Hopefully we’ve reached a stage now where we can read the word ‘diet’ and not have our minds drawn towards one of the infinite fad diets that are often doomed to fail from the offset.

When we refer to the term diet, we are simply referring to the nutritional habits of an individual, meaning what they take in each day to meet their energy needs. In this sphere, there are few universal truths, and this is due to each one of us being unique and living our lives in very different ways however we can say that our bodies require a few things from our diets to work optimally or even at all, chief among these are calories and nutrients.

Calories are the energy currency that our bodies use to function and form the basis of the energy balance equation.

The energy balance equation or caloric balance equation is the relationship between energy taken into the body through consumption and the energy expended through function. Each of us has a basal metabolic rate which is the number of calories required to maintain our bodies at rest and this is often different across each individual. From this, and often by factoring in our TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) we can seek out three different outcomes:

·       Weight loss through creating a deficit of calories (taking in less than we require to maintain)

·       Weight maintenance through matching our required amount

·       Weight gain through creating a surplus of calories (taking in more than we require to maintain)

In theory, this is as difficult as weight management needs to get. If methods are the ways in which principles are delivered, then any method or diet that applies this principle correctly will likely deliver results.

This principle, while being as close to universally applicable as any nutritional principle can be, is not without its faults. One that often rears its head sooner or later is a diminishing of returns. A heavier individual will often have a larger basal metabolic rate, though as their weight decreases as will this rate, put simply their metabolism will slow. Often this can be countered by reducing intake further and/or increasing expenditure. This is subject to the ‘law’ of diminishing returns and sooner or later will result in a plateau and to create any larger of a deficit or to intake any less calories would be detrimental to health. If an individual reaches this point, there’s often very little progress to be found. If trying to move forwards in the same fashion then the answer, while often feeling counter intuitive, is to reverse. 

This involves increasing calorie intake incrementally while ideally using this new surplus of calories to build lean mass through resistance training. This approach is two-fold as the larger number of calories allow for a greater intake of nutrients (provided the diet is balanced) and an increased lean muscle mass serves to improve metabolism as muscle tissue requires energy to build and maintain. This is known as body re-composition and ultimately is what most individuals who initially seek weight loss should transition into. Doing so allows for a greater scope of progress with a larger emphasis on overall health and longevity.

So how does the above tie in with the festive period? Well, for many this period tends to be one of excess with an abundance of calories consumed leaving those targeting weight loss frustrated and disheartened. This can be mitigated by leaning into, rather than struggling against this theme and therefore viewing this period as a chance to rebuild and reset. The collective to adhere to good nutritional habits is low during December, but skyrockets come January when the health resolutions are aplenty so recognising this trend and using the festive period as a time to reverse diet into a small caloric surplus will not only allow more scope to enjoy the festivities guilt free; but will serve to refuel the body with nutrients and energy. Ideally this will be capitalised on by incorporating a period of heavy resistance-based training to utilise the caloric surplus to build new muscle tissue. Come January, goals and targets can be reassessed hopefully with a renewed vigour and without the typical view that December’s ‘damage’ is something that must be undone first.