3 Toggles For Weight Loss

Many fad diets focus on tons of cardio, paired with a drastic decrease in calories, while cutting out all your favorite foods. This is a recipe for weight regain, which is not something you’re after, right? These toggles will serve you well, when used conservatively and strategically. Don’t just go all-in and pull all toggles at once. Instead, use the minimum effective dose. Take your time, adjust only when you really need to, and be prepared to take it slow and steady this time. 

1. Decreasing food intake (Calories In ↓)

You’ll likely have to cut out a good chunk of your carbohydrate intake, but not because they’re bad. Carbohydrate is the body’s preferred fuel source, and even the brain requires quite a bit of glucose to function properly. But unfortunately, you do need to lower your carbohydrate intake for the time being.

Why?

First of all, you don’t want to lower protein. If anything you’d want to up your protein intake during a diet. This will help you maintain muscle mass, but will also keep you full [7,12]. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, which makes it almost like a secret weapon to help you take on that calorie deficit headfirst. A standard protein recommendation for adults would be 0.8g/lbs of lean or goal body mass [8], though going as high as 1.4g/lbs could even be more beneficial [9].

Fats, depending on your current intake, will likely have to drop to a minimum. Because remember, fats are 9 calories per gram. Compared to carb and protein sources, fats are very calorie dense relative to the actual food volume. Knowing that hunger will be present during a calorie deficit anyway – which is normal, it’s a sign that it’s working – you’re going to want to try and keep your food volume up, for which fats aren’t very useful. Now you can’t just cut them all out either, because you do require a minimum amount for hormonal health. Just about 0.3/lbs seems to be sufficient [10].

Incorporating alcohol, although it does have a high thermic effect, is probably not going to be your best bet. At 7 calories per gram, plus it being liquid, plus knowing that it might influence food choices, you might want to prioritize actual food instead. Know that you can still puzzle alcohol into your daily and weekly calories if you really want to, although your caloric ‘budget’ is obviously going to be much smaller during a diet.

So, protein is important for muscle retention and satiety and fats for hormones, meaning that what’s left is carbohydrate (and I suppose alcohol, but let’s save that for maintenance). This is why the biggest difference you’ll see during a diet is a drop in carbohydrate intake. Again, not because carbs are bad, but simply because that’s what’s left to take away from.

2. Increasing exercise activity (Calories Out ↑)

You already know that EAT only accounts for 5% of your TDEE, which kinda makes it a minor toggle. Yes, you can increase exercise if this is relatively low, but more isn’t always better. If you already train 3-5 times a week, you don’t need to put the body under even more stress. Exercising – resistance training in particular – to build and maintain muscle mass can be a great way to increase Calories Out in the long term (more muscle mass = BMR ↑) [11]. But don’t rely on it thinking you’ll burn a whole lot during the actual session, even if you’re drenched in sweat. Just try to have a good session, and most importantly, enjoy!

Now, for your biggest toggle for weight loss..

3. Increasing non-exercise activity (Calories Out ↑)

NEAT is where you’ll be able to make the biggest difference. Remember that it accounts for 15% of your TDEE. Again, EAT is most definitely something you’d want to keep doing. But not for the sake of burning a ton of calories. Instead, aim to be more active throughout the day. Walk to work or to the store, take the stairs, get some gardening work done, play outside, etc.

NEAT and sleep are probably the most underrated aspects in healthy & fitness.

Increased Non-Exercise Activity (Thermogenesis) can help improve insulin sensitivity, blood pressure & HDL cholesterol levels. It can help you burn more calories throughout the day, while remaining in what is called a parasympathetic state (your rest/digest state). I often encourage my online fat loss clients to go for more walks and spend more time outside. Going for a walk and exposing yourself to light in the morning can support a healthy circadian rhythm. This can help you get more of the essential micronutrient Vitamin D and some fresh air, lower cortisol levels.

As a final reason to incorporate more steps. Walking can also help with digestion. A nice little habit to incorporate could be a quick 10 minute walk after breakfast, lunch or dinner. Too busy? Just take 5 minutes! Every bit of NEAT adds up.

Get active, get outside.

BONUS: Increasing thermic effect of food (Calories Out ↑)

Ok, so you got your 3 toggles for weight loss. One minor toggle: increasing exercise activity, and two major toggles: decreasing food intake & increasing non-exercise activity. But you deserve another little bonus tool in your belt, let’s address the thermic effect of food. Consuming a diet high in protein and fiber helps you increase the overall thermic effect of food, which accounts for about 10% of your TDEE [1,12]. There are limits to this toggle though, which is why I wanted to only include it as a bonus toggle.

A high protein diet does seem to be most beneficial when it comes to body composition [7]. But you can’t keep adding protein forever, remember your caloric budget is still relatively limited when you’re in a deficit. Plus it would only take away from your carbs and/or fats, which in turn might not be great.

With fiber, it’s all about finding the sweet spot. Fiber is actually a form of carbohydrate, though because of its structure you can’t properly digest it. However it’s still an important part of a healthy diet. Sources like fruits and vegetables come with tons of micronutrients, water and fiber. Fiber helps your GI tract to keep things moving, plus your microbiome love to feed off it. Consuming too little fiber can cause digestive issues, but so does consuming too much fiber. Typically, for most people, about 20-30g a day seems to be a sufficient amount (based on 14g per 1000kcal [13]).

During a diet, you might want to up your fruit, veggie and protein intake so you feel nice and full. It’s all about trying out different foods that fit your caloric budget, and finding out which serve you best during a diet. Our clients track their food in Cronometer. This gives them a good overview of their macro and micronutrient intake.