Another dangerous myth that keeps you fat, tired, and frustrated – often spread by trainers and dietitians with little real-world experience working with men over 40.
Listen to the real experts – not the 22-year-old personal trainers parroting textbook nonsense from 1995.
The Truth About Calories and Weight Gain
Professor Tim Noakes, one of the world’s leading sports science researchers, explains it perfectly:
“Weight gain cannot occur without the ingestion of more calories than are needed by the body. In this sense, the energy balance model of obesity is correct. But the point is that the over-ingestion of calories cannot occur if the brain appestat is functioning properly, as it did in 1980.
The appestat (Learn more here) of the obese must fail because it is especially susceptible to the appetite-stimulating effects of high-carbohydrate foods, especially those found in modern processed foods that are designed with the single goal that they are highly addictive. The appestat is the brain’s built-in appetite regulation system. It controls hunger and fullness signals, telling you when to eat and when to stop.
It is those addictive foods that have invaded the human food chain in the past 30 years.”
Prof Tim Noakes is a high-impact exercise physiology researcher with decades of peer-reviewed work, major leadership roles in university sports-science research, and global influence in endurance medicine. His research has been cited tens of thousands of times, with an h-index in the top tier for the field. He’s especially known for shaping the understanding of exercise-associated hyponatraemia and for building South Africa’s sports-science research capacity.
Translation: Yes, calories matter. When your appetite control system is working properly, you naturally stop eating before consuming too many calories. And high-carb processed foods break that system.
This isn’t accidental.
Modern wheat has been selectively bred for yield, texture, and palatability, not human health. Research shows that peptides derived from gluten digestion (known as exorphins) can activate opioid receptors in the brain, increasing appetite and reinforcing addictive eating behaviour.
Bread. Pasta. Oats. Cereals. They’re engineered to be addictive. Get a divorce from these foods.
Resources:
- Noakes, T. Challenging Beliefs: Memoirs of a Career. Zebra Press.
- The Noakes Foundation: https://www.thenoakesfoundation.org/
Why the “Calories In, Calories Out” Model Fails
Dr. Tim Rice, metabolic health researcher, puts it bluntly:
“The old disproven ‘calories in vs. calories out’ model of weight loss (also known as the thermodynamic model of obesity) simply doesn’t work and does not account for the differing hormonal effects of varying macronutrients. It is much more likely that an overweight person has eaten too much of the wrong kinds of foods and unfortunately, due to misguided nutritional advice, given out by most healthcare providers who don’t even know what the wrong kinds of foods are.”
The problem isn’t the quantity of food. It’s the quality of your food and how it affects your hormones that drives weight gain
In simple terms, different foods trigger very different hormonal responses in the body, particularly insulin, leptin, and ghrelin, which control hunger, fullness, and fat storage.
When you eat high-carbohydrate and processed foods:
- Your blood sugar spikes
- Insulin floods your system
- Insulin locks fat away in your cells
- Your blood sugar crashes
- You feel hungry again
- You crave more carbs
- The cycle repeats
This is the blood-sugar-insulin roller coaster that keeps you trapped in carbohydrate dependency, fueling cravings and sabotaging weight loss.
Resources:
- Rice, T. Unlearn and Rethink: https://unlearn-rethink.com/
What Harvard Research Reveals: The Real Reason You Can’t Lose Weight
Dr. David Ludwig, endocrinologist and Professor of Nutrition at Harvard, conducted extensive research on how different macronutrients affect metabolism:
“Too many refined carbohydrates – white bread, white rice, potato products – all the foods that crept into our diets as we’ve followed the low-fat craze has undermined our metabolism. In other words, the high-carb, low-fat pattern of eating caused us to become hungrier and burn off fewer calories. It’s a double-whammy for weight gain.
We’ve been told for decades that if you don’t want fat on your body, don’t put fat into your body. It’s a very appealing notion, but the problem is it’s wrong.”
His research shows that low-carb diets increase metabolic rate by 200-300 calories per day compared to low-fat diets – even when total calories are matched.
The hormones matter more than the calories.
Low-fat diets disrupt this hormonal balance.
Removing fat from the diet reduces satiety, impairs leptin signalling, and drives higher carbohydrate intake to compensate. This keeps insulin elevated, increases hunger, and makes long-term fat loss far more difficult, despite calorie restriction.
Resources:
- Ludwig, D. Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently. Grand Central Life & Style, 2016.
- Official website: https://www.drdavidludwig.com/
The Insulin Connection
Dr. Jason Fung, nephrologist and fasting expert, explains the insulin mechanism:
“Fat alone does not spike insulin; it is the protein in the fat that spikes the insulin, for example, dairy products. Eating fat with other foods tends to decrease glucose and insulin spikes. If we look at protein such as meat, chicken, eggs, and fish, they all contain fat, which is Mother Nature’s way of including the protective mechanism. Fat keeps you fuller for longer. Excessive protein consumption is dangerous and leads to weight gain.”
Key insight: When insulin is chronically elevated from high-carb eating, your body cannot access stored fat for energy. You’re literally locked out of your natural source of fuel.
Resources:
- Fung, J. The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss. Greystone Books, 2016.
- Fung, J. The Complete Guide to Fasting. Victory Belt Publishing, 2016.
Your Body Has NO Requirement for Carbohydrates
Professor Noakes again:
“Humans do not have any essential requirement for dietary carbohydrate. Humans cannot survive unless they include fat and protein in their diets. But carbohydrate serves only two functions in humans – it must be either burned as an energy fuel or stored as fat; it cannot be used to build any of the body’s structures.”
Ever heard anyone say “I couldn’t live without avocado”? No. But people say they “can’t give up bread.”
That’s addiction talking, not nutrition.
Why I Published This
As a past personal trainer with over 30 years of experience – including ranking #1 in my age group in AWA Ironman 70.3 back in 2017 and now as a highly qualified executive coach – I have a responsibility to my clients to provide them with the best advice based on up-to-date science.
I recently watched a video interview by some young personal trainers on social media, and the advice they provided about health and nutrition prompted me to write this article.
The problem: Almost anyone can become a personal trainer these days. With government funding supporting these courses and the number of gyms supporting these trainers, the quality of nutritional education is dangerously inadequate. They have limited experience especially in helping men over 40 lose weight, and they know almost nothing about nutrition.
There is not enough content covering nutrition in accredited personal trainer courses in Australia – certainly not enough to provide proper advice to someone who has had weight problems for years.
The result: Advice that can actually do more damage than good, including:
- Injuries from high-intensity workouts lacking appropriate technique
- Elevated cortisol (stress hormone) from chronic overtraining
- Adrenal fatigue
- Weight gain despite “doing everything right”
- Self-doubt, depression, anxiety
- Binge eating from restrictive dieting
My Background
My credentials:
- Fully qualified personal trainer
- Group fitness instructor
- Advanced Level 1 Les Mills RPM instructor
- Spin coach
- USA and Australian Triathlon Coach
- Previously ranked #1 in the 50-54 age group in AWA Ironman 70.3 rankings
- ICF PCC-level executive Coach
- Triathlon Australia Development Coach
- ICF Certified Executive Coach & Leadership PPC Level Coach
- Primal Health Coach, Primal Health Coaching Institute USA
- Cert 3 & 4 in Personal Training and Allied Health
- MAF Institute Foundation Graduate & Certified MAF Coach
- Certified Low Carb Healthy Fat Coach, Real Meal Revolution
- Australian Army Performance Coach
What You Should Do Next
If after reading this article you decide to fundamentally challenge your beliefs on training and nutrition (thanks, Prof. Noakes), I’m here to help. Feel free to book a time and let’s chat.
The real solution isn’t eating less and exercising more.
The solution is:
- Fix your nutrition (low-carb, high-protein healthy fats)
- Manage stress properly
- Exercise appropriately (not chronically)
In that order.
Additional Expert Resources
Dr. Aseem Malhotra – Award-winning NHS cardiologist leading the campaign against excess sugar:
“It’s about the quality of the research – Cambridge Medical Research Council did a very big study, with over 600 thousand participants, which concluded that saturated fat could be part of a healthy diet as long as you’re getting the rest of it right. Cut out refined carbs and sugar, have the vegetables, the olive oil, the nuts, the oily fish and some meat. Fat is very satiating and has the least impact on insulin responses.”
- Website: http://doctoraseem.com/biography/
Mark Sisson – Former elite endurance athlete and author of The Primal Blueprint:
Ranked #53 in the top 100 Most Influential Health and Fitness Experts in the world (The Great List 2018). His work popularised the Paleo diet and low-carb approaches for athletes.
- Sisson, M. The Keto Reset Diet. Harmony Books, 2017.
- Mark’s Daily Apple blog: https://www.marksdailyapple.com/
Dr. Phil Maffetone – Pioneer of low-heart-rate training and metabolic health:
“I recall Noakes discussing the importance of fat as an energy source in the 1980s, when few would admit that sugar was not the sole energy source, especially for endurance athletes.”
- Maffetone, P. The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing. Skyhorse Publishing, 2010.
Ready to challenge conventional stupidity and finally get real results?
Book a strategy call to discuss your specific situation.
References
- Noakes, T. (2012). Challenging Beliefs: Memoirs of a Career. Zebra Press.
- Rice, T. Unlearn and Rethink. https://unlearn-rethink.com/
- Ludwig, D. (2016). Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently. Grand Central Life & Style.
- Fung, J. (2016). The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss. Greystone Books.
- Sisson, M. (2017). The Keto Reset Diet. Harmony Books.
- Malhotra, A. (2015). “Saturated fat is not the major issue.” BMJ, 351:h3978.
Maffetone, P. (2010). The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing. Skyhorse Publishing.
