49 A Christian Guide to Body Stewardship, Diet and Exercise • Maintain a negative energy balance (Fahey et al., 2011; Thygerson & Thygerson, 2016). A negative energy balance of 500-1,000 calories per day (or 3,500-7,000 calories per week) is required to lose the recommended 1.0-2.0 pounds per week. Even so, daily caloric intake should never go below individual BMR requirements (e.g., 1,500 calories per day for males and 1,200 calories per day for females). Diets too low in calories can be dangerous as they can deprive the body of necessary nutrients. One strategy for creating a negative energy balance would be eating 250-500 calories less per day than what you are currently eating and exercising at least 30 minutes more per day than what you are currently exercising. • Increase the amount of daily physical activity (Fahey et al., 2011; Thygerson & Thygerson, 2016). When attempting to create a negative energy balance, research suggests it may be better to exercise more rather than eat less. This is because exercise raises BMR, whereas dieting lowers it. In terms of the type of exercise, it is recommended to regularly perform resistance training (focusing on the compound lifts) and NEAT (e.g., walking for ≥ 30 minutes per day). Adding additional endurance training (e.g., high-intensity interval training and low-intensity steady state, which will be introduced later) is only necessary if the goal is to improve cardiovascular fitness and/or performance. Performing too much endurance training can be counterproductive to weight loss as it can be catabolic to muscle tissue (Sullivan & Baker, 2016). • Make small, but permanent, changes in your diet (Fahey et al., 2011; Thygerson & Thygerson, 2016). In some cases, performing additional daily physical activity may not be practical, or enough, to create a negative energy balance. If so, it may be necessary to supplement additional physical activity with some small, but permanent, changes to your diet. For example, drinking more water and eating more lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, high-fiber foods, and small amounts of healthy fats (e.g., avocados, olive oil, nuts, seeds, fatty fish). Other examples include eating less added sugar, being conscious of portion sizes, establishing regular eating patterns, and honoring hunger and fullness cues (Polivy & Herman, 2005). Hierarchy of Fat Loss As mentioned previously, regular exercise is considered an effective weight management strategy. However, not all types of exercise will produce the same results. Research suggests that low-intensity steady-state exercise is relatively ineffective at promoting fat loss (Miller et al., 1997; Thorogood et al., 2011) and, despite decades of research, the physiological mechanisms by which exercise is used to regulate fat mass is still not clearly understood (Cosgrove, 2019; Melanson et al., 2009). Despite this uncertainty, current research suggests there may be a hierarchy of factors to consider in terms of losing body fat and keeping it off (Gilbert, 2019). Figure 3.4 depicts this hierarchy of fat loss.
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