My rant about 'calorie deficit' b.s.

[Booyaa]

Guys, not meaning to get at anybody, but one thing which winds me up is when people advise that all you need to do to lose weight, is to create a calorie deficit, i.e. burn more calories than you take it. I'm sorry but this is just wrong, and dangerous advice.

So just to pick up on this, if I eat the "correct" calories, I won't loose weight by creating a calorie deficit? I don't do this, nor would I contemplate it, but your comment is just plain wrong.

 

[martint235]

Personally I used a well balanced diet, with no calorie deficit, and lots of well planned exercise/ training, to achieve my 25 kilo weight loss, which is now maintained over 5 years, and gives me a pretty ideal BMI, bearing in mind I'm now an athlete competing a regional level (masters athletics).

So let's just get this straight. You took in as many calories as you expended during exercise and still lost weight?? And 25 kilos at that. Given the "muscle weighs more than fat" theory, that is very remarkable.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

So let's just get this straight. You took in as many calories as you expended during exercise and still lost weight?? And 25 kilos at that. Given the "muscle weighs more than fat" theory, that is very remarkable.

1kg is 1kg right?

 

[martint235]

1kg is 1kg right?

Yeah ok. But per waistline inch.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Yeah ok. But per waistline inch.

Eh?

 

[martint235]

Eh?

If in doubt, confuse the issue. That's my motto.

Anyway forget the muscle/fat thing. I'm still interested how you can consume as many calories as you burn but still lose weight.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

If in doubt, confuse the issue. That's my motto.

Anyway forget the muscle/fat thing. I'm still interested how you can consume as many calories as you burn but still lose weight.

You did it all by yourself

 

[martint235]

You did it all by yourself

It's a skill. And I'm even managing to do it without alcohol lately.!

 

[bozmandb9]

So just to pick up on this, if I eat the "correct" calories, I won't loose weight by creating a calorie deficit? I don't do this, nor would I contemplate it, but your comment is just plain wrong.

I'm saying if you eat the 'wrong calories' for example you create a calorie deficit, but get your reduced calories from the wrong source, for example fast food, there is a very good chance that you will not lose weight. Your metabolism will slow, you'll get sick, and probably lose muscle, but almost certainly not lose fat. Conversely if you eat the right calories for your metabolism, and eat the right foods, i.e. a well balanced healthy diet, yes, amazing as it may seem, you do lose weight, and probably faster and more sustainably than by trying to create a deficit.

You can argue that the deficit is there anyway if you are not including extra calories for your exercise, but this is what I'm trying to get across, it's not a straight equation, quality matters as much as quantity where calories are concerned, if you doubt me try a month on McDonalds and come back and tell me I'm wrong!

 

[martint235]

I'm saying if you eat the 'wrong calories' for example you create a calorie deficit, but get your reduced calories from the wrong source, for example fast food, there is a very good chance that you will not lose weight. Your metabolism will slow, you'll get sick, and probably lose muscle, but almost certainly not lose fat. Conversely if you eat the right calories for your metabolism, and eat the right foods, i.e. a well balanced healthy diet, yes, amazing as it may seem, you do lose weight, and probably faster and more sustainably than by trying to create a deficit.

You can argue that the deficit is there anyway if you are not including extra calories for your exercise, but this is what I'm trying to get across, it's not a straight equation, quality matters as much as quantity where calories are concerned, if you doubt me try a month on McDonalds and come back and tell me I'm wrong!

I think if you eat McDonalds for a month but still burn off more calories than you consume, you'll lose weight. You will have to exercise a lot but you'll still lose weight.

Now if the point you're trying to make is that eating McDonalds for a month and exercising a lot won't make you healthy, that I accept but I still think the basic premise of exercise more than you eat will see you lose weight.

 

[Crackle]

There's a lot of research on the subject, which I've studied extensively, and I'm passionate about it, since I found that much 'conventional wisdom' and advice, is not only wrong, but potentially counter productive, and even dangerous. Personally I used a well balanced diet, with no calorie deficit, and lots of well planned exercise/ training, to achieve my 25 kilo weight loss, which is now maintained over 5 years, and gives me a pretty ideal BMI, bearing in mind I'm now an athlete competing a regional level (masters athletics).

There is a lot of research and you have to pick through it carefully but to lose 25kg you must have had a deficit, even if you didn't consciously set out to do that. I totally agree about a balanced diet but it's more complex than that and if you go and read gb155's blog, you'll see a perfect example of that.

 

[bozmandb9]

If in doubt, confuse the issue. That's my motto.

Anyway forget the muscle/fat thing. I'm still interested how you can consume as many calories as you burn but still lose weight.

The muscle/ fat thing is another red herring, I went through that period when I would gain weight whilst working out loads, and blame it on additional muscle, B.S. Now I've gone from around 35% to 12% body fat, and my weight is a low as it's ever been, but I have one hell of a lot more muscle, or at least much more strength.

But to build muscle, it's essential to have good nutrition, so what worked best for me was when my P.T put me on a plan where I was on 2,500 calories, spread throughout the day. Think it was roughly 100 grams protein, 70 grams carbs, and 50 grams green vegetables per serving, x 6 per day. Never hungry, performance and strength increased massively. Try doing that with calorie deficit. He's an elite athletics coach, and although I'm only a 'veteran', the body still works the same!

Now the only caveat on all of this, is that I was training for strength rather than endurance, so there may be a very different profile to ideal diets for cyclists, but the principles about balanced nutrition still apply, as do the facts about calorie deficit. Here's a good article which explains why, since I'm clearly failing to!

http://charlotteord.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-500-calorie-deficit-myth.html

 

[martint235]

The muscle/ fat thing is another red herring, I went through that period when I would gain weight whilst working out loads, and blame it on additional muscle, B.S. Now I've gone from around 35% to 12% body fat, and my weight is a low as it's ever been, but I have one hell of a lot more muscle, or at least much more strength.

But to build muscle, it's essential to have good nutrition, so what worked best for me was when my P.T put me on a plan where I was on 2,500 calories, spread throughout the day. Think it was roughly 100 grams protein, 70 grams carbs, and 50 grams green vegetables per serving, x 6 per day. Never hungry, performance and strength increased massively. Try doing that with calorie deficit. He's an elite athletics coach, and although I'm only a 'veteran', the body still works the same!

Now the only caveat on all of this, is that I was training for strength rather than endurance, so there may be a very different profile to ideal diets for cyclists, but the principles about balanced nutrition still apply, as do the facts about calorie deficit. Here's a good article which explains why, since I'm clearly failing to!

http://charlotteord.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-500-calorie-deficit-myth.html

In the 2nd World War scenario given in that article, the men lost weight by cutting their calorie intake. I fully understand the findings of what happens AFTERWARDS but that doesn't alter the fact that cutting calorie intake will result in weight loss.

Also that article is about fasting diets not increasing your exercise rate to match your consumption. If I personally want to lose weight, I don't change what I eat, I up my exercise levels. It seems to work. When I reach the weight I want to be at I revert to normal exercise levels which are enough to maintain a particular weight (I assume consumption naturally matched to my normal exercise level).

 

[Hill Wimp]

Great this works for you, fantastic, however plans like the Fast Die/5:2 which you plainly don't agree with also work for an awful lot of other people and you cannot argue that it doesn't as there are too many people who can prove you wrong and many are on this forum. I know someone that has been doing this for almost 3 years now and he has shed 4 stone, has kept it off and is still going strong.

Edit - Just read Martins post above and got to agree, if i want to lose weight, i have just returned from holiday and the jeans are a bit snug, i will use my tried and tested method of cutting down and exercising more, works every time, funny that !

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Great this works for you, fantastic, however plans like the Fast Die/5:2 which you plainly don't agree with also work for an awful lot of other people and you cannot argue that it doesn't as there are too many people who can prove you wrong and many are on this forum. I know someone that has been doing this for almost 3 years now and he has shed 4 stone, has kept it off and is still going strong.

Yet, the weightloss has never been anything but a side effect of eating that way.