I have a few hard rules when focusing on fat loss but of the few truly hard and fast rules, this is the biggest: protein consumption.
There are a few reasons why I may not take a client whose goal is fat loss. Fat loss is hard and the rules are pretty much set in stone with the rare exception of the natural athlete (someone who is a mesomorph and their body loves to build muscle and burn fat).
As such, I am becoming increasingly fussy about who I allow myself to train due to many clients just not doing what I ask and then, when they’re the same body fat percentage in several weeks time, they look at me as though it’s my fault.
With rare exceptions I will refuse to train a client who just will not drink protein shakes for example. It also goes without saying that I won’t train someone who doesn’t want my dietary advice. Maybe that sounds arrogant, but trust me, if they don’t want to learn about the fat loss diet it is simply because they want to eat cake and drink red wine while going “la la la, I’ve earned it after my workout la la” and shaking their head with a finger in each ear.
But one rule will often raise such a red flag that I’m capable of bringing the shutters down before I even know the client’s name – vegetarianism.
Fear not. I wish to address the issues vegetarians raise and see how we can best compromise while equally underlining (several times with a thick marker pen) the downside of trying to avoid obesity/malnutrition while being on a super low protein diet a.k.a. being a vegetarian.
Protein synthesis for dummies
Well, I’m no biochemist but I know a few things about protein. So what is protein?
Our bodies break down protein to get to the oh-so-useful amino acids inside. What are amino acids? They are the very building blocks of tissue. Amino acids are like tiny bricks and our bodies tell them which order to go in to make, say, the gut lining, or repair a deltoid muscle or organ. Get the picture?
We get all this from the following food sources (to name a few of the main ones):
- Meat (including fish)
- Eggs
- Nuts and seeds
- Whey protein
Of course, other foods contain amino acids but only certain ones contain a complete list of the various types of amino acid.
Now then, our bodies will prioritise what to do with those amino acids, which is where it gets tricky. Our guts turn over new tissue very regularly so they will probably get first dibs. Our organs are also vital aspects of our body, so they come a close second. Muscles often end up with the leftovers and if there’s not enough to go around, they’ll actually get eaten for fuel!
Note: stepping on the scales at this point will mean those Weight Watchers fools will jump for joy because they’ve lost weight. NOT good. We want to burn fat, not lose weight (muscle)!
Your muscles and fat loss
It’s worth mentioning yet again, for those who may be new to this site, the important role of muscle mass in the game of burning fat. There are many other articles here that go into more depth but here are the basics…
Your body needs fuel. It has three main kinds of fuel available: muscle, fat and stored carbohydrate. That’s right, your body will actually eat its muscle for fuel in certain situations. This state is known as catabolism (breaking down of a substance to make fuel). Being in a catabolic state is associated with muscle loss and fat gain. Why?
Muscle is calorically expensive. Which means your body will burn fuel to make it and burn fuel to keep it. As long as we replenish (and this is the very heart of this article) then we’ll be using our fuel from stored body fat and not muscle.
Of course we want a low carb diet alongside this so we don’t just burn stored carbs for fuel.
The problem with vegetarians
Well, the problem with vegetarians is that they don’t eat any meat and, chances are, they don’t purposefully go out of their way to eat a ton of eggs, nuts or whey protein to make up for it!
So what is a vegetarian diet like? Well, it will probably consist of a fair amount of carbs for a start because that then becomes the focus of the meal instead of protein. Either way, the ratio of their food will not be anything like a metabolically healthy meal of clean meat, low carbs, fibrous greens and healthy oil. If we’ve removed meat and cut way down on carbs and (again, chances are) we’re not drinking lots of healthy oils… then what are we eating!?
Remember the issue here is fat loss, not just day to day maintenance. So for fat loss we need to be hammering away at our muscles to stimulate muscle growth and hormonal changes which encourage round-the-clock burning of fat tissue. If we don’t replenish in terms of caloric amount and amino acid amount then our muscles will waste away, leaving us with slower metabolisms and an accelerated fat storage.
As I mentioned, most people do not make any effort to eat healthy fats because we’re still in the post fat-demonising era (soon to end… we can only pray). A fat loss diet is a low carb diet. If we add into that no meat then we have big problems. The solution?
Some (possibly drastic) solutions for vegetarians:
- Drink nice, clean whey protein isolate every day, twice a day. Avoid the kind with artificial sweeteners in (although they’re hard to find in today’s crazy world).
- It’s worth noting that whey protein isolate contains very little lactose but for those who may be super sensitive, there’s pea and rice protein powders.
- Eat 100g of nuts every day (vary the type so you don’t get bored).
- Eat peanut butter (“But it’s high in fat!” I hear you moan – shush, eat it).
- Eat lots of egg whites with a few whole eggs thrown in.
- Try supplementing with something called branch chain amino acids.
- Try eating fish… maybe? Just a little?
- Finally, and most drastically of all, try eating free range meat for the duration of your fat burning regime. Low fat (this is the type of fat we are allowed to avoid – except fish).
Just to reiterate what I said before, if you’re going to under eat a certain macronutrient (carbs, fats or protein) then you need to make up for it with another. So, to avoid under-eating (probably the main reason my clients have become fat in the first place) then up your calorie intake with a healthy oil such as extra virgin olive or hemp seed oil.
Protein and carbs are about 4 kcals per gram while fats are 9 kcal which is great news if you want to get out of the common scenario of under-eating. Try not to cook with it, just drizzle on foods.
In conclusion
I think most vegetarians get into the lifestyle without fully realising the nutritional implications. Stopping meat entirely will not just harm your metabolism but leave you depleted in certain nutrients required to enable fat burning (the amino acid carnitine) as well as a few other essential nutrients.
There are a few options these days (such as the supplements mentioned earlier) so be sure to make them part of your lifestyle. Do not just chop out a whole nutrient group.
Most of my fat loss clients are on around 200g of protein per day (one chicken breast is around 30g, one protein shake is between 30-40g) and that’s a lot to ask of a vegetarian. As such I’m still very cautious about taking on such a client but for those wishing to at least avoid muscle wasting, fat gain and nutritional depletion – supplement!
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Losing weight doesn’t mean you’re losing fat effectively. The word ‘effective’ actually means you’re really getting rid of the unnecessary fats off your body instead of water mass and muscle mass, but yet keeping the healthy fats in your body to maintain your overall well-being.