The Truth Behind Burning Fat: Calories In vs Calories Out
The Truth Behind Burning Fat: Calories In vs Calories Out
No pill, patch, wrap, or drink can burn fat. If it did, all you would need to do is go out and buy it.
Drink it, and call it a day. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you.
What are calories?
Calories are a unit of energy. Just a way to measure how much energy a food or drink has. So if something is 100 calories, that’s how much energy you get from it.
Calories don't tell time. So eating after 6pm is ok. As long as you maintain a deficit.
Calories have no feelings either. Just putting that out there. There are no good or bad foods. They’re all just food. And they all contain the same things. Calories. So that’s where your focus should be when you’re trying to burn fat.
Maintain a calorie deficit and you will burn fat.
So now that we covered calories, let’s talk about nutrition. And how that plays a role.
Calories in vs calories out. Aka Energy balance. When you hear someone talk about this it means how many calories do you burn in a day, versus how many you eat.
This balance will dictate whether you gain weight or lose weight. The balance is extremely important and something that usually needs to be tracked in order to make sure you can get there and maintain it.
There are a lot of great apps to use to track your calories, I love my fitness pal. It’s simple to use and you scan the barcode on your favorite foods and save your favorite meals too.
You don’t have to be perfect when tracking your food. Just do your best. And if you need to guess, do it. Something is better than nothing, always.
So how many calories you need to eat?
You have a base rate of your daily calorie burn. You might hear it called basal metabolic rate But were just gonna call it your base calorie burn. Gotta keep things simple ya know.
Say your base calorie burn is 2000. That means if you eat 2000 calories, your body fat % will stay the same. If you eat less than that, you're going to start burning fat. More than that, you'll be making fat.
If you eat less calories than you burn in a day you will burn fat.
Now that we got that out the way we can move to the next point. The only way to burn fat, is by being in a calorie deficit. Where you eat less calories than you burn each day.
You can use this equation here to figure out how to do it for yourself. It’s super simple!
BW x 10-12 = Total Daily Calorie Deficit Range
Protein .8-1 = Total Daily Protein Target
Pro Tip: Track calories within a range. Instead of trying to hit 2000, shoot for 1800-2200. This will help you stay consistent with your calorie deficit and have the flexibility to enjoy life too.
Protein is the most important macro.
Protein will help you maintain the muscle you have. It will also help keep you stay fuller for longer. That means eating less will be easier to do. Aka maintain that calorie deficit will be easier to do.
Everyone is different. And even though you might have the perfect plan for this, it really comes down to adherence. How good are you at maintaining the plan you set up for yourself.
The best plan means nothing if you can't stick to it.
How good are you at tracking your calories? If you feel like it's tough do at first and takes a lot of time. You're right. It does.
Nutrition is a skill. The more you practice, the better you get.
And like all skills, the more you practice the easier it gets too. Just like learning how to deadlift or squat, you have to learn how to count and adjust your calories.
And spend time figuring out what works for you and what doesn’t.
So if you’re tracking calories and aren't seeing any progress at all. I mean zero progress. Then odds are you're not in a deficit. Adjust your calories down a little and stick with that another 4 weeks.
Progress isn’t just about the scale
There are a ton of ways to see if you’re making progress. Here are a few of my favorites that I use with my online coaching clients that don’t involve stepping on the scale!
Better relationship with food
Losing body fat
Getting stronger
Clothes fitting looser
Maintaining a new low weight
More energy
More confidence
Getting compliments
Easier to move
Not out of breath so easy
Tracking calories becomes easier
For the record though, if you are in a calorie deficit you're gonna lose weight. You might have that friend that's saying they are in a deficit and not losing weight. FALSE. That can't happen.
Does the type of calories matter?
Yes and no. If you maintain a calorie deficit, and only eat kit kat bars (You shouldn’t just eat kit kat bars for the record), you'll still burn fat. Now you might have some other issues that come up from that, but you will burn fat. That’s a fact.
Thats funny thing about science though, some things are just the way they are.
The calorie deficit always matters.
But if you're trying to build muscle, make your body run efficiently as possible, then your quality of calories does matter. Eating lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, and grains will be a lot better than eating cookies and shit all day.
I hope this helped you understand the truth behind burning fat and how you can start right away!
Share this with a friend that should see it so you can help them out too!