[Newsletter] The Smartest Coach in the Room

Can you gain weight from eating too little? Every Saturday, The Smartest Coach in the Room delivers helpful takeaways on the hottest nutrition and health topics and the world’s most effective coaching techniques. (Did some amazing friend forward this to you? [Subscribe here]( Nope. You Can’t Gain Weight From Eating Too Little Possibly, after reading the above headline, you find yourself in a fighting stance. Hear us out. Yes, you’ll coach frustrated clients who swear they’re following a strict 1200-calorie diet—and are gaining weight. When you glance at their food log, it can certainly appear as if their metabolism defies the laws of thermodynamics (also known in nutrition circles as “Calories In, Calories Out,” or CICO for short.) Yet, as PN’s Nutrition Director Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD, explains: The laws of thermodynamics never lie. Eat more than you expend, you gain weight. Eat less than you expend, you lose weight. So what the heck is going on? St. Pierre has a few ideas. Here’s one of them: Maybe your client consumes 1200 calories on most days… but 5000 calories a day here and there. (It’s way easier to do than people think.) Another possibility: Your client thinks they’re eating 1200 calories every day—but is really eating 2500 calories instead. (Find five more explanations for this puzzling phenomenon in the “10-Second Takeaways” box below.) Maybe you’re wondering... How do you tell a client they’re eating more than they say they’re eating? Bring facts and compassion to the table—and not opinions, says St. Pierre. “For whatever reason, the client doesn’t feel comfortable revealing what they really did or did not eat,” St. Pierre says. “This needs to be explored together. Slowly. Gently. With a curious and non-judgmental mind.” (Get more advice on how to tackle this fraught conversation: [Can you gain weight by eating too little?]( 10-Second Takeaways ▶ As human beings, we’re bad at judging how much we’ve eaten. We tend to think we eat less and burn more than we do—sometimes by as much as 50 percent. ▶ When you undereat, especially over a longer period, your metabolism adapts by burning fewer calories to digest food, during physical activity, and at rest. At the same time, your body turns up appetite and hunger levels. ▶ Calorie needs can differ a lot. Basal metabolic rate varies by as much as 15 percent from one person to another. ▶ Low-calorie diets can stress the body, boosting cortisol levels. This can, in turn, lead to water retention. Meaning: Someone might lose fat—but not see progress on the scale. ▶ If a client eats less but the scale doesn’t budge, attempting to eat even less food probably isn’t the answer. Instead, track food intake and see what you can learn together. Want to learn more about nutrition science and how to use it to help people make healthy eating and lifestyle changes? Check out our [Level 1 Nutrition Coaching Certification](. It combines the science of nutrition with the art of coaching so you can help anyone make evidenced-informed decisions and achieve their most important health and fitness goals. [Become a Certified Nutrition Coach - Join the presale list for the #1 rated PN Level 1 Nutrition Certification]( Take care, Alex --------------------------------------------------------------- Alex Picot-Annand, PN2, Holistic Nutritionist Editorial Director Precision Nutrition Home of the world’s top nutrition coaches --------------------------------------------------------------- What did you think of this email? Precision Nutrition Business Insider's #1 Choice for Nutrition Certifications in 2022 --- To view this email as a web page, click [here.]( Precision Nutrition Inc. 18 King Street East, Suite 1400 Toronto, ON, M5C 1C4, Canada Finally, nutrition makes sense. Visit us at [www.precisionnutrition.com]( today. Follow us on [Unsubscribe or Manage Preferences](