What Most People Get WRONG About Calorie Deficits (FAT LOSS TIP)

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Calorie Deficits For Fat Loss (Calories In Vs. Calories Out Explained)

Is “calories in vs. calories out” (CICO diet) a valid model for losing fat, or is it just a "myth" like many people try to claim these days? Do you really need a calorie deficit for fat loss, and do calories matter?

You'll commonly see this debate taking place nowadays in fitness circles...

Person A will say that in order to lose fat you need a calorie deficit in place by burning more calories than you take in. Person B then argues back that "calories don't matter" because "a calorie is not a calorie".

However, person B is making an error right off the bat, since a calorie is a constant unit of measurement that assesses how much energy there is in the foods we eat and in the tissues on our body. A calorie IS a calorie when it all comes down to it.

What IS true is that the body will process different *foods* differently depending on a variety of factors.

The actual calories are the same, but the food item they're "packaged up in" is different. For that reason, 2500 calories on paper from one given fat burning diet won't necessarily produce the exact same result as 2500 calories from a different diet as far as building muscle, losing fat and optimizing health is concerned.

The issue is that people will then take this information and make the massive, incorrect leap into saying that since food quality affects how calories are handled by the body, calories all of a sudden don't matter and calories in vs. calories out is a myth.

But what most fail to realize is that the way food quality affects fat loss is still a result of how it impacts the calories in vs. calories out equation.

For example, consuming more protein results in a higher thermic effect which directly affects the "calories out" portion of the equation. Eating more fiber causes less caloric absorption which affects "calories in". These are just two examples of many.

The bottom line is that body fat is stored energy, and to stimulate your body to break that fat down for use as fuel, you must create a calorie deficit. There is no way around that.

Saying that calories don't matter or that calories in vs. calories out is a myth is flat out false and is based on a misunderstanding of how CICO actually works.

Furthermore, food quality can only take you so far.

Once you have a decent fat loss diet in place that is based around nutrient dense whole foods, contains enough protein and fiber and is laid out in a way you can sustain, there isn't much you can do beyond that point to stimulate fat burning just based on food selection alone.

If eating clean is the ultimate answer to fat loss, what do you do when your progress inevitably stalls as you get leaner? Just continue eating cleaner and cleaner? That's obviously not realistic.

From there, it really is just about managing calories in vs. calories out and ensuring that you're in a net calorie deficit over time.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you must count every every calorie you eat, though most serious trainees probably will benefit from calorie tracking at least in the beginning stages of their program.

How many calories should you eat to lose fat sustainably?

A good range to aim for is about 300-500 calories below maintenance per day.

[Sean_Nalewanyj]

💪 Important Reminders:



3) Follow over on IG for more helpful fitness tips and strategies: @sean_nalewanyj

[MarioTomicOfficial]

There's more value in this one single video than in most paid nutrition courses lol Great work Sean!

[jtmsl]

I showed my girlfriend Greg Doucette. But this guys knows just as much and wouldn't scare her with all the yelling.. really calm and straightforward.. I knew I subscribed to you for a reason

[williamrusso]

I lost over 100 pounds primarily by keeping a strict calorie deficit. I didn't make any big changes to my diet at first. For the majority of my weight loss, I still ate my fair share of shitty processed foods, but in smaller, closely tracked quantities. It was a miserable experience, but it got the ball rolling. Over time, I just naturally gravitated more towards healthier foods because they were more satiating. I'm sure it wasn't a recommended way to diet, but it worked for me.

[Christophermeow]

Ive been bodybuilding 23 years and coaching people for 15 years this is actually veryyy well explained i agreee

[corydrichmond]

I started really counting calories to lose weight. I went in with the idea that I can eat what ever I want but focus on the calorie in/out. Now I did this while also improving the quality of my food and exercise mostly running. I've lost 9 lbs in six weeks. I dont know how someone could argue that calories don't matter.

[Pogaspm]

"Calories in vs calories out is not precise, so I'm gonna resort to intuitive eating because that's even more imprecise"
Logiks

[wolftac]

I agree. I started the carnivore diet a year ago and started losing weight like crazy. When I looked into the calories, I found that a pound of beef is like 1100 calories, and very satiating. I started at 276 pounds, with working out and averaging at about 1600-2000 calories per day, I am now at 197.

[spunkflunk]

Thanks for making this video I hate when Greg Doucette makes it sound like eating 2000calories in fast food will provide the same results as eating 2000 calories is high quality nutrient rich food

[BloodCovenant]

Before I adjusted the calories in vrs calories out, 01/01/2022 I weighed 325lb. Today I weigh 203lb. I have another 15 to 25 lb to lose and I will keep using the calories matrix because it has worked very well over the past 1 yr and 4 months or so.

[Sirvalian]

As someone with an insanely high appetite, just changing up my diet to eating healthier didn't yield much results in terms of weight loss, I just maintained instead of increasing. When I finally started tracking calories the weight started dropping.

[jukappa]

I really wish I would have found your channel sooner. Coach Greg got me on the right path and has been great, don’t get me wrong. But your videos have literally answered so many of the exact questions I have had over the years and without all the extra crap I don’t actually care about.

[treyb]

I am losing weight and tracking my weight loss on My Fitness Pal. I was 330 pounds a year ago, then got to 310 and gave up after Keto. I went back at it hard in early September and by the time I saw a diet expert in late November at a doctor's office I got down to 277 on my own. They got me to understand the relationship between calories and macros. I went to their gym but since it's scheduled for only an hour once a week I could barely make much gains but it was a good starter. I did realize that I gained some muscle but I plateaued at 265 at New Years. Last week I joined a gym, retracked my calories to make sure I was in a calorie deficit, meaning WHOLE FOODS WITH HIGH PROTEIN, low fat, mid carbs, my weight dropped fast. I dropped down to 257 by this morning by less than 6 days which shattered my plateau.

Calorie deficit is what this is, calories in vs. calorie out. Building muscle not only burns calories, it pushes your metabolism through the roof for a while and increases your resting metabolic rate.

The science is simple and I love this channel overall. Great job!

[Moose]

Legend says that every time anyone says, "calories in, calories out, " Greg's left eye twitches.

[nickvoelker]

Getting serious about measuring your food is sometimes necessary if you've stalled out while trying to gain or lose weight. It's very difficult to accurately measure calories burned. But, you can clean up one side of the equation by knowing exactly whats going in your body, and that will get you closer to finding the right energy balance you need to reach your goal.

[kenswan]

I remember a few years ago listening to an interview with a doctor in Canada who read over 2000 scientific articles about food and weight loss. His conclusion was that most of the articles were inconclusive. That it really did not matter what type of foods you ate as the body is amazing at extracting the nutrients it needs and pissing and shitting away the nutrients it does not need. In essence there really is no good or bad foods. The only thing he was able to say with certainty is if you eat more calories than you burn off you are gonna get fat. So I think a lot of what is being said in this video is quite true. I know in my own personal experience is in regards to weight loss and maintenance is you really have to say goodbye forever to attachment to excessive amounts of food. Or in other words "pigging out"!

[ARMYStrongHOOAH]

When I started eating clean I quickly realized the caloric difference between fastfood and home-cooked breakfast. I could go to McDonald's and polish off 1200 calories or more and be full (a bit overfill to be honest) vs. Oatmeal eggs and sausage at home and I couldn't finish my bowl. I average about 500 calories for breakfast if I eat at home. A single McDonald's sandwich has that (not even counting the drink and hashbrown or second sandwich if that's your thing). 🤯

[whitelion]

Another point I'd like to mention: different foods affect your hormones in different ways, which has a dramatic effect on fat burning. One of the reasons intermittent fasting is so effective, for instance, is that it keeps insulin levels low for long periods throughout the day. The instant we begin to consume foods that stimulate an insulin response (sugars, starchy carbs or large meals of any kind) our insulin levels rise which cause our fat metabolizing hormone levels to drop, which temporarily stops fat metabolism as well as creating hunger-cravings and binge eating when insulin levels drop before glucagon levels can rise again. Which means being mindful of food choices to keep insulin levels low can be beneficial for the purposes of maintaining fat metabolism.
Cheers

[ricedonut]

Thank you for this clarity, Sean. It's a shame that this video does not get enough views

[JR-glnx]

5:18 this isn't stock footage, it is actually how Sean does his portion control. That is why he is looking so lean.