Goldilocks and getting shredded.

Picture the earth 1.392 million kilometers from the Sun. seemingly just hanging there basking in the warmth of our solar systems Sun. Our Earth, active and full of life! however it might not have been that way. If the Earth were only a little closer it may look a lot like Venus and although very similar in size and composition being a little closer to the Sun leaves it uninhabitable with a super dense toxic atmosphere and surface temperatures that can melt lead....nice. Conversely if we were only a little further away our flourishing little planet may resemble the red cold lifeless Mars, with barely an atmosphere and unable to harbor liquid water for any length of time and not much going on at all really.

But somehow by hook or by crook, planet Earth with all the right ingredients ended up in just the right place, at just the right distance from the Sun to flourish, not to close as to get burnt and not too far away to shiver away as cold lifeless piece of rock. 

this little bit of space at this specific distance from the sun that allows liquid water and life to exist in abundance on Earth is known as the habitable zone or the "Goldilocks zone"

Now i know what your thinking; interesting yeah, but what the hell does that have to do with me wanting to lose fat! is this guy off his head or what?!

But stick with me, you aren't that different from the Earth you know.

in order to flourish as a human being you must also find your own "Goldilocks Zone".

"This porridge is too hot," Goldilocks exclaimed.

So she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.

"This porridge is too cold."

So she tasted the last bowl of porridge.

"Ahhh, this porridge is just right!" she said happily.

and she ate it all up. 

And so Goldilocks lived shredded happily ever after.

Now although this transfers to many other aspects of life, this one is specific to diet and nutrition.

I see way too many people attempting to live, or rather exist outside of their "Goldilocks zone" nutritionally speaking at least.

Nutritionally modified "Goldilocks zone"

Zone	Calories	Effect
Hyper zone “too hot”	Consistently consuming a surplus in you requirement of calories	Possible gains in performance and weight via fat, muscle or a combination of both.
Goldilocks zone “ah just right”	Sitting somewhere between a balance and a small deficit in Calories in vs calorie expenditure.	Maintenance and improvement of performance and health including psychological aspects. Consistent progress in terms of fat loss, limited or zero muscle loss.
Cold zone “too cold”	A very large deficit in calories	Loss of performance, muscle, strength, motivation, libido. Sleep problems, mood problems, nutrient deficiencies. Minimal to zero fat loss.

me doing my bit to convince someone they actually need more food to drop body fat.

mostly everyone only discusses eating too much and the fact that you need to eat less to lose weight or body fat.

This is true if you consistently eat too much and sit in the "hyper zone". Then yes applying some strategies to improve food quality, make better choices along side some portion control and choosing the right ratios of various foods will help bring you down into the "Goldilocks Zone" quite easily.

but what if you have the same goals of losing fat, looking good and being healthy but you don't sit in the "hyper zone" you're not eating too much and instead you under eat and sit smack bang in the "cold zone"

this little conundrum of under eating and being unable to shift body fat or look better is typical of people who sit in the nutritional "cold zone". Just like where the planet mars sits in relation to the Sun. This is where you are in relation to you're ideal calorie intake for your goals, your "Goldilocks zone".

Conversely this is actually one of the most common things I and many coaches have to deal with. Although not eating enough wont actively put on body fat, it puts the body in this "Cold zone", a place where a cold lifeless existence passes and nothing much happens at all! yep just like on Mars.

not much going on here.

No fat loss, no muscle gain! You're body literally thinks your starving and it doesn't want you to die! The body begins to slow down its metabolic rate to prolong your life. 

Your metabolic rate is largely determined by your lean body mass (your muscles) the very things that give you your shape, make you look good in the buff and make burning fat soooo much easier!

Yes if you drastically drop your cals, you will lose weight (as in the number on the scales any way) over the first few weeks but remember almost none of that weight loss came from fat, it came from muscle!

So now your just smaller but no less fat, to put it bluntly. You're now skinny fat! Not good.

To provide some context;  

lets say Goldilocks came to me and we identified she wanted to get back into her old clothes, feel good look good and improve health -  basically she needs to change shape via  dropping body fat and adding a little muscle.
- however after asking Goldi to write down a weeks worth of food we also identified that her daily intake was under 1000 cals! infact 2 of the days a week sat at a poultry 800 cals! Which is way way under where she needed to be just to maintain weight. she actually required more like 1900 cals due to her daily woodland runs.

poor Goldi couldn't understand why she couldn't lose any fat despite her poultry portions and frequent running, she couldn't stay awake, she couldn't sleep. Poor Goldi was tired, weak and cranky. hmmm

Apply Logic

Now just think logically for me for one second, if your consuming very little fuel does it make sense for your body to dump all its stored fuel???? NO!

what makes sense from an economical stand point is for your body to lower its requirement of fuel to match the intake.



Perfect example; On the island with Bear Grylls - they all left the island after 4 weeks after living on snails and coconuts, the odd croc and some fish a hell of a lot thinner than when they arrived!  But no one left the island lean and muscular or in better shape that wasn't already. One guy lost 2 stone but  looked exactly the same, so what did he lose, he lost muscle.

Ok Bear

what requires more energy/fuel to run optimally? muscle or body fat?.....muscle of course, its very metabolically active, the more muscle you have the more energy you require, body fat requires very little energy, you literally just carry it around with you.

very much how you will get a lot more millage out of 20 quids worth of fuel in a Honda Prius than you will in a Range rover, one simply has a much bigger engine.

Tell tale signs of being under calories.

- Tired.
- Mood swings or depressed.
- Cold.
- Can't Improve strength.
- No sex drive.
- No motivation.
- Sleep problems.
- Hungry.

- weight loss.

- lack of fat loss.

- frequent illness.

Traditionally you are told in order to lose weight or fat you need to eat less or drop you're cals - and although this is basically true, if your only consuming 800 measly calories where do you go next, 700 then 600! then add in more cardio???!!

Believe me its been done!!

What to do about it.

Get back to basics

you're not missing some secret ancient  herb.

don't procrastinate over the minute details, doing the basic principles and doing them consistently will yield your greatest results to date.

1. Realisation check - by tracking or keeping a food diary.
try this at least for 1 week. download one of the many trackers out there such as myfitnesspal then find your average cals per day over the week. This can be a big kick up the proverbial that's needed to help you realise the fact that you eat the equivalent of a toddler! And that eating in such a manner is not for you as you still aren't losing body fat or looking like you want to.


2. Identify your "goldilocks zone" - Find your'e "Goldilocks zone"  Here.

3. Bridge the gap - Slow and steady wins the race. Gradually work you're way from the lifeless expanse of the "cold zone" and find our way Back to where the magic happens "the Goldilocks zone"

Now remember if there is a very big disconnect between your current calorie consumption vs your optimal intake then simply whacking in a load more food is not the solution, like suddenly putting the whole bag of coal on a little fire will do nothing to increase the flames and only leave you with a big smoking mess on the floor.

Being in the "Cold zone" your body is running slow, your metabolic rate has been significantly diminished predominantly via a reduction of lean body mass to reduce its engine and match the amount of food you're consuming just like what would happen if you were out in the wilds unable to find enough food, its a survival mechanism, you're running cold. 

you cant just jump straight from the "Cold zone" and head into the "Goldilocks zone" due to the fact your metabolic capacity is so low. unfortunately though this happens far too often, just like coming off the back end of any number of fad watching weight, herba plus, juice life plans or the special magic cereal diets.

This is the backlash effect these diet programs can cause and so the creation of the yo yo diet was born!

These programs encourage very low calories, you lose muscle thus you lose weight but little to no body fat unless you're drastically obese and even then its not optimal, the loss of muscle lowers you're metabolic rate.
After a while you're either fed up with the diet or you feel like shit,  or you may even have hit your "weight" target.
So Then you resume normal eating patterns, but now the problem is that you can no longer deal with amount of energy your consuming as your metabolic rate has been reduced so much, so in return you end up putting the weight (specifically fat back on) with interest! And so the cycle starts again and it gets worse each time. 

so back to the point,

you must simply starting adding in calories very slowly, try adding a little more each week until your sitting nicely in your "Goldilocks zone"


4. Add in quality habits to add in quality calories.

for example, lets say Goldi has been regularly chowing down a bowl of sugar puffs for Breaky.

by simply swapping this bowl of sugar for something as simple as an omelette can be the first step in building a new breakfast habit. not only is it a positive habit, it adds in quality much needed calories.

here are some more ideal breakfast options based on increasing calories via protein and fats to help optimize fat loss and stop you falling asleep mid morning.


fish - sardines or mackerel.

salmon omelette

steak and eggs

last nights chilli

cottage cheese or organic Greek yogurt and some blueberries


just focus on one small change at least for a week or until it becomes the norm before moving onto another meal and positively changing that too.


introducing new habits is the best way to break old ones,


Here's  my top habits for success;

1. track food intake - a notepad will do - or use a good app.
2. drink plenty water - bodyweight in llbs x 0.5 gives a basic minimum ounces per day.
3. eat enough protein - at least 1 gram per llb of body weight is a good target.
4. eat enough healthy fats - get rid of veg oils. swap for coconut oil, fish oil, eggs and avacados.
5. get your'e sleep - swap facebook for a real book and read something inspiring before bed.
6. lift some weights - pick any good progressive program based on the main basic lifts.
7. don't take shit too seriously - appreciate where you are, what you have and enjoy climbing your mountain.
8. be awesome -  make people feel awesome

even if you begin by applying just 1 and it sticks you're improving, then move onto the next.

there is no failing, just testing, trying, learning and coming back stronger.

to reiterate

1. - identify what zone your in - track your own calories over a week
2. - identify how much you need to consume to hit your "Goldilocks zone" 
3. - slowly start creating new habits - change food choices.
4. - slowly start building up the good habits, better food choices and adding in the calories weekly.
5. - re-track and re-assess.

Good day to you :)