Your metabolism isn’t broken. You’re just not doing this...
Read time: 5 minutes
I got to tick off another of the great European cities at the weekend by finally getting my butt over to Amsterdam.
I can neither confirm nor deny that I may or may not have eaten a surprisingly tasty chocolate space cake,
But there is one thing I'm certain about...
Space cake is a recipe for a high step count, even if the wind chill has it feeling like -5 degrees outside.
Or so I've been told 😉
Anyway, talking of a high step count, it might not surprise you to know that a higher step count and physical activity in general make maintaining fat loss progress easier.
Just how much easier?
Well, you're going to have to keep reading to find out...
I'm not going to take you for a fool, after all, you're reading my emails, and only LEGENDS do that.
So I'm going to assume you understand that fat loss is made 'easier' when physical activity is a consistent fixture in one's life.
Fair to say?
Good.
But what role does it play when fat loss has been achieved, and the goal switches from trying to lose weight to maintaining it?
Do you have to do the same amount?
Can you cut it back and rely on nutrition?
Do you have to increase the amount you're doing?
Or does it even matter at all?
Well, a study from 2020 titled "Physical Activity Energy Expenditure and Total Daily Energy Expenditure in Successful Weight Loss Maintainers" has made it quite clear what the answer is (1).
But before we get into it, let's clear up some terms:
- Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) - Simply put, this is the amount of calories you burn each day.
- Basal metabolic rate (BMR) - The number of calories your body requires to perform essential, life-sustaining functions such as breathing and cell production, while at complete rest.
- Thermic effect of food (TEF) - The energy your body burns to digest, absorb, and metabolise nutrients. Protein has the highest TEF.
- Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) - The energy expended for all physical activities that are not sleeping, eating, or structured exercise. Walking is an example.
- Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT) - The calories you burn from structured exercise, such as hitting the gym or going for a run.
Right, now we're clear on those, let's dive into this study.
They compared three groups:
- People who lost weight and kept it off for 9 years (avg loss was 26.2 kg/58 lbs)
- Normal-weight people who were never overweight
- People with overweight/obesity
Researchers tracked 80 people to answer one simple question:
How do people who successfully lose weight and keep it off actually do it?
Like, isn’t that the million-dollar question that most people want the answer to at least once in their life?
So they had 3 groups:
- Group 1: 25 people who had lost an average of 26.2 kg/58 lbs and kept it off for at least 9 years.
- Group 2: 27 people who had never been overweight.
- Group 3: 28 overweight/obese people who were a similar weight to what the first group used to be.
I’m going to refer to them as Weight Loss Maintainers, Normal Weight, and Overweight/Obesity from here on.
What They Measured
They didn’t rely on food journals or fitness trackers. They used gold-standard lab methods to measure:
- Total calories burned per day (TDEE)
- Calories burned through activity (PAEE)
- Resting metabolism (REE)
- Daily steps
In this study, they combine NEAT and EAT and use a total exercise score, rather than the more commonly used method that I mentioned earlier.
No,w besides daily steps, they haven’t made any mention of what type of exercise participants carried out.
I’d like to think some were strength training, but we can’t assume that, so we’re basing the calories burned through exercise as daily steps and then general day-to-day activities.
What Did They Find Out?
Daily Calories Burned Through Activity:
- Weight Loss Maintainers: 812 calories/day
- Normal Weight: 621 calories/day
- Overweight/Obesity: 637 calories/day
Translation → Successful maintainers burned just under 200 more calories through movement every single day.
Total Daily Steps:
- Weight Loss Maintainers: 12,100 steps/day
- Normal Weight: 8,900 steps/day
- Overweight/Obesity: 6,500 steps/day
Translation → Maintainers walked about 40% more than normal weight people.
Total Calories Burned Per Day:
- Weight Loss Maintainers: 2,495 calories/day
- Normal Weight: 2,195 calories/day
- Overweight/Obesity: 2,573 calories/day
Here’s what’s wild → Even though maintainers weighed the same as normal weight people, they burned 300 MORE calories per day!
Activity accounted for:
- 32% of maintainers’ daily calorie burn
- 27% of normal-weight people’s burn
- 24% of overweight/obesity group’s burn
What Does This All Mean?
Successful maintainers are NOT starving themselves.
They’re eating about 2,500 calories per day, way more than the 1,400 calories previously reported in diet surveys (2) (3).
So the secret behind their success really isn’t a secret at all.
They move. A lot. And they keep moving.
And I’ll be frank with you…
It really is that fecking simple at times.
Again, ‘simple’ doesn’t mean easy, but it does mean simple.
So if you’re like the majority of people I’ve either coached, had conversations with, or shared advice with, then you’re chasing sustainable fat loss.
Fat loss that happens and then...
STAYS
THE
F*CK
AWAY!
Then this research should make something crystal clear.
The old approach to keeping weight off was by eating less…. forever!
Just ugh!
But what the data actually shows here is that you keep weight off by moving more, which lets you do something oh so magical…
And that’s eat more 🤪
Like cmon, who doesn’t want to eat more?
If you find me that person, I’ll show you a liar 😂
Besides wanting to be as healthy as possible, my desire to eat is what has me moving so much.
If I didn’t move and still ate as I do, I don’t think I’d be fat fat, but I’d definitely be a chunky SOB 😂
The people who successfully maintained a 26.2 kg/58 lbs weight loss for nearly a decade weren’t living on lettuce.
They were burning an extra 800+ calories through activity and eating accordingly.
That's the dream.
That's the goal I want for you.
And you can have it, by simply moving more, and not necessarily eating less…
Just don’t take the piss.
So your metabolism ain’t broken. You just need to move more than you think.
Again, simple in theory, not so simple in practice.
But, if you do want to make it simple, why not hire me as your coach?
I guarantee you success, accountability, and a masterclass in overcoming adversity.
So if you fancy a chat, hit the reply button and we’ll get on Zoom for half an hour.
You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Catch you soon.
Mark
