Calories In V.S Calories Out - Proper Caloric Deficits

For the love of well sauced buffalo wings....

Even as a personal trainer, things are tough folks. Fat loss is not easy for the majority of people out there trying to lose body fat and maintain a lean healthy body. Let me be frank when I tell those out there willing to listen that there is no other way to drop the fat. You must make better nutritional choices than a Pogo and Poutine for lunch, and you have to get off your butt more often than to run up to the corner store to check your Super 7 numbers. (most of us are even lazier, and we use the web for that). This includes me, as I work hard every day to stay in shape, fuel my body with only the best nutritional choices as I also help others achieve their goals.

Sorry folks, there are no magic pills, no magic diets, and no ab blasters will help you and your body lose fat. It's hard to accept sometimes isn't it?

Fat loss is about the ratio of calories in vs. calories out. Plain and simple. But what most magazines and infomercials do not tell us is that in order to achieve our fitness goals the ratio is actually 70% nutritional and 30 % exercise. But that does not mean starve yourself and do as little exercise as possible. It means eat sensibly, have 5-6 smaller meals per day to balance the blood sugars, that will also keep the metabolism stoked, and exercise on a regular basis, which should include strength training to maintain and develop lean muscle mass. This too helps boost your metabolism.

So why am I here? Simple, because I need assistance in losing fat. "But you're a personal fitness trainer for God's Sake!"

Yes, but I was naughty, and I did not keep track of my daily calories like I tell my clients, and lo and behold, I discovered that I was not eating ENOUGH calories!!! YIKES... that is not a good thing folks. Here I was thinking I had it all under control, yet, I could not understand why my body fat percentage did not drop over the course of the past 4 weeks. WHat had happened was I was starting to plateau, so I changed up my exercises and even dropped some calories, but I did not keep a watchful eye on those calories and now I have discovered that I am actually sabatoging my efforts by not eating enough calories.

Folks. Remember to only drop your caloric intake by 500 calories per day via a proper nutritional plan and exercise. If you increase your caloric deficit by over 800 calories per day nature has a way of protecting the body against excessive weight loss. At first you will lose alot of water, a little fat. Then suddenly you stop losing. You've plateaued, because your body now refuses to give up the fat, regardless if you want it off for summer or not.

It is a scientific fact that when your calorie count suddenly drops, your body will compensate for the fact by reducing your metabolic rate. As a result, you'll need fewer calories to maintain your weight. This explains why some people lose weight up to a point and then cannot lose any additional weight, no matter how hard they try. Friends, this is one of the most dangerous myths in the weight loss world. You literally have to eat yourself thin, not starve yourself thin.

Know your BMR, know your activity level and know your caloric needs, and monitor them closely. You will achieve!

The key is really that the number of calories you eat directly affects your metabolism. If you don't eat enough calories, your body goes into "famine" mode. Fooled into believing you cannot find enough to eat, your endocrine glands PURPOSELY slow your metabolism to conserve energy. Slowing the metabolism means burning less fat. Is this really what you wanted to do??? It sure isn't what I wanted to have happen. Counting Calories is an important aspect of fat loss. Thank goodness for such resources as www.Calorie-Count.Com.

So here I am, on board to eat myself thin baby!!! Where's the Tofurkey.....(yuck!)

The really funny things is when i was going to the gym i had women mad at me because they said i did to much cardio, and to some extent they were right i need to add weights to add shape to my body, but all the shape in the world cannot make your muscle show if they are covered in fat who cares if your a size six with belly fat, back fat and jiggle rolls when will people get thin does not mean healthy or that you have a great body. I knew a girl who was in amazing shape getting ready to do body building shows and this girl would do cardio like a mad person on the arc tranior some times two hours a day, not saying you have to do this much but like i said  burn the fat  and create muscle so you can see it the end i think focusing on cardio at first if you have a lot to lose is great and then once yu get smaller really hit the weights hard it's hard to do both full force, but forget the easy 20 min seessions exspecually if yu are human and might sneak that snickers at work if you do it hard and try everyday you will lose even if you cheat a little and if can't do a lot just make sure to do it everyday beleive me it works and be consistant it could take a month but you will wake up one day and the fat will be gone.

o.k. : )

so, i've read through the posts a bit, and am still confused. i've put in my stats, etc., and at the top of my calorie meter it says that my goal (for maintenence, in smaller font) is 2200 calories. i want to lose weight, so i should drop down 500 or so calories, according to your initial post...? but, when i plugged in all of my info into CC (starting weight 137lbs, 5'8", 22 years old, goal weight 125-ish ilbs light activity) it said that i should only eat between 1200-1500 cals a day. i'm very confused. any clarity on this subject would be SO HELPFUL! thanks so much!!

msaneal- you are correct that if you eat less and exercise more you will lose weight.  However, as your calorie intake drops your energy expenditure drops also.  One of the major factors is that you wont feel like getting in your exercise, you will feel tired, depressed and ready to quit.  Oh and your body will start to crave food as a result of malnutrition.  This often leads to binging so that one undoes the hard work they have done.

Now one can cut calories drastically and push through the lowered energy expenditure and tired feelings and ignore the malnutrition.   Yeah - your body will be starving so you will lose weight.  But why the heck would anyone want to?  That is stupid!

Why bother to continue to cut calories when one can still lose weight eating well? 

Lets get it straight here.  When people on this site talk about upping cals to lose - they are not giving a cart blanche to pig out and binge.  The point is to eat the right amount for your energy expenditure and avoid the negatives that come with a lowered calorie expenditure.  

The problem with most people who feel they have to up their calories is that they started with just their diet.  They cut calories based on a sedintary lifestyle.  Initially their caloric intake was correct for doing nothing.  But as you add more exercise you have to add more calories or suffer through the stuff in this post.  Sure you can continue to cut calories and up you exercise.  Go a head.  But starving, while effective, is not the goal.

 

 

 

 

Like i said i am not a trainer nor do i claim to be, all i can say is what works for me. As for someone starving i think protein is a big factor but people weigh different and that has to come into play with calorie intake and that's pretty cut and dry. But i am a big believer in listening to people who have suceeded and then in turn trying that to see what is successful for me.

All i know is when you look at  the 6 small meals a day for most bodybuilders and i get mine from bodybuilding.com this is for women of course they in total are like 1000 a day can i tell you to do that or what you need for your weight no. But i think binging or anything esle comes from just what you want to do, what i think peoople are not saying is they are eating more food veggies fruit etc but the calories are still low all i said is at the end of the day it's calories in versus calories out to lose weight plain and simple wither people binge don't binge don't want to exersize i think that is a personal problem but what i hate is that weight loss is made to be hard an or magic when it's not if you want great results you have to work for it? Just like anything else is it easy prob not but it is what it is at the end of the day.

 

I am going to reply to this because i am having the same problem right now we are the same height and i am 125, now i am not trying to drop body weight but i am trying to loss this last bit of belly fat i have been exersizing everyday and eating my 6 healthy meals and guess what nothing.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news because for me without exersixe its 1680 calories to maintain my weight so to be around 1100 everyday really stinks : ( but it is what it is? Sorry so what i have started to do is i went back over what i was eatting the healthy snacks that i tried to measure out and prob did so wrong that cup of cofee with the extra cream and sugar it all counts so if you want to lose you have to create more of a deficit some where and that's the truth what i have done to break up the boredom is after work i take my son to ride his bike and i walk along with my usual time on the treadmill and i am seeing progress again like i said i think people are scard to just tell someone the truth you have to create that deficit of what it takes to maintain your weight to lose now how you do tht is strictly up to you, but it's the only way to lose the fat? Drink protein and fiber it seems to help me?

 

Oh and one more thing go to bodybuilding.com it's a great site it has helped out a lot and don't listen to me or anyone research for yourself listen to your body and listen to people who are in good shape at your gym online that's what i have done.

 

Have a great day!

coachdee: Thanks for this post!

Maybe you can point me in the right direction here. I used the Calorie Deficit Calculator and this is what I got:

 

Female    Male Weight:  lbskg Height:  ft.min.cm Age:   years Level of Activity:
[Help] Sedentary Lightly active Moderately active Very active Extremely active Calculate  Reset

Total Daily Calorie Needs
Calorie Deficit of 500 calories:
Calorie Deficit of 1000 calories:
Calorie Deficit of 15%:
Calorie Deficit of 20%
Calorie Deficit of 25%:
Calorie Deficit of 30%:

My question is, in order to loose 2 lbs a week I need to go down 500 calories only right? So consume 2913 calories a day. But then Im burning about 5oo calories every other day (dancing classes such as Zumba, Hip-Hop, etc)

Is that right?

Thanks for your time!