Intuitive Fat Loss

My 12 focuses for the next 6-weeks

The following is how I am using a few guidelines to intuitively eat for fat loss. Skip to the end if you are looking for the list of eleven things I am focusing on during these next six weeks.

You do not need to track macros and calories for a fat-loss diet. The following is what I am currently doing to “intuitively” lose ~1lbs of scale weight per week for the next six weeks. One pound of scale weight loss per week is approximately 1% of my starting body weight, averaging ~117lbs. Averaging because I have had scale weight swings of +/- 2lbs due to water weight changes. A weekly rate of weight loss of 1% is a good goal assuming one’s biofeedback markers do not start showing negative adaptations. One percent per week also seems to mitigate rebound weight. Rebound weight is when one loses weight too aggressively, many times, mobilizing their muscle mass in the process, and then they gain weight rapidly as their main metabolic sink, muscle, is now gone. This many times leads to the look known as "skinny-fat." And also, many can swing to the other extreme of calorie intake. As one gets closer to their “optimal” scale weight, that 1% rate of loss may decrease to 0.5% or even less per week. Many like to call these the “stubborn last 5lbs”.

Prior tracking is what is allowing me to use intuitive eating during this fat-loss phase. Prior to this fat loss phase, I had completed a seven-month reverse diet. Followed by a 1.5-year maintenance period. This maintenance period also included a few smaller reverses to increase my total calorie and micronutrient intake as high as possible. I will discuss my reverse diet and maintenance phases in subsequent newsletters. Having tracked almost every day for over 2y, I know about how much protein my fist-size portion of shrimp gives me, etc. I also know about how much macronutrients and micronutrients I consumed based on my energy and other biofeedback.

Due to my focus on maximizing micronutrient intake with food, I ensure not to go below ~90g of protein per day. I try to get closer to 120g of protein per day. Protein includes many water and fat-soluble vitamins, as well as minerals. After accounting for these protein sources, I still wind up needing more of the electrolytes (potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium), minerals (manganese, copper, and iron), and vitamins (C, B1, B5, E, K2, D, A) when dieting. That may seem like a lot of micronutrients are still needed, and it is. Yet, this is a good example of why those who are getting ~1200, even ~1500 calories per day, are not getting enough nutrition. Then add if those foods are not “bioavailable” and are devoid of micronutrients in the first place, one has digestive issues causing things like decreased stomach acid or pancreatic enzymes, etc. One can see why malnutrition in “the first world” is not out of the realm of possibility.

Micronutrients from food are only a “zeroeth-order” approximation. This is because there is no guarantee foods still contain what they did during the completion of the original micronutrient profiles. Many will bring up the topsoil arguments, for example. Also, we are still learning what components make up the food matrix, and there is always the possibility we will find another “essential vitamin,” etc. Our skin produces vitamin D and all its various metabolites. Then add the arguments that our microbiome produces at least water-soluble, and some argue vitamin E, K2, and A. How much we absorb vs. how much they are sharing amongst themselves is up for debate. The studies showing the absorption of certain vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc. along the gi tract is what has led to the view that the microbes produce these things for each other. Most of the absorption takes place in the upper gi. Most of the bacteria reside in the lower gi, colon area. The main reason for there being few bacteria found in the upper gi (stomach, duodenum, jejunum, and small intestine) is usually argued to be due to the very acidic pH coming from the stomach. However, the release of the pancreatic enzymes into the duodenum seems to require a pH closer to neutral (7). This is one reason why the pancreas produces and releases bicarbonate along with the enzymes.

As such, the condition arguments for the upper gi limiting bacteria do not make much sense to me. What is a more plausible reason is the stomach pH was not acidic enough, so the food matrices were not broken down sufficiently into their component parts. For example, sufficient unfolding and separation of the amino acids for absorption by the jejunum. Then the bacteria are “called in” to help assist the remaining breakdown of the “wholes” into their “components.” Also, we know that some bacteria live and thrive in many diverse pH environments. We are also finding bacteria in places we did not expect, like the brain, the breasts, etc. As such, there is more to the seemingly rapid rise in “small intestinal bacteria overgrowth: (SIBO). I will continue to touch on and discuss these topics in future newsletters.

There are also some scientists who claim “biological transmutation” - one view is organisms produce what they need via fission, fusion, etc. Many posit our cells are able to produce sufficient light and pressure to achieve this. To my knowledge, achieving biological transmutation in "in vitro" conditions has not been successful. At the very least, we know keto acids (found in foods) can be made into amino acids (what make up proteins). Another view is similar things can stand in for each other. And yet another is many different substances cause the same response in the body - the xenoestrogens, for example.

My focus on getting micronutrients from food is why I am a firm believer in not being in caloric and micronutrient deficit for too long. I prefer the “get in, get out” approach when losing fat mass. I say that because not only are we starting to up-regulate compensatory hormones like glucagon, cortisol, and adrenaline to mobilize Then the long and slow approach to muscle mass gain. I know something that immediately starts to shift me towards the stress response is not eating breakfast. While I can “fast” until about 12 pm without feeling hungry, if I do this, I start to get insomnia, my hair starts to get greasy, my ear wax production increases, I start to have bad BO, and my fasting blood glucose starts to climb - these are all signs of excessive lipolysis within me.

The following are the “guidelines” I am using for this intuitive fat loss phase:

1. Eat breakfast - I shoot for within one hour of waking. I would love to eat sooner; however, my son likes to lay with me, so by the time we finally get up, use the bathroom, wash our faces, talk, and play for a little, about one hour has gone by. I usually eat skyr (peach has been my favorite recently) while cooking breakfast.

2. To maximize the hormone, adaptive thermogenesis, etc. state I had built up going into the fat loss phase, I do 4-zone 2 cardio sessions (I prefer to bike) the first 2 weeks. 3-zone 2 cardio sessions the next 2 weeks, and drop to 2-zone 2 cardio sessions the last 2 weeks. My maintenance is usually 1-zone 2 cardio sessions per week. The adaptive thermogenesis is why many women who build to 2500cal/ d on a reverse diet may not see a rate of 1lbs scale weight lost per week if they drop down to 2000cal/ d. This should theoretically give one a loss of 3500cal/ wk, the amount said to lose 1lbs of weight per week. Yet, many, especially shorter women (shoutout to my other 5ft tall ladies!), find they need to go lower than this.

3. I only diet for 6 weeks - this has to do with the nutritional, hormonal, and biofeedback adaptations I noted above. And as noted in 2., the adaptive thermogenesis or “maintenance” range can give one a “false” sense of what calorie range they need to be in to lose fat.

4. I stop eating before I am full and focus on being present and chewing my food so as not to delay this signal.

5. I allow my hunger signals to build up before eating again - I am very aware when my blood glucose is dropping too fast or into a hypoglycemic range, and I make sure to head that off. If I do not, I find my biofeedback markers begin to decline rapidly.

6. I continue listening to what supplements I need depending on the day and time of day. I notice I need more riboflavin and pantethine when in a fat-loss phase. This makes sense, given their need for fatty acid oxidation.

7. I push my dinner back some so I am not going to sleep hungry - sufficient carbs and protein close enough to bed allow me to fall and stay asleep.

8. I lift three days per week following Paul Carter’s garage gals program. I make sure to push the failure sets to failure, so I keep the muscle protein synthesis signal strong so as not to lose much muscle in addition to fat. Of course, I will lose some muscle will, but lifting to failure and eating sufficient protein seems to shift the 50:50 muscle:fat ratio to something closer to 25:75. This has been my subjective experience too. As an aside, decreasing my total volume and following Paul’s approach has allowed me to build back more muscle without the major post-exercise DOMs I used to experience. However, I have tried his 5-day per week programs and still do better on 4-days per week and best on 3-days per week. Better in terms of recovery and muscle building.

9. I focus on proteins that do not trigger hypoglycemia in me - these are bacon, skyr, and shrimp. If I eat other protein sources, I make sure to have enough carbs with them.

10. I get at least 10,000 steps, if not more, per day. My maintenance is closer to 8,000 - 10,000 steps per day.

11. Flobility - I find Flo helps me recruit more muscle fibers during my lifting sessions. Flo has also given me access to new muscle areas to signal for mechanical tension. Plus, the positive effects on my biofeedback, returning to my body, etc., make Flo invaluable to me.

12. Other than the above, I do not restrict the foods I eat. I focus on the foods I know make me feel good (e.g., clear head, sustained energy, etc.), and I digest well. If I were to track my calories and macros, some days I would note way lower than my maintenance calories, other days closer to my maintenance. And fats:carbs will fluctuate day to day as well.

This is day one of my 6-week fat intuitive fat-loss phase. My goal is to go from ~117lbs to ~111lbs, so ~6lbs in 6 weeks. After I complete these 6 weeks, I will share a newsletter on my results and another on what I do after an “intuitive” dieting phase.

In my view, the goal of any fat loss phase is to bring your body fat level down to the point that one is good with. Then from there, you maintain that body fat level as you build muscle over time. Thus over time, your scale weight will increase, but your body fat will remain about the same with your muscle mass increasing. This leads to a greater proportion of muscle:fat mass, and the “body look” many are going for.

I do not recommend a fat-loss phase until someone’s biofeedback markers have "normalized." I will discuss what markers to consider in a future newsletter. I also would not recommend a fat-loss phase if one does not have the basics down of being consistent with eating (calories, protein, and sufficient micronutrients), steps, and some form of muscle-building program (mechanical tension being the current theorized driver for muscle gain), etc.

Please let me know what questions you have below. I also do individual coaching and give people the tools necessary to go through these phases - biofeedback optimization/ reverse dieting, maintenance, and fat loss. And some consideration on supplementation, specific health issues, etc. If what I am sharing interests you, please contact me!