Can Dieting Actually Make You Fatter in the Long Run?
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Timestamps +
0:00 – My Confession: A Sugar Addict’s Journey
0:41 – Body Composition Breakdown & Key Stats
2:03 – Visceral Fat & High-Sugar Diet Myths
3:27 – My Diet & Macro Breakdown in Chronometer
4:52 – How I Maintain My Physique on High Carbs
6:16 – My Workout Routine & Activity Levels
7:54 – Sugar Intake Breakdown: Where It Comes From
9:20 – Why This Diet Works for Me (Not Everyone)
10:48 – Key Takeaways: Individualized Nutrition
12:13 – Final Thoughts & Conclusion
Transcript +
So let’s jump in. All right, so first things first, the document is in Spanish because I’m in Latin America. I got the scan here in Latin America and what we can see. If we come over to the top here is we have my height, so I’m about six foot two, 190 centimeters. We can see my age, I’m actually 30, and then the date this was done was December 3rd, 2024.
So this was just two months ago that I had this scan done. When we look here, we can see my total body weight is 86 kilos, which is about 190 pounds. My muscle mass is about a hundred pounds. And then my fat mass at 8.2 kilos. So 8.2 times 2.2 is about 18 pounds. And then if we look over here, we go one column down, we can see my body fat percentage.
So my body fat percentage is 9.5% with the bioelectrical impotence, uh, scan here. Now the next thing I wanna bring over here is given my lean body mass. Or, or given my fat mass and my total body weight. You can see my lean body mass is 78 kilos, so 78 times 2.2 gives us 172 pounds. So my total weight is 190 pounds.
I have 172 of those pounds is lean body mass. Which is, uh, muscle tissue, bones, organs, all these types of components. And then I have about 18 pounds of fat mass on a high sugar diet. Typically, what’s discussed by people like Dr. Robert Lustig is that it would cause a, an accumulation of visceral fat and fatty liver.
So you’ve already seen my liver values on this previous video. I’m gonna link both videos below into description, but now you can actually see a measurement. Uh, estimate, rough estimate because bial impotent scanning is not perfect of my visceral fat mass. And what we can see is the median here on this scale is 10, and I’m at a three.
So I have a very low visceral fat mass by these standards. So essentially what we’re seeing altogether is that I have 9.5% body fat. I have a total lean body mass of 78 kilos or 172 pounds, and I have a total fat mass of about 18 pounds. So I’m pretty lean overall. The next thing we can see is they give us a nice breakdown of the body composition altogether.
So essentially what we can see is the amount of muscle mass I have for each arm. For each leg and in my torso. And over here we can see my fat mass for each arm, for each leg and in my torso. And we can see in my fat mass all together on my abdomen. I have 4.2 kilos. Which is about nine pounds of fat on my total abdomen with 0.1 kilo for each arm and only about 1.3 kilo for each leg.
So my fat mass is, I have just a small amount on the, on the abdomen altogether. So this is after eating a high sugar diet, somewhere between 300 to 500 grams of carbs a day for close to 10 years.
So what I want to do now is I want to just take a quick run through of what my diet looks like in Chronometer and how, and, and to discuss how I’m actually able to maintain my body fat percentage at this level despite eating the amount of calories, carbohydrates, uh, protein fats and things like this. So you can see here my basal metabolic rate is about 2056 calories per day.
So this is the amount of energy that I would need. If I was in a coma and I wasn’t eating, I was at complete rest. To maintain my current body weight, my current, uh, body composition, and you can see 2050 calories. I have it estimated in my own calculations around, uh, 2100 calories. So this is pretty much on par with what I’ve estimated using different formulas.
Just a quick note to add. Before we get into chronometer and, and I wanna say this ’cause I know it’s gonna come up in the comments, bioelectrical impotent scanning is not perfect. The bioelectrical impotent scanning is, has some margin of error. It’s not as good as a DEXA scan or an MRI or anything like this, but it can give you a decent estimate of what’s going on and considering where my numbers are at, even if there was a decent margin of error, it would still put my body fat percentage pretty low.
And also just from a visual perspective, my body fat percentage is on the low end, and I also don’t really have much visceral fat. I have like a 30 inch waist right now. So essentially I would say it’s giving us a decent indicator of where my body composition is. And now what I want to do is show you how I’m actually maintaining this and what I’m doing to achieve this on a regular basis from a dietary perspective at least.
Because the major piece here that is concerning for a lot of people is that I eat a high amount of carbs. So this is an example day of eating for me. And yeah, I have some supplements in here. Just some basic micronutrient stuff. But essentially if we come down here and we look at my calories and macros, I have about 3,500 calories, uh, in the day.
And then I have proteins about 174 grams. My carbs, I’ve been averaging somewhere to between 400 to four 50, and we can even take a random day, let’s say back in December, let’s go to the third. On the third I was 171 grams of of protein, 447 grams of carbs, and then a hundred grams of fat. And even if we wanna look all the way back in June, we take a example day.
I have 171 grams of protein, 414 grams of carbs, and 80 grams of fat. I’ve been tracking my dietary intake chronometer pretty religiously. Um, for years now, so I get a sense of where things like what diets work for me. Agronomy is a, a really valuable tool. It’s something I incorporate when I work with clients and I work in the course.
And so basically I’m maintaining my body weight. I’ve been maintaining it for months with this caloric setup. Now, how am I able to do that? Well, first things first. My caloric intake is dictated by my energy levels and my lean body mass. So we already saw my lean body mass was sitting around around 78 kilos per day.
And so that put my basal metabolic rate at about 2100 calories and I’m quite active. So if I take my 2100 calories and put it by activity multiplier, it puts of the active, which would be a 1.63 times activity multiplier. And these multipliers are inside my course on Nutrition Blueprint that you could check out on my site@mikevape.com.
And basically that puts me about 3,400 calories per day to maintain my weight. So how am I determining that I’m quite active? Well, I’m working out between four to six times per week with weight training. So basically I do a bodybuilding esque workout, uh, where I’m weight training. I have a certain amount of volume.
I’m reaching a certain intensity four to six times per week that’s allowing me to maintain a higher lean muscle mass, and that’s also allows me to have a higher caloric intake. Plus also has my carbon intake and my fat intake up high. Now, the next thing that would be interesting to see here, or the next thing that’s interesting to see here is that my carbon intake of 440 grams, we have 486 here, but you see 43 grams of fiber.
I. It is actually 365 grams of that, or probably more ’cause some of the components aren’t, um, listed inside the chronometer database at 365 grams of sugar where there’s 132 grams of fructose and 77 grams of sucrose. So half of that is gonna be fructose, which would put me at about 160, 170 grams. Of fructose per day.
So at the moment I’m maintaining roughly 9.5% body fat with a lean mass of 78 kilograms, eating 160 to 170 grams of fructose a day with an exceptionally low visceral fat. So I don’t have a lot of fat on my abdomen, on my liver, around my organs. So it’s, you know, this is something that flies in the face of what we’re seeing from.
Different low carb advocates saying that fructose or carbohydrates gonna make you fat, or insulin resistant or diabetic, or things like this, which again, I’ve showed my blood glucose values, I’ve showed my lipid panel, and now I’m showing my body composition. The other thing I’ll show here is that I don’t necessarily have a super low saturated fat intake.
I have 35 or 36 grams of saturated fat in the diet. So despite having a relatively decent saturated fat intake and having a high fructose intake, by all means in my diet. I’m actually maintaining a lean physique and normal blood glucose regulation, as well as a relatively normal lipid profile. What I wanna show here is my sources of sugars, and this is super important, my sources of sugars in my diet.
We have pineapple juice, papaya, cantaloupe, and then I have some St. Dal four jam here because I was having a hard time hitting my caloric intake with my training volume. We can see all of my. Carbohydrate intake 300 and roughly 390 grams of it is coming from fruits, almost entirely fruits. The St DFO jam is a jam that is just concentrated fruit juice with fruit pulp, and then some pectin.
So there’s not any added sugars present. The only added sugars I have present are coming from dark chocolate, so the reason I’m able to get away with this. Is because I am eating whole Foods to a large extent. The only foods that are, that are on here that are not Whole Foods is this jam that I’m eating.
And even then it’s fruit juice concentrate with some fruit, uh, puree present in it and some pectin. So with that, and I guess you could say there’s some, there’s some added sugar in the chocolate, but with that, I’m able to do this not by pounding granulated sugar, not by eating cotton candy, drinking coke or anything like this, but by relying heavily on fruits in my diet and the reason that I’m doing this much sugar.
It’s not because I like trying to be flippant about it, but I have a harder time digesting starch. Since I had my surgery when I was in high school, um, I had a surgery that, uh, has drastically affected my digestion, so I do much better with sugars. This is the diet that I’m running to maintain my body composition at the 9% body fat.
Now, just because I’m eating 440 grams of sugar a day does not mean that I am. Making a recommendation for everybody to follow exactly what I’m doing. The diet has to be personalized to the individual. This diet is, I’ve built out and personalized to myself over time, which is why I’ve kept such a high amount of tracking, or I’ve tracked so religiously over the years to figure out what works for me.
After trying a variety of different diets, so essentially the reason that this is working for me, the reason I’m able to stay saline and keep a high muscle mass is one I’m training and then two, I have my caloric intake and my macronutrient intake heavily dialed in. Based on very specific principles so that I can reach my particular outcomes so that I can actually stay lean and keep a higher muscle mass with this dietary set up without having digestive issues.
So this is what I have set up inside my program, and this is what I’m doing with clients on a regular basis, is I’m helping them to take distilled principles and apply them to their personal context to figure out what’s gonna work best for them. For some people they may not do as well with sugars. They may do better with starches or other people may do completely fine with having quite a bit of fruit sugars in their diet.
There’s a lot of individuality with this. All I wanted to do is number one, show that the things that I talk about, I am doing myself and show evidence that at least for me, I haven’t found that I have gotten obese. Diabetic have a fatty liver or have metabolic dysfunction from running a diet like this.
If anything, I’ve been able to maintain a high lean muscle mass, a low body fat percentage, and have normal blood glucose values, a normal lipid panel while running a diet like this that has a high amount of sugar. But again, this is also from fruit. I’m not plowing coke or anything like this all day long, so just something to keep in mind.
I wanna put this nuance here. Because I know in the comments view and say, well, you think that everybody should eat high amounts of sugar. It’s, no. I think everybody should have a diet that is set up specifically to them based on sound principles, which again, is what I discussed in my one-to-one consulting and also in my program, which you can check out in the links below.
Latest Posts
Can Dieting Actually Make You Fatter in the Long Run?
A 2015 study suggests that weight cycling AKA yo-yo dieting can actually increase the risk of becoming overweight in the future.
Through my experience working with hundreds of clients, I’ve seen this pattern firsthand—poorly structured weight loss regimens often lead to more fat gain over time, with a loss of lean muscle tissue.
Let’s break down why this happens, and more importantly, how you can prevent it.
How Dieting Can Backfire on You
Research Shows Dieting Can Predict Future Weight Gain
A study by Pietiläinen et al. found that normal-weight adolescents who intentionally lost weight were significantly more likely to become overweight by young adulthood.
- Women with just one episode of intentional weight loss were 3x more likely to be overweight by age 25.
- Men were 2x more likely.
- Two or more dieting attempts? The risk for women increased 5x.
Why This Happens: The Loss Of Lean Body Mass
When weight loss isn’t set up properly, both fat mass and lean muscle mass are lost, and the body adaptively adjusts its metabolism via hormonal shifts and changes in thermogenesis.
This is a major problem because lean mass, thermogenesis, and hormonal shifts all regulate metabolism and appetite.
The Rebound Effect: Hyperphagia (Extreme Hunger) & Fat Regain
After weight loss, the body responds with hyperphagia, an intense hunger that persists until lean mass is fully restored.
This was clearly seen in the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, where participants continued overeating even after regaining their body fat—because their lean mass wasn’t fully recovered yet.
Furthermore, in conjunction with the increased appetite, the body regains fat mass much more quickly than lean mass, ultimately leading to fat overshooting.
This isn’t just theory—it has been observed in highly active, physically fit individuals too, as we will discuss below.
U.S. Army Ranger School Study: Proof That Even Fit Individuals Aren’t Safe
A study on U.S. Army Ranger School trainees showed that even young, physically active men experienced significant fat overshooting after weight loss.
Nindl et al. (36) found that after an 8–9 week training period (which induced a 12% weight loss due to high physical and metabolic stress), body weight overshot by 5kg in just five weeks during post-training recovery. All 10 subjects regained more fat mass than they originally had at the start.
Friedl et al. (38) observed a similar effect: after four cycles of restricted energy intake and refeeding, participants had 4kg (~8–10 lbs) of fat overshooting—a 40% increase in body fat compared to their pre-training levels.
How This Works
Here’s a graph that visually explains what happens during weight loss and regain:
- During weight loss: Both fat mass and lean mass decrease. If the weight loss isn’t set up appropriately, the lean mass loss can be significant.
- During regain: Fat mass returns faster than lean mass, leading to a net increase in body fat over time.
- Repeated cycles of this (“yo-yo dieting”) can result in a gradual increase in body fat while lean mass, hormones, and thermogenesis remains decreased.
The Solution: Stop “Losing Weight” & Focus On Recomposition
Instead of just trying to “lose weight,” the real goal should be body recomposition—i.e increasing muscle mass while reducing fat mass. This prevents fat overshoot, maintains metabolic function, and keeps weight off long-term.
How To Prevent The “Fat Overshoot” Cycle:
Set up your caloric intake properly → Start with a moderate 20% calorie deficit to avoid excessive loss of lean muscle tissue.
✓ Prioritize protein intake → Aim for 0.82g/lb of body weight or 1g/lb of lean body mass daily to preserve muscle.
✓ Don’t fear the carbs → Maintain a 1:1 to 2:1 carb-to-protein ratio to spare muscle protein.
✓ Optimize micronutrient intake → Use tools like Cronometer to fill nutrient gaps and ensure the cells have everything they need to metabolize carbs and fats to ATP.
✓ Address underlying issues → Gut health, hormonal imbalances, and circadian rhythm dysfunction can block fat loss and muscle gain by altering the flow of carbs and fats into ATP.
✓ Incorporate smart resistance training → Start with 6 sets per muscle group per week to stimulate muscle growth while minimizing excess stress, and preserving existing muscle mass.
✓ Systematize everything for long-term success → Your diet, workouts, and supplements should be personalized, sustainable, and easy to implement so you can maintain progress without yo-yo dieting. We want to lose the fat and keep it off for good, while increasing your muscle mass.
By shifting your focus from just “losing weight,” to recomposition AKA gaining muscle and losing fat, you avoid metabolic slowdowns, extreme hunger, and unwanted fat regain—allowing you to build a leaner, healthier body composition that you can sustain over the long term.
Need help getting started? Schedule your free discovery call Here for more details on how I can help you to set up this system to lose the fat, rebuild the muscle, and maintain this over the long term!
Links and references from this episode
- Does dieting make you fat? A twin study.
Does dieting make you fat? A twin study. International Journal of Obesity, 36, 456–464.
Pietiläinen, K. H., Saarni, S. E., Kaprio, J., & Rissanen, A. (2012). - How dieting makes the lean fatter: From a perspective of body composition autoregulation through adipostats and proteinstats awaiting discovery.
How dieting makes the lean fatter: From a perspective of body composition autoregulation through adipostats and proteinstats awaiting discovery. Obesity Reviews, 16(S1), 25–35.
Dulloo, A. G., Jacquet, J., Montani, J. P., & Schutz, Y. (2015). - The Biology of Human Starvation
The Biology of Human Starvation. University of Minnesota Press.
Keys, A., Brožek, J., Henschel, A., Mickelsen, O., & Taylor, H. L. (1950). - Physical performance and metabolic recovery after exercise-induced weight loss in healthy young men
Physical performance and metabolic recovery after exercise-induced weight loss in healthy young men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 102(2), 663–670.
Nindl, B. C., Friedl, K. E., Frykman, P. N., & Marchitelli, L. J. (2007). - Endocrine markers of semistarvation in healthy lean men in a multistressor environment
Endocrine markers of semistarvation in healthy lean men in a multistressor environment. Journal of Applied Physiology, 77(1), 57–66.
Friedl, K. E., Moore, R. J., Hoyt, R. W., Marchitelli, L. J., Martinez-Lopez, L. E., & Askew, E. W. (1994).