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Losing weight is relatively simple: it is just about creating a calorie deficit. Losing fat and preserving muscle doesn’t seem so easy. A recent study shows how, if done right, taking a break of the diet over the weekend may help us losing more fat and preserving more muscle. Too good to be true? Well, it seems like it’s true…
Whenever we are in a weight loss process we must assume that part of what we lose will be muscle and another part will be fat. How much of each will we lose? It depends on some factors that we explained in this article , where we saw the importance of taking enough protein and the importance of strength training :
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6315740/figure/nutrients-10-01876-f001/
As you can see in the graphs, with equal calorie deficit, high protein diets that include strength training are the ones that give the best results in terms of body composition (fat is lost and muscle is gained).
Having made this point clear, today we want to take an additional tweak and compare a linear calorie restriction (the same every day) with an intermittent calorie restriction, where from Monday to Friday the restriction is somewhat greater and on the weekend we would be at our maintenance calories.
On the T- Nation blog we see this study where 27 people were put into a calorie deficit for 7 weeks. During this time, they all did strength training in 4 sessions per week plus two light cardio sessions. One group followed a constant 25% deficit, while the other followed a 35% calorie deficit from Monday to Friday and went up to maintenance calories on Saturdays and Sundays. Both groups had an intake of 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. These 27 people were not overweight.
After seven weeks, both groups lost significant weight, but the group that did an alternating deficit lost more fat and less muscle, and also achieved a smaller reduction in their basal metabolism:
The million dollar question would be, if both groups took the same calories, the same proteins and trained the same in the weekly total, why these differences in the results?
There are several theories that may explain the differences, but unfortunately, we cannot confirm any of them, as the necessary measurements were not performed to confirm these theories.
One possibility is that the higher carbohydrate intake at the weekend increases muscle glycogen stores and allows for more intense training, which would explain the greater muscle gain.
Another possibility is that increased carbohydrate intake increases insulin levels, which has been shown to reduce muscle catabolism.
A third (simpler) possibility would be that interrupting the caloric deficit for two days out of seven reduces muscle catabolism compared to an uninterrupted deficit.
Whatever the case, the results are there, and they have some very interesting implications for Life Warriors:
- It is usually more difficult for us to keep a calorie deficit on the weekend, so this break can help us improve adherence to our weight loss plan.
- On an emotional/psychological level, this way of managing our caloric deficit can be much more bearable.
- Once again, we confirm (in case there were any doubts) that enough protein intake and strength training are essential when it comes to losing fat.
We hope you find this information useful and that it helps you achieve your goals. Try it out and let us know how it works for you.