So I’m finally showing success in weight loss and wanted to share what I did.
Track calories and stick to 2000 cal a day. This is just slightly lower than what calculators recommend for a pound a week.
A protein with every meal. Hopefully over 100 grams per day or more.
Weight lifting twice a week to maintain muscle mass
I generally target 600 calories per meal
I don’t necessarily eat a perfect diet, but that’s just it, I need a diet I can maintain for life. If I occasionally eat McDonald’s or an ice cream I just limit it to a Quarter pounder vs the whole meal, etc. I know some will talk about eating perfectly clean, but baby steps.
Results: Down 25 pounds, only lost 2 pounds of muscle in ~4-5 months. All confirmed with a Dexa scan.
GCN said calories in calories out is bro science and that calorie measuring is old so we shouldn’t use it, watts are over a century older but they didn’t tell you to throw your power meter out. They went on to use calories as a reason to eat or not eat certain things in the same video…
Calorie counting is imperfect, calorie counting still absolutely works for gaining, maintaining, or losing weight.
Congrats IamDeablo, you found something to that works for you.
I’m coming off a really good race season in 2023. No magic and I credit some of the results to no alcohol. I think the results from no alcohol was purely an increased motivation to get out the door and get the work done. As a result my weight increased 10 lbs. Whether some is muscle I can’t say but, for sure I was over eating. I’m also in my 50’s so I can’t rule out hormone change. I digress…
Fast forward to now. I’m riding well, eating clean but, just overweight. So I started (for the second time in my riding career) counting calories. The first time was back in 2010-11 while injured. I went from 165 to as low as 147. Over the years I slowly gained back all the weight to 165 again until last year observing the weight increase to 175. I feel a good sustainable goal weight to be 160.
More than CICO I think keeping track just makes one think twice about that extra handful of chips; extra cream in coffee; a small scoop of ice cream or even just an extra little bit of rice at dinner. All those little extras add up. Being slightly hungry not counting calories I would just eat something. Counting while hungry I have to be a bit strategic how I consume the calorie budget for the day and as a result am easily able to avoid extra calories.
As an aside, I had my BMR tested about 8 years ago and it was approximately 1800. A team mate of mine who is naturally skinny (awesome climber) told me his BMR tested at 2800. Point is if you are struggling with weight I feel knowing the starting point will be a huge help. Your BMR may be a bit lower than you think…Also the apps have come a long ways. Using lose it now and super impressed. Cheers!
I enjoy GNC, but some of that might be for clicks, and for them to suggest it’s bro science (i.e. not based on science) is kind of clueless. Of course, water retention, hormones, and macros all play a factor.
Still, people need to understand that if you take in roughly 4000 calories a day and burn roughly 2000 for 6 months you have a very high chance of gaining weight. So tracking calories is pretty valuable here for people who need to educate themselves/adjust their intake.
I thin what the GCN video spoke about wasn’t necessarily that calorie counting was a myth but more that you should use physical activity to generate your deficits rather than calorie reduction as the science suggests this has a better affect on body comp rather than just simply losing KGs or LBs.
TR spoke about this very thing in a recent podcast. The underlying point being - don’t count calories in terms of reduction in food to generate your deficit - as this has negative impacts on the body’s inside thingys and systems etc - but use activity i.e increased volume - to drive the deficit.
Makes sense except when you’re an 53 year old man with a worn down body (hip tendinopathy, back fractures, nerve issues, etc.) and weight becomes a disabler to exercise. Then it helps to get the weight down and it your pushed into the kitchen instead.
I play this game of when the upper body hurts, use the lower body, when the lower body hurts use the upper body, when they both hurt, walk or swim, etc. but I’m rapidly getting to the point where everything hurts so I took a new approach…just get the weight down while maintaining muscle mass to lesser the wear and tear of carrying the extra weight.
yeah, that was the caveat. If pure weight loss is the concern then calorie reduction is the go, especially with limited mobility.
I myself, just this past year dropped 45 lbs on calorie restriction and increased physical activity. Now that I am very close to my goal weight and my focus has shifted to body comp I am using increase in volume to achieve my small deficits.
But as you said, with your specific case maybe calorie reduction is what works best for you at the moment. Good luck
Congrats on the success. They are some fantastic results!
I recently found similar success - I didn’t change much from before, just added consistency and more protein as you alluded to.
While my weekly average calories haven’t changed much - being consistent day to day and introducing more protein and eating more cleanly has put me into a consistent weight-loss trend.