Calories and Weight Loss 101

One of the things people misunderstand the most is calories and weight loss… or… how important are calories, counting them, and the types of calories consumed to losing weight (fat specifically)?

Here’s the thing: I’m not a dietician, I’m not a nutritionist, and I don’t pretend to be any of these things. But I do know a little bit about how I got lean, how I build muscle and not fat, and how to help other people get that way. So if you wanna know some “common sense” stuff about calories and weight loss — then let’s get to it!

The Basics of Weight Loss

Calories are measures of energy. Each type of macronutrient, protein, fat and carbohydrate has a specific calorie density: Fat has 9 calories per gram, and Protein and fats have 4 calories per gram.

Your body uses calories as energy. You lose weight when you burn more calories (energy) each day than you consume. Conversly, you gain weight when you consume more calories each day than you burn off. It’s really that simple.

There are no real “secrets” to weight loss… only secret ways to take advantage of this scientific law of “energy in and energy out”…

Why Most People Are Fat

S.A.D. is the acronym for the “Standard American Diet” and I LOVE that acronym because it really is sad the way most americans (and people in modern cultures in general) eat.

The foods we generally consume are as far from their natural state as is possible: processed, pumped full of chemicals and preservatives and sweeteners.

What’s more the SAD is really heavy on the scale of: lots of bad carbohydrates, lots of bad fats (trans fats) and very little quality protein. Why does this matter you ask?

Is a Calorie Just a Calorie?

Yes and no. You see, your body treats calories from the different sources in totally different manners. They’re still the same amount of energy per se… but they’re treated by your body differently.

I’ll skip a lot of science and just tell you that if your goal is to lose weight, focusing on consuming more protein and (good) fats is the easiest way to do it. I’m not a “low carb only!” Atkins freak or anything, but it just makes it so much easier and here’s why:

• Less hungry: protein and good fats both satiate you longer, keep you feeling food…
• Thermic effect: your body uses more calories (energy) to break down and digest protein than any other food…
• Hormones: consuming good fats is great for your overall health and helps to optimize your hormones…
• Harder to overeat: while a cup of rice has only 200 calories, you’ll 1.) probably eat three times that (600 calories) and 2.) be hungry again less than an hour later. Compare that to eating a 8oz steak which has around 550 calories… but you’ll feel full for hours later.
• Health: try googling “fish oil + any disease” you can think of and you’ll see an example of how getting more good fats in your diet can help prevent, treat or even reverse most chronic diseases.

The Caveman Connection?

There are many theories about why we are better suited to be leaner when we are eating high in proteins and fats and lower in carbohydrates… one is that we evolved that way.

It sure makes a lot of sense. Dr. Al Sears makes the point that,

“Turns out it’s a simple matter of physiology. Our pre-historic ancestors relied on a diet that was mainly seeds, nuts, berries, vegetables that grow above ground, and the occasional windfall of fat and protein from a successful hunt.

Their bodies (and ours) evolved over millions of years to adapt to these conditions. It isn’t a question of the amount of calories they consumed. It was the kind of foods they ate. During the lean times, their bodies stored fat. During the good times, their bodies shifted gear and started burning fat away.

Look at it this way: when you eat a lot of protein, you’re “telling” your body that the hunting is good. And your body responds by burning fat, since all that good hunting means it doesn’t need to store all those excess calories. Eating a lot of protein literally flips your metabolic “switch” to fat-burning mode.

And here’s another interesting twist: when your body’s in “burn” mode, you can eat more fat, too, because that’s what it’s using for energy.

In other words, if you really want to lose weight and stay strong and healthy, you should do exactly the opposite of what the mainstream medical establishment says: forget carbs and eat protein and fat. Since my work with H.S., I’ve seen it work for literally thousands of my patients.”

Seems to make sense to me?

Making Weight Loss Easy

So do you need to pay strict attention to counting every little calorie that falls on your plate? Do you need to spend your life worrying about your weight?

No, here’s what to do instead…

Since losing weight is a simple matter of calories in and calories out, you have three choices when it comes to losing weight:

1. Eat a LOT less calories (starve yourself with restrictive, calorie counting diets) to get this calorie deficit
2. Burn a LOT more calories (work out REALLY hard and for long amounts of time) to get the deficit
3. OR… Eat just a little less and work out just a little more–attack the problem from both ends so to speak–and lose weight almost effortlessly!

That’s what the leanest people on earth do, whether they know it or not. Why does Oprah keep gaining back all the weight she lost? Because she keeps attacking the problem from one angle (mainly diet) and then when she can’t stand the starvation, counting calories, or whatever–crashes and re-gains all the weight.

On the other hand, high level athletes who used to spend 30+ hours in the gym each week could eat whatever they wanted, literally 10,000 calories per day or more… then when they retire they quickly get overweight because they never learned to control the eating side of the equation.

Then you got people that are lean for life. They learn to enjoy being just “a little bit” more active: taking walks in the morning, taking the stairs each day, parking farther away in the parking lot, enjoying a sport or athletic activity 3x per week.

Plus, they learn to control what goes in their mouth: they don’t try to be perfect, they eat good during the week and take it a little easier on the weekends, they choose healthy fats and unprocessed foods and meats when available and stick mostly to proteins and fats as their main source of food — saving the carbs for desserts and treats!

They end up enjoying the process of living lean because it’s not hard work, it’s just making a few small changes here and there.

So there you go, a simple primer on calories and weight loss to help you start burning fat off your body effortlessly and living a more healthy life.