Given our governing principles of weight loss, to lose weight the body must be in an energy deficit; yet, this energy deficit must be within the framework that is fat release and oxidation. The important question for us is, How is this accomplished? More specifically:
How do we get the body in a state where less energy is coming in than is leaving?
How do we create this energy deficit at the site of the adipose tissue (along with any other unhealthy fat storage sites)?
These are the questions that we need to answer if we are going to create a state of sustainable weight loss. If we are to Reprogram our own body so that it maintains a healthy weight for all our years to come, we must understand how this above state can be reached, leading to a state of homeostasis.
As we know from our basic understanding of human metabolism, the way this is done is by understanding how our actions (external factors and external signals) impact our internal state. As we know, the body has control over its fat stores, and if it is going to let go of that fat, it has to be given the proper signals.
So now, the ultimate questions for us to answer are what are the primary signals that we need to send to the body to get it to release fat, and what actions can we take to create those signals?
Before proceeding, we must understand an important truth to these answers: I wish that I could tell you the secret, correct answer right now. I wish I had a straightforward, simple answer to present to you that you could take, implement in your life, and achieve quick results. Unfortunately, as I promised in the last article, that is not how an effective approach is going to happen.
The truth is, there is no easy answer because each individual has a unique, complex body residing in a unique, complex lifestyle. More specifically, each individual has a unique body made from a unique genome, which is expressed in form as a body based on unique life circumstances. Therefore, the answer is not going to be the same for everyone, Moreover, an individual’s answer may require a different amount of work – a different level of devotion, than that of others.
The truth is, there is no quick and easy answer, and yet, by working to understand how these systems operate, you become capable of going out and finding the answer that works for your own body.
With the rest of this article, I will outline how this can be accomplished. The following principles may serve as your guide as you go about your Reprogramming process. With each principle I will summarise the specific state that the particular sub-system requires, and then outline the governing signals dictating the state of that sub-system.
Then, with the rest of this website, my aim is to help expand on these principles – to provide you with the answers you need to Reprogram your body – to lose weight, keep it off, and maintain a state of metabolic homeostasis for all the years to come.
Governing principles of weight loss:
1. Weight loss is ultimately achieved at the site of the fat cell.
Fat must be released from the overfilled adipose tissue, and to accomplish this:
- the fat cell must understand that it is holding too much fat and that it can release this fat. When it does this, it must not be driven to signal to the body that it has lost fat and, as a result, needs that energy back.
To accomplish this, two hormones must be aligned with the fat loss goal:
- leptin signaling – low leptin (or similarly, resistance to the leptin signal) tells the body that it can store more fat. This is not what we want when trying to lose weight and keep it off. Therefore, we want to ensure that the body is capable of listening to leptin, and that leptin is not dropping too far as weight is lost.
- insulin signaling – insulin may not be completely necessary to cause fat storage, but its excessive secretion is a clear driving force of excess weight gain. The over-secretion of insulin is a clear driving force of excess fat storage; to counteract this, a strong consideration of insulin minimization may be important, or even necessary, for your own Reprogramming process.
2. The release of fat from storage must be followed by fat oxidation at the site of the mitochondria.
Releasing fat from adipose tissue and into the bloodstream is only effective if that fat actually gets oxidized. If it doesn’t, that fat may become a great threat to the body, as hyperlipidemia (elevated fat in the bloodstream) is a clear risk factor of many modern diseases. Thus, to achieve our fat loss goal and improve health overall, the mitchondria must be capable of burning this released fat.
To accomplish this, the mitochondria must be capable of burning large volumes of fat. This means:
- insulin must be low, as the mitochondria can only burn fat when insulin is low
- the body must contain ample, healthy mitochondria
Combining 1 and 2, we have a familiar diagram:
3. The body needs to maintain stable blood glucose
As I discuss often discuss, (in depth here and in short here) the body seems to have one primary sensor that has the ability to overpower all other metabolic processes. Because fluctuations (either high or low) in blood sugar are acutely life-threatening, the body must keep blood sugar in check. If any fluctuations occur, fixing those perturbations will become the body’s priority, easily overwhelming any fat loss goals.
To accomplish this, we must avoid glucose (and thus insulin) surges, along with declines in blood sugar. This means that the body needs to maintain a strong insulin:glucagon ratio.
- To maintain a strong glucagon:insulin ratio, our actions must minimize insulin secretion while allowing glucagon to elevate. This minimizes fat storage while allowing for the release of energy. When insulin is low, fat can be released and oxidized. When insulin is low and glucagon is released, the body maintains healthy blood sugar levels.
Combining all three, we reach the following goals:
- aim to create a signal to adipose tissue to release (not store) fat by minimizing insulin secretion and promoting healthy leptin signaling
- ensure that actions lead to plentiful healthy mitochondria to maximize fat oxidation capacity
- ensure that actions do not disrupt blood sugar, thus causing the body to toss out its fat loss progress in the name of fixing the blood sugar levels
Combining all three with an alternative perspective
- Avoid blood sugar/insulin surges – this allows the body to stay in a state of fat-burning, and not energy storage
- Avoid blood sugar depletion – which would send us on a frantic surge for any and all carbohydrates, thus causing a blood sugar/insulin spike
- Aim for strong overall health of the system – allowing the body to properly respond to signals
How this is accomplished:
I know, I just gave you a lot to think about, and you may be wondering how we are going to create any sort of practical method for causing weight loss if we have to think about all these hormones every time we act.
Don’t worry, I have some good news for you, because when it comes to reaching these goals with practical actions, there are a handful of simple concepts to keep in mind that may very well help you achieve each goal.
I have four actionable items for you that you can implement in your life to target all of the above at once. Remember, the idea is to keep the entire system in mind – to take actions that will help address the entire system at once – to target each goal with the same action.
The following actions will help you achieve this:
1. Eat Real, Whole Foods and avoid any industrially processed not-so-foods
2. Exercise wisely, and avoid the “exercise harder and longer” mentality
3. Focus not only on diet composition but also on the timing of eating
4. Get adequate rest, and especially, get good sleep
For more on eating a real, whole foods diet, check out the Reprogram Your Diet Page, or begin here with a simple guide.