Lose Weight For Good

Yo-Yo Weight Gain and Loss

By George Touliatos, MD

Q: I’ve been struggling with yo-yo weight gain and loss. What’s the most effective way to lose weight for good?

A: First of all when we refer to weight loss, we must focus purely on adipose tissue. Preserving lean body mass, aka skeletal muscle, is an obligation. Otherwise, our BMR drops. Besides, it’s the muscle tissue that tones and shapes the body. Now as biopathophysiologist, I’ll ask for an extensive blood work in order to assess your hormones - so a full thyroid panel (TSH, FT3, FT4, ANTI-TPO, ANTI-TG). The thyroid gland is the master regulator of BMR. If you’re a man in his 40s, I’d also add the HPTA panel as well (LH, TT, FT, E2, PRL, SHBG, DHEAS). Hypogonadism is linked to visceral fat and muscle wasting. Moreover, A1C can reveal insulin resistance and prediabetes type II. This will impact your appetite and cravings. Furthermore, checking out biochemical values such as iron, folate, cobalamine and calciferol can explain the level of fatigue, along with CBC as well. Finally, checking out the stress hormone, cortisol, can explain your insomnia and belly fat storage.

Regarding the diet plan, I’d suggest you eat double your bodyweight in kilos in the form of lean animal protein. For instance, someone who is 220lb/100kg requires at least 200 grams. Then drop the carbs and switch to complex. Skip all simple hyperglycemic. Finally, add only EFAs and tons of fiber. Salad brings satiety but also makes bowel spend massive energy for digestion - the so-called negative calories.

Note that meal frequency kicks BMR, but also minimizes insulin spikes. I’m against intermittent fasting/ketogenic diets (IF/KD), and prefer five solid meals every three hours and 100 grams of starchy carbs daily. Keto ain’t cool for athletic people; it makes the brain sluggish and tanks FT/ IGF-1. You don’t have to rush and focus for 0.5kg fat loss per week. This practically equals to +4000 calories. If you speed up your fat loss, this might jeopardize your muscles.

Mostly we care about how we look in the mirror and our midsection in pants. Body composition is two words. The scale tells half of the truth, actually. Dropping scale weight is also a matter of glycogen, sodium and fluid retention and feces. That’s why we need to check our weight under the same circumstances; first thing in the morning while fasted and after using the restroom.

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Now in regards to training, you need half an hour of low-pace cardio on an empty stomach, preferably after a black coffee - plus another 30-45 minutes of HIT with weights. In case you can’t have the a.m. cardio, do a HIT course right after your weight workout.

Remember that weight loss is ensured when exercise is joined with diet, because diet usually costs in muscle tissue. Plus the drop in calories costs in BMR. So exercise will maintain lean body mass, but also kicks BMR mostly throughout lifting and HIT cardio.

Good luck!

George Touliatos, MD is an author, lecturer, champion competitive bodybuilder and expert in medical prevention regarding PED use in sports. Dr. Touliatos specializes in medical biopathology and is the medical associate of Orthobiotiki.gr and Medihall.gr, Age Management and Preventive Clinics in Athens, Greece. Heis the author of four Greek books on bodybuilding, has extensively developed articles for www.anabolic.org and is the medical associate for the book “Anabolics, 11th Edition” (2017). Dr. Touliatos has been a columnist for the Greek editions of MuscleMag and Muscular Development magazines, and has participated in several seminars across Greece and Cyprus, making numerous TV and radio appearances, doing interviews in print and online. His personal website is https://gtoul.com/