I'm sick of protein shakes just looking at this.

“Eat 6 times a day to boost your metabolism.”

“Eat a big breakfast or you’ll get fat.”

“Only eat protein and carbs before and after working out.”

“Don’t eat a big meal late in the day.”

Everyone’s heard these platitudes but they’re part of a broader class of advice built around the idea that the timing (and composition) of meals is extremely important for losing fat. Miss breakfast and your body won’t start burning calories because it’s in starvation mode; eat a big meal before bed and all those calories will go straight to your thighs as you rest. The advice certainly sounds plausible and actually kind of makes sense, but unfortunately there isn’t any research to back it up.

One of the latest research papers to fail to find any connection between meal frequency and fat loss was electronically published last month: “Increased meal frequency does not promote greater weight loss in subjects who were prescribed an 8-week equi-energetic energy-restricted diet.” Two groups of obese subjects were put on diets consisting of either 3 meals or 3 meals with 3 snacks each day. Both groups lost weight and body fat without any significant differences between the two.

Several previous studies have covered similar ground in meal frequency, from eating once per day (also referred to as a type of intermittent fasting) all the way up to 9 meals a day.  The majority have shown no significant differences in terms of fat loss. *

So if meal frequency doesn’t matter, should I just eat whenever I feel like it? Well, yes and no:

• Yes, because there is no physiological reason to prefer 3 meals a day over 5 meals, or even 1 meal a day over 9.
• No, because other issues can come into play, namely satiety and compliance.

Dieting is difficult—you’re often hungry, lethargic, and even cranky, as your hormones get out of whack. Any strategies you can come up with to struggle through are worthwhile as far as I’m concerned. If that means eating a decent-sized breakfast so you aren’t starving when the pastry cart comes by your desk, go for it! If having several meals during the day keeps you satiated until bedtime, go for that, especially if the alternative is ordering (and eating) an entire pizza at 10pm.

The most important thing is not when you eat, but what’s on your plate.  To lose weight, you have to achieve a caloric deficit by ingesting fewer calories than you burn.  With that goal in mind, figure out the necessary steps to achieve it, and definitely don’t beat yourself up over missing breakfast or having a bowl of cereal before bed.

*Frequency of feeding, weight reduction and energy metabolism; The effect of meal frequency and protein concentration on the composition of the weight lost by obese subjects;
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I was alerted to the papers mentioned by the latest issue of Alan Aragon’s Research Review. I highly recommend subscribing to this publication.  Not only do you get fantastic, unbiased analysis of the latest fitness-related research, you’ll also be able to read a few recent guest articles of mine!

• Supplements. This is a huge business, around $20 billion in sales in the US alone according to an industry lobby group report. Very few of those dollars are well-spent. I recommend protein supplementation for some individuals, fish oil caps for those who don’t eat a lot of fatty fish, and maybe some creatine for a more advanced trainee. But these aren’t going to cost more than $30-$50 per month on average. Wander into any health foods store, GNC or the like, though, and you’ll find shelves upon shelves of mass gainer, fat burner, testosterone booster, and general make-you-lean-and-strong-right-now! pills.  Too bad none of them do very much at all besides slim down your wallet. One humorous example is that of “Surge Recovery”, a post workout drink marketed by Biotest that “turns on the muscle gaining, hyper-drive switch.” (You can read more sensational claims about the product here.) At about $2/serving, this drink had better be pretty amazing! Alan Aragon did an analysis of Surge earlier this year comparing it to chocolate milk and ultimately concluded that the two were equally effective (based on the research done to date). Chocolate milk, however, is less than half the cost per serving for all the hyper-drive switch muscle building you could want.

• Exercise equipment. We’ve all seen the infomercials promising six-pack abs, bulging biceps, or a toned butt—all in just six minutes a day! More nonsense. The most advanced equipment most people will ever need to get fit and look better are a nice set of dumbbells, a bar with some weights, and a comfortable pair of shoes for exercising. After all, Olympic and professional athletes are using this same basic, time-tested things to get stronger and faster. Can you imagine Usain Bolt ditching his squat rack for a Shake Weight?

• Fads. Books, diets, articles, gurus, coaches, and programs. Every month there’s something new, from the South Beach and Zone diets to P90X, Marine-style bootcamps, 6 Ways to Build Bigger Biceps, and so forth. All of these have one thing in common: they promise fast results. And most of them are either very flawed or make outrageous claims. See my post on bootcamps for the kind of ridiculous claims that are common, and which completely undermine the credibility of what could otherwise be a decent program.

It’s hard for me not to take all this nonsense a little bit personally. I’m a trainer, I make claims about my product, and I charge money for that product. Unlike many of these companies, though, I like to think that 1) I make realistic promises and 2) I deliver on those promises.

Even if the industry continues to sell overpriced, unproven products to make a quick buck, I’d also like to think that consumers can become more informed about health and fitness.  That’s what I try to do when training my clients, and with the content of this blog.

Here’s a fantastic discussion about Taubes by James Krieger: Bullshitter of the Day: Gary Taubes. Losing or gaining fat is ultimately a question of calorie consumption. If you eat more calories than you expend you will in the long run gain weight and fat. If you eat fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight and fat. There’s nothing more to it, and certainly no “metabolic advantage” for eating protein and fat over carbohydrates.

Does that mean eating a high carb diet full of bread, pasta, rice, sugar and the like is a good idea? No! All those foods are very calorie dense. In the simplest terms, this means you can eat more calories (remember that’s really all that matters) without feeling satisfied. Ever had a muffin at 3pm only to feel ravenous again in an hour? Eating a diet full of lower caloric density foods such as meat, vegetables, and fruits will on the whole leave you feeling more satisfied and less likely to overeat.

And finally, not getting adequate protein is much more likely on a high carb diet. Adequate protein is critical to maintaining lean body mass (your muscles, organs, and all that good stuff). If you’re having some meat, tofu, milk, or whey protein with most meals this is easy.

So whats the upshot of all this? Eat a balanced diet, get adequate protein, try not to eat foods that don’t fill you up, make sure to get your micro nutrients from fruits and vegetables, and stay away from junk food!

Not a fan of this view? Read on!

• Two groups of obese individuals were put on identical 800kcal (very restrictive) liquid diets for 12 weeks.
• One group did endurance or “cardio” training 4 times a week for one hour (walking, biking, or stair climbing).
• The other group underwent strength training 3 times a week using 10 stations with increasing number of sets.
• Fat loss, change in body composition, and change in resting metabolic rate (RMR) was measured at the conclusion of the study.

The results were astonishing (for many people):

• Both groups lost significant body mass, BUT the strength trained group had no loss in lean body mass (muscle).
• The endurance trained group lost significant amounts (nearly 10lbs) of lean body mass.
• The strength trained group lost on average MORE body fat (~4lbs) than the endurance trained group.

Additionally, the resistance trained group actually increased their RMR, while the endurance trained group suffered a significant (14% decrease). Essentially, the resistance trained group’s metabolism sped up over the 12 weeks, while the endurance trained group’s slowed down as their bodies conserved energy!

What can we take away from this study?

1. Losing significant amounts of body fat requires calorie restriction (eating less) – although not with the severity done in this study.
2. Strength training is superior to endurance training for conserving muscle mass, AND losing fat, AND maintaining a healthy metabolism.

For those individuals looking to lose weight and fat out there the prescription is clear. First, reduce the calories you consume – this can mean simply eating less OR eating less calorie dense food. Substituting leafy vegetables for rice and pasta, drinking water instead of soft drinks or juice, or snacking on fruit instead of baked goods are easy ways to start. Second, begin a strength training program to conserve muscle mass and keep your metabolism going strong. And finally, if you have the time, add cardio work such as walking, swimming, or stair climbing for overall cardiovascular health.

Of course, my absolute BEST recommendation would be to start a personal training program with SFB Fitness where all aspects of your training will be optimized for your specific goals. Contact us today!

1. Targeted Fat Loss

This is a great one.  For men and women it’s getting rid of that extra bit of fat around the midsection to reveal their abs. For women it’s the bit of fat on the underside of their upper arm. Everyone wants to get rid of it, and there a million products/routines/pills that promise to do so. But the fact is, it’s impossible to target fat loss on any part of the body. Fat is deposited around the body without any regard to whether the muscles underneath have been worked.  That’s why all those crunches never gave you a six-pack.

2. Aerobic Training is Best For Fat Loss

This one is rooted in actual science, although it’s ultimately just as misguided as myth #1. Aerobic training – low to moderate intensity activity where your heart rate is about 60-75% of your max heart rate (HRM) – burns energy primarily via the oxidative energy pathway (approximately 70%). Put simply, fat molecules are broken down into energy which your muscles use. High intensity exercise on the other hand – sprints, circuit training, or heavy strength training where your heart rate is typically above 75% HRM  - burns energy primarily via the glycolytic energy pathway (about 50%). In this case, glucose (sugar) is the primary energy source with fat taking a smaller role. Unthinking trainers and the fitness industry took this physiological fact and prescribed low to moderate intensity exercise – the “fat burning zone.”
BUT, low intensity training however, burns fewer calories. A lot fewer – so an hour on the treadmill might mean 300 burned calories or roughly 220 fat calories, but an hour of circuit training could burn something more like 600 calories! Even though less comes from fat, half of 600 (that’s 300 for those who’ve had their morning coffee) is more than 200 or so. So ditch long duration, low intensity training for the most part. It’s boring and largely ineffective for losing fat.

Some take away points: the best supplements are extremely inexpensive – they run me at most $50 or $60 a month and this includes at least 2 protein shakes a day, creatine, and fish oil.  Employees at GNC or similar retail outlets will often try to upsell worthless products like NO Explode, complicated protein formulations, enhanced creatine compound, and pro hormones. None of that stuff is worthwhile, and is extremely expensive as well.

Where to Start

Buying a jug of whey protein powder and making a shake to drink along with a piece of fruit is probably the easiest and most effective “supplementation” I can recommend.  If you find yourself hitting up a Starbucks and Tim Horton’s once or twice a day for a bagel and a muffin, switching to a scoop of protein powder and a banana will not only reduce your overall caloric intake, but also provides a filling and nutritious snack full of protein and vitamins.

Hit up Supplements Canada for some reasonable prices on protein powder blends. The stuff is much cheaper in the US, but at around $40 a 5lb jug will last over a month at 2 scoops per day.

Your results may differ.

Fish oil capsules are another supplement that almost everyone will benefit from. The modern diet has very little Omega 3 Fatty Acid content – a near miracle drug. The easiest way to increase your intake of this type of fat is to supplement with fish oil capsules. Look for bottles that contain lots (100+ grams) of eicosapentanoic (EPA) acid and docosahexanoic (DHA) acid, as this is the stuff that will do your body good. Alternatively, you can simply eat more fatty fish like salmon throughout the week. However, that can get pretty expensive and you’ll need to be mindful of mercury content. A month’s supply of capsules (around 4/day) shouldn’t cost more than $20 or so with Walmart being a better bet on price than a health food store. If you want to learn more about healthy fats and fish oil check out an article by Alan Aragon here. He cites a lot of studies to back up the almost too good to be true benefits of Omega 3 Fatty Acids.

Creatine and a multivitamin are other cost effective supplements you can look into. However, they’re going to offer fewer benefits than a diet of adequate protein and added fish oil. If you don’t (and won’t) eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables, it might be worth looking into a multivitamin. Otherwise, keep it simple.