has 500 calories and that same number of calories in carrots looks like this. Oh, I dropped one. Beyond that, it's largely useless and a waste of time. Why? It's impossible to do it accurately, woefully inaccurate. Food labels themselves only have to be accurate plus or minus 20%. On top of that, the measurement of a calorie is absolutely absurd. It's defined as the energy required to raise the temperature of one centimeter cubed of water by one degree Celsius by weighing and burning the food. These experiments that burnt food were some basic science known as bomb calorimetry performed in the late 1800s. If our bodies processed food by incinerating it, then it might be more accurate to measure our energy in with calories. However, I've eaten a full tin of sweet corn and I can tell you from my own scientific observations that it clearly hadn't been incinerated. Food companies love the idea of calories because it perpetuates the absurd myth that 500 calories of ultra-processed crap is equivalent to 500 calories of salad. It's salad. It clearly isn't. That said, it is nuanced. Science is rarely black and white. If there was a more accurate way to measure energy in versus energy out and how that changes over time, then some sort of measuring of food intake could be useful. We just don't have it yet. Don't be a monk though. Some people go all in on January the 1st, just quitting everything that they think is unhealthy. This is a miserable way to live your life, removing everything that you enjoy. It's salad. Live a little. Remember, consistency is key and stress is associated with weight gain, so make sure that you're happy. Yes, alcohol is bad for you, but the social benefits and happiness that can be brought by having a beer with your mates cannot be understated. Speaking of which, here's me with all my friends. Try and avoid blood sugar spikes. What is a blood sugar spike? It's when you eat something very sweet or you eat a large amount of carbohydrates in one go and it causes your blood sugar to rise. The thing is with spikes is that they have a number of negative health outcomes when you have continual spikes day after day after day, but the biggest one we're concerned about is weight gain. Now, continual blood sugar monitors, those little things you wear on your arm, they're all the rage right now. You see a lot of athletes wearing them and you see I have banned them, but they're really expensive. I think having worn them myself, there are some key takeaways that I can give you of things that I've learned. Ultra-processed food, that's more likely to spike your blood sugar. Eating carbohydrates in isolation, so if you just had a big bowl of rice on its own, that spikes your blood sugar more than if you had it as part of a balanced meal with some additional fiber, fat, and protein. You should masticate more. Masticate. If you masticate more in 2024, you will be healthier. That is, of course, unless you already masticate loads already. Mastication being the technical term for chewing. Chewing your food more allows you to enjoy it, savor it, taste it more, but also it slows the rate at which you eat. Therefore, it slows the rate at which the nutrients from that food, including the sugar, is absorbed and gets into your body, reducing blood sugar spikes. Down below, we'll put three links to papers that back this up. That said, though, as cyclists, we're endurance athletes a lot of the time, and we will invariably be wanting to consume more carbohydrate than the general population, which can inevitably lead to spikes, but there are some things you can do. Make sure that you are fueling on the bike. While you're riding, your body is actively using and burning sugar. It's in a different metabolic state. People who don't eat while on the bike tend to go home and binge on the sofa, which isn't good. Also, if you're on a rest day or an easier day, consider just reducing the amount of carbohydrate you eat. If you normally have a high-carb breakfast like porridge, maybe consider swapping it out for something else, or maybe just fast until lunch altogether. Exercise helps regulate your blood sugar too. If you've had a big meal, then even just a light ride or walk after a meal can help bring your blood sugar down. We need to talk about sleep. Poor sleep has been linked to serious health conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. There's growing evidence that people who don't get enough sleep are at a higher risk of obesity and weight gain. When you sleep badly, you typically have higher levels of hormones the next day, which are responsible for hunger. Alcohol really negatively affects your sleep as well. Studies have shown that people who sleep badly often then have a tendency to reach for sweeter foods and eat more the following day. How do you sleep better? Well, there are loads of wearables and gadge out there that you can buy to help track and monitor your sleep. To be honest, if you just Google good sleep hygiene, you'll get most of the way there and it'll save you a lot of money. The biggest ones in my experience are to black out the room if you can. Don't eat close to bedtime, at least two hours. Also, make sure the temperature of the room you're sleeping in is cool. You typically want to be looking at around 17 to 18 degrees Celsius. Be patient, Rome wasn't built in a day. Diet is very personal and how we respond to foods individually is often very different. The best general advice is eat more plants, avoid ultra-processed food, and just try and eat more variety. Nutrition and weight loss is such a massive topic, far too much to fit into just this one video. I hope you found this useful. If you have, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe. Hopefully, I'll see you in the next one. Cheers.