FHP 527 - Why Your Calorie Deficit Isn't Working (Mistakes To Avoid)

Now , i never want to overcomplicate something , and the simpler we can keep things , the better off we're going to be , but we also have to recognize that when we're missing out on a lot of key components .

That's why I'm excited in this episode of the Finis-Hex podcast , to really dive into some diet and workout tips to help you see better weight loss results and create the calorie deficit and nutritional changes that you actually need . Michelle's going to also dive into why all calories are not created equal and why a bite is not just really a bite .

So let's dive right into all the tips to help you see the best weight loss results and recognize that it's about so much more than just calories in versus calories out . I want to talk about the allure of the simple . So I truly do understand that we want things to be simple . We want to be told just what to do so we can take action .

But simple doesn't mean easy , and so often , we look for a simple fix . We're looking for something that just seems like it's make this change . You'll see this result . It's cutting out specific food groups , because that then allows us to create the calorie deficit or the nutritional changes we need . It's just keep your calories to this one level .

It's things like that , though , that miss the bigger picture , that ultimately keep us stuck on this yoyo dieting cycle . Really , the dieting industry doesn't want us to succeed , so it only serves them to make things seem really simple that don't ultimately pay off .

So , while , yes , at the heart of weight loss , if you take in fewer calories and you expend , you are going to put yourself in that calorie deficit , and , because your body needs more energy , it is going to use that fat to fuel . Okay , so you're going to lose weight .

However , in this same thing , when we only look at calories in versus calories out , ultimately what happens is we create a deficit potentially even too extreme along which creates a metabolic and adaptations , which then makes our body function off of that deficit . So no longer is us actually being in deficit .

We're trying to be efficient and use that , which means we're not losing weight , but we also get stuck in the cycle of we create the deficit , we lose the weight . Then what , right ? You can't stay in a deficit forever .

Otherwise you will create those metabolic adaptations and it's no longer a deficit and you can't go back to what you were doing prior , because those habits led to the results that you had at that point , which means you have to transition into maintenance .

It's why looking for that simplification then makes you miss out on all the key lifestyle changes you truly have to make If you want to see a new and better result .

If we don't embrace the learning process to start , we're going to have to embrace it at some point , and a lot of times we're embracing it at a point where we no longer have the willpower , motivation that we once had .

So if , instead of looking for something simple , you say , hey , how can I simply learn as much as possible and then make changes , you can make small changes , and I think that's where we get a little confused . Small changes are not the same as simple changes .

Small changes might meet us where we're at , but there are a change towards , ultimately , the lifestyle bounce we need to create There , about making unconscious habits conscious , and I want to dive into this because I think it's off of us being like I want something simple , i want to be told just what to do .

The problem is is you're just doing that new thing . You're not really assessing where you're at currently , all the lifestyle factors that will ultimately sabotage you because you're not making changes to them . You're putting a bandaid on a big wound .

And so if you want to make changes that last , if you want to see the best weight loss results , and especially fat loss results because there is a difference between just losing weight on the scale where you don't care if you lose muscle , and truly losing fat and improve your body comp to look leaner , which is what most of us truly want You need to take a

look at your overall lifestyle . So the best thing we can do if we want to keep things simple , so to speak , at the beginning , is to make small changes based on where we're currently . That means assessing your lifestyle . You need to make all the habits you're repeating unconsciously conscious . This is where we start to feel , you know , motivation uh waning .

We start to feel like we're constantly exerting self-control because we are all these unconscious things we did during the day that didn't require any willpower , any self-control , any thought , really any energy We're making conscious , and that in and of itself takes energy and focus .

And then , on top of that , we're consciously having to replicate these new habits that feel very uncomfortable . That's why we can feel like we run out of self-control and willpower .

But the more we embrace that this is part of the process and then make those changes closer to where we're at currently So they don't feel as dramatic the less we're going to drain ourselves as we're doing this process .

But I think just taking ownership of that is really key and recognizing that when we make things oversimplified , it doesn't allow us to address all the intricate factors that really make up our lifestyle .

Okay , so , while you want to make changes as small as possible to meet yourself where you're at , while you want to go back to those basics , you want to stop looking for simple and instead seek to learn . What feels complicated is because it's actually taking into account all the different factors that add up .

So , while it's very tempting to be like calories in versus calories out for weight loss , there's so much more nuance to it , especially if we want to see success . So start embracing that as you're making these changes , you need to assess your lifestyle , focus on adjustments you can make that will be sustainable or at least with a purpose .

Based off of the fundamentals And then focus on those macros , because when we understand the breakdown of the foods we're eating , we can understand how to better create a deficit that doesn't leave us feeling starved , deprived and craving a ton of food .

We can better create a lifestyle that's sustainable by including foods we love , while including the nutrient dense foods .

We also give ourselves the ability to come out of that deficit with making changes to our lifestyle , to learn how to retrain our body to eat more without gaining fat , to even learn how to feel better for our performance and gain muscle when going into that surplus .

Because calories in versus calories out Yes , it doesn't even come down to the thermic effective food right , that's still calories being burned . So it does come back to calories . The quality of the calorie really matters for how everything functions , which really impacts how we respond to that . Calories in versus calories out .

Trust me , if you've ever tried to die down on 1500 calories of M&Ms , it's a very different than 1500 calories of chicken and broccoli . You feel very different . It's why we can't just oversimplify everything .

We need to embrace the process of change and the embrace that learning process and realize that small changes are different than simple and that , as complicated as learning process can be , it's super key because we're making those unconscious habits conscious as we're consciously deciding to embark on making the new changes in our lifestyle .

And it's hard , guys , there's no way around it . That is hard and it takes energy , it takes willpower , it takes focus at the start , which is why it's key We don't just default back into the simple to get stuck on that weight loss yo-yo dieting cycle .

I'm thankful for Michelle to dive into what she called the battle of the bites and why it's so key that we focus on more than just simply calories in versus calories out If we not only want to see the best weight loss results , but we want to create something that's truly a lasting lifestyle so we can maintain our results long term . Let's jump right in .

I'm super excited to chat with Michelle about calories in versus calories out and that oversimplification , as she called it the battle of the bites . Michelle , from a dietitian standpoint , why is calories in versus calories out ? Yes , at the heart of it , but why do macros matter so much when it comes to wanting to see better results ?

Those type of things are going to be factors that really do play into effect .

as far as weight loss , it's so much more than just calories in versus calories out . As a society , it's really been just ingrained in our minds that calories in and calories out is the holy grail , but there's a lot more nuance to it .

More importantly than that , when we do this oversimplification , I think it's why we see so many people caught on that yo-yo dieting cycle . We see them going into that calorie deficit to lose . They lose the weight and it's like Now , what Right ?

Or they create such an extreme calorie deficit that then they ultimately end up creating metabolic adaptations and what seemed like a calorie deficit is no longer a calorie deficit . So I'm excited for you to break down the different components of it and how the type of calorie can really impact different things . I know you brought up metabolism already .

Can you go into how our metabolic rate is impacted by calories , Why there are other things that we need to consider if we do want to see the best body recomposition .

So it's not like someone truly is gifted with the super fast metabolism and that's what they were born with And that's what they throughout the rest of their life , where they don't need to be concerned about what they're actually intaking . What they find is those people who have higher metabolisms that are burning more .

It's usually comes down to the fact that they are one eating food and two actually exercising , doing things to burn off fuel as well , so they are doing these other things that actually help their metabolism .

Those that claim to have a slower metabolism , it's actually because they have caused their body to go through these metabolic adaptations , where their body starts to actually shut down some of these pathways .

I talk about this a lot , but when your body is just trying to run on the fuel that it's being provided , if you're not having it with enough fuel , it's all like sudden not going to put such an emphasis on doing things like growing nails , growing hair , muscle protein synthesis , and that is all calorically costly events .

So when your body is shutting that down , now , all of a sudden your metabolism is slower because it's not functioning optimally . So your metabolism is truly a dynamic system that adapts and responds to various inputs and signals .

Hormones are going to play a significant role in regulating your metabolism , your hunger , your cistiety , and that's really where this metabolic adaptation lies .

And I know we also go to that oversimplification and you'll see people dramatically cutting calories , which creates those metabolic adaptations so much faster and creates those hormonal imbalances And also because of that it disrupts so much that it causes more inflammation , which I know you also brought up as something that makes the quality of our calories , makes the

type of our calories make such a difference over just calories and versus calories out .

And so when you have that increase of leptin resistance , you're going to have an increased hunger and reduced ability to even feel satisfied when you do , when you are consuming calories , and it does just in general increase cravings and emotional eating responses because you're not getting that reward and pleasure centers kind of lighting up in your brain when you are

chronically inflamed . So it's one of those things that it's not . It doesn't get enough attention as far as we need to make sure that we are not staying in this chronic inflammation state .

And it's kind of a tricky thing because our body naturally like it's our body's natural response to stress into two things that are going to occur is inflammation , but it's really when we are consistently staying in that high inflamed chronic state where we're going to all of a sudden see all these disruptors and it's going to affect the metabolism as well .

So when people say like , oh , i'm creating the calorie deficit , i'm not losing , some of these other things might be coming into play again , putting the emphasis on macros And also , as you mentioned , quantity and quality of the different types of food , the different macro breakdowns really does come into play and how it impacts things , and can you touch a little

bit more on that ?

And while , yes , you know there is the calories , there is something to say with calories . But I do hope most of us realize like carrots are going to have more benefits than the snicker bar . But part of his logic is really missing that quality of his intake . So it's going to kind of come back to a calorie from a nutrient .

Dense whole food is going to have a very different response and effect on your body than a calorie from a process or refined foods . So our body's ability to utilize and store those calories vary based on the nutrient composition . But it's also going to have , of course , added fiber , added nutrients .

Your body's going to break it down slower and burn more through the thermal effect of food , because it's much harder to break down a carrot than it is to break down a chocolate bar .

And that's where you might start to see things break down over time . So it's remembering that we're giving our body quality fuel to see the best results as fast as possible , because we all want results yesterday , but also lasting results And even off of that .

It's kind of like the chicken or the egg with some of these things , i think , where we'll say we can't get the weight loss results we want because we have inflammation , we aren't feeling good , we aren't sleeping as well , we don't have , we have gut issues , right , we're blaming all these different things And then we say it's just calories in versus calories out ,

but it's like , okay , calories in versus calories out are not all that matter , and I actually got a lot of hate for saying that on a post where they're like yes , at the heart of it , i'm like yes , at the very foundation . Hey , if you can make that change by first having a sticker is bar over .

Having three stickers bars right To create that calorie deficit great , and there has to be that balance .

But then it's starting to realize how much impact some of these other things have And I know you even had mentioned the importance of like gut health when we want to see these better results , which is about focusing on some of these other things for weight loss other than just calories in versus calories out .

So at first your body is going to do everything it can to kind of cover up those nutritional deficiencies and run as best as it can , and you're going to jump on the scale and be like , oh look , i'm losing weight . But then eventually things are going to catch back up to you because you're going to cause most likely gut health issues .

If all of a sudden we're not choosing the best foods and our fibers going down because we're only we're cutting out calories , but we're cutting out those whole food , whole food sources of calories , then we're going to get an imbalance in that gut bacteria And that is really becoming very well studied And we're finding that the composition of our gut microbiota plays

a huge role just in weight management alone . So oftentimes these imbalances where we're kind of you know they call it the bad gut bacteria is all of a sudden a lot higher than the good bacteria .

It's going to be caused by things like poor diet or I mean , i know we all use them on occasion when we need them , but antibiotic use is going to also affect your gut bacteria And we know these things can affect your metabolism , your new , your ability to actually absorb nutrients and even our cravings .

So it's going to be kind of come back to the the saying like we need to focus on that whole food resources , and one of the things that they really do stress when it comes to gut health and how you can improve gut health is truthfully just focusing on the quality of your intake but also making sure we're hitting that variety as well .

And so it does allow you to not feel restricted but again dial in things in the way you need to improve all these different factors . And I know someone's going to say you know well , if you were to eat healthy foods in a calorie surplus , you're not going to lose .

And , it's true , you can eat clean and be overeating things that you don't need , which is where those macro ratios do come into play , because , based on the macros you use , you can really impact how many calories you ultimately need , which is why potentially adjusting those first , taking in the calories you're currently consuming , can be better than just creating

that deficit . It also allows you to learn about the quality of the food and how you're fueling . And I think that's the most key thing because , again , i know I've repeated this multiple times , but I do see so many people stuck in that yo-yo dieting cycle because they say , ok , well , i cut my calories . They slash our calories lower , they lose weight .

They either A hit their goal and then start to have a ton of cravings because of that , or , b they hit their goal and they're like , ok , well , i can't stay in a calorie deficit forever . Now what ?

But they've never learned about the fundamentals of the quality of their food , the macro breakdowns , how to transition back to eating maintenance calories , so they go back to what they were doing And then they're stuck on that cycle again . So that's why I think this conversation is so important , because we want to get out of that cycle .

And then we also want to realize when we're blaming inflammation , when we're blaming our gut health , when we're blaming our genetics , when we're blaming all these different factors . It can ultimately come back to taking this dive into what we're truly consuming .

But , truthfully , it comes down to understanding and learning the basic foundations of diet and the basic foundations , or the basic things that even you require , because we all I hear this a lot where everyone's like , well , i'm an anomaly because I have this working against me or I have this working against me . Hate to break it to you .

But even if you're struggling figuring out what that root cause , we know the basics of having a macro-focus diet . That's going to be making sure quality is going to prove .

We know exercising , we know increasing our protein and increasing our fruits and vegetable whole food sources are going to have positive effects , even if we don't see those major payoffs on the scale right away . It may be something that's kind of that slow burn , that slow effect that we see .

But if we address those root causes we can guarantee that , one , we're going to have a better quality of life down the road And two , we're going to make it easier to lose weight once those root causes are finally addressed and fixed .

And then the next is going to be we're going to make sure that we are improving our sleep , we are getting quality , not just going to bed sleeping , but that we're truly having good quality sleep , because that's going to affect inflammation , that's going to have a better effect overall , just in making sure that our metabolism is firing and doing things that it

needs to be doing . And then we are really going to just be focusing and making sure that we are eating less inflammatory foods .

And I say that I put that last because , truthfully , if you're focusing on quality , you're focusing on that lean protein , you're focusing on those fruits and vegetables , you most likely are already improving your anti-inflammatory food intake . So , yes , fun foods are fun .

Most of our fun foods are more processed , and so it's really making sure we're following that 80-20% approach .

you don't need to and you're outlining these steps to take to really move forward And remembering that it is so much more than just calories in versus calories out , as much as that's at the heart of it . So we don't want to just only focus on that .

process , because results are never going to happen as fast as we'd like and they're never going to be linear . So the more we can make sure that we're tracking what we're doing to hold ourselves accountable and be able to trust in the process , the better .

That being said , i will have clients say to me tracking isn't working , and there's a lot of nuance to this , and I want to break down why tracking might not be working for you , why you might actually be creating the calorie deficit you think you are or the calorie intake that you think you are , and , along with this , one size doesn't fit all .

So simply tracking doesn't mean you're using the right macros or a calorie intake , that it's matching your needs and goals , that your meal timing is correct , that you have the supplements you need all the different factors . So tracking is just giving you the data . So tracking isn't really not working or working .

That's the data to show you whether or not the other systems are working , just to clarify that as well . But five or no ? six reasons why I think that we can often not see the results we want from tracking and we can be a little off in what calorie intake we're actually creating . So number one we're not logging bites , licks and nibbles .

Those things add up . It might seem like only five calories in the sauce here or there , but a lot of times we're using a lot more than a serving of that sauce on things At least I do , but I like sauce and stuff .

But we're not accounting for 10 , 15 , 20 calories that add up over the course of the day and over the course of the weeks and months , especially if we do have a cheat day in there or a day where we don't log .

Necessarily we can be creating a calorie surplus by those little things really adding up And it might just be tasting the soup at every single meal or , again , those sauces that we're putting on .

But the more we want to see fast results , the more we really want to create that smaller calorie deficit to make sure we're losing fat and not losing muscle And we're not feeling some of the negative impacts of going more extreme with the calorie deficit in terms of our performance and energy , the more we have to be conscious of the fact that this small calorie

deficit can easily be blown by those bites , licks and nibbles going on logged . So , to start , make sure you're logging everything .

It might make you really conscious to have all the times you're unconsciously snacking or eating out of emotion , or even using things that are more calorically dense than you realize , and then even the impact that those unlawed days then have on that .

So make sure that you're logging everything to start to give yourself that accurate picture , to make changes , because there's nothing more frustrating than feeling like you're creating this calorie deficit when you're not actually creating it . Okay , number two not logging the correct ingredients raw versus cooked or like mis-entered numbers .

So the annoying part about things like my fitness pal is they can have incorrect ingredients and you can't sometimes not even realize . There was one time where I used a very incorrect chicken for a very long time , and so I thankfully knew that if something wasn't working , i need to tweak it .

So I ended up tweaking macro breakdowns to account for the fact that this chicken was a lot a logged incorrectly And eventually I realized it was , which allowed me to go back and fix that and truly understand what macro breakdowns I was using . So you can work around it by adjusting off of that . But we want to log correct ingredients .

So make sure that you even put in the USDA after the ingredient you type in . Do a little checking just so that you get the correct ingredients that you use commonly in there And then make sure , if you are weighing your meat raw , that you're entering a wrong ingredient .

If you're cooking it , make sure you're entering it cooked , but make sure you're entering the correct ingredients , because if something is off there and people have entered garlics that are like a thousand calories into there , it's not going to allow you to have that data . You need to truly adjust and adapt .

So make sure that the ingredients you're logging are correct And , off of that , make sure that you're entering not just the recipe but the ingredients you're consuming , because I'll see that a lot where people will enter a recipe like they're making a lasagna at home and they'll just click lasagna from in the tracker and put that in , that lasagna recipe might not

be anywhere near what you're truly making . So when you do that , you're not giving yourself accurate data . Yes , if we go out to eat , there might be a chance that if we get sushi we enter a sushi roll That's not the exact roll and we're doing that to give ourselves data .

But we're also conscious that we were eating out and that if we don't see the results we want , that might be the deviations . We might not have that exactly correct . But the less that we're giving ourselves that very precise measurement , the less we can tell what our calorie intake actually is or our macros .

So the more you can , the more you want to log every ingredient in something , even if you then save that recipe to enter multiple times . So sometimes , even if you're going out to the same place , if you can , you know , find a recipe that's more similar than you can enter that to adjust a little bit as needed .

But people who say you know , oh , it's harder to log because I'm logging from scratch , yes , there's more things to enter , but you can save the recipes , you can save the meals to make it faster . But you're truly giving yourself more accurate data to be able to make better changes more efficiently and see faster results .

Numbers well , it's certain number , four , but not actually weighing the ingredients . So I'll have people eyeball things And I can tell you after a decade of doing this , we are a bad at eyeballing things , not that going out to eat or at points , we don't use those visual portions to maintain our results .

But we can be very bad at eyeballing something , especially when we want more of it . Especially when you know if we're putting people on our rice cake , you want to cover that whole rice cake , especially when you just want it , you're hungry or stressed , whatever else . Things get distorted .

So when you're giving yourself that data to make sure that you're in the calorie deficit , especially when you're making that smaller calorie deficit to start way , every ingredient if you use , you know , cups , measuring cups that's fine too teaspoons , tablespoons , that type of stuff , but make sure that your measurements are correct and then match up to what's in the

food log . But weigh and measure everything to give yourself that precision . I know people can say that's obsessive , but a sometimes we need to be a little obsessed to get great results as fast as possible . And B , we can always go back to doing more visual portions , especially after weighing and measuring , to truly see what those things look like .

I can tell you after I've been weighing and measuring for a period I am very much more precise in my eyeballing of things than when I get more into eyeballing than my portions slowly get bigger off of that . So it's a little accountability even just going back to measuring every once in a while .

If you are usually using the visual portion sizes , then next this sort of ties into it and goes back to number three with the entering the recipes over specific ingredients . Eating out to more frequently can make it harder to know exactly what we're consuming .

Now I'm not asking you to change your entire lifestyle , but you always need to know the upsides and the downsides to everything that you're doing and how it's going to impact your results .

If you are choosing to eat out more and not at the same restaurants , that gives a lot more variability to what calorie intake and macros are probably consuming , because each restaurant is going to make a dish differently And there's probably going to be a lot more fats and such involved in their cooking processes than what you would even use at home .

If you can go out to the same restaurants more consistently , you can see how this consistently impact you to adjust around and even change your calorie intake or your macros based on that . Again it goes back to that incorrect ingredient I had . When something wasn't working , i did adjust everything .

Didn't adjust the right things until later on , but you can always adjust around it . But be conscious that eating out can impact the calorie deficit you're consuming because you don't know exactly how they cook things After that too , on track days can be very , very hard to make sure that you're in the calorie deficit , that you're getting the intake you need .

They can slow the weight loss process because you'll be surprised if you're trying to create only a hundred to 200 calorie deficit during the week . How it unlocked their two , especially if you choose to go to a fast food restaurant , can be blown by that .

So when we're thinking I'm being good all week , it's a very easy in that time period to only have created a 500 calorie deficit which we then eat over easily on the weekend . So even one day can add up . So all those days where you're maybe not sticking to your original plan , especially starting out , just log them .

They might not be exactly accurate , but the more you can understand that impact of that higher calorie intake , of those change in macro ratios on that day impacts the rest of the week and the weekly averages you're seeing , the more you can see how it will impact you over the weeks and months and potentially detract from using the fast results you want .

It's why sometimes , starting out , we do have to make more sacrifices to first achieve your goal and then transition into maintenance , which gets easier . I can tell you that you know I've included more alcohol , more free days Once I've reached a goal than when I'm first getting down there , and I can see I've seen to happen with clients time and time again .

So if you want results yesterday , not only start by logging those days where you don't necessarily care about macros or calories , just to see the impact they have , but even then consider giving yourself a little boundaries to help dial everything in .

So you are creating that calorie deficit , that macro breakdown that you really need to see results And even getting the quality fuel

in . The last thing I wanted to cover , which might actually be seven now , after sort of breaking down the enter recipes over specific ingredients or specific ingredients over recipes , is eating the calories you burn from your workouts . I never recommend doing this . There are maybe some programs out there that do say here's your baseline calorie intake .

Add in this And if they do , they're taking into account the fact that they're not adding an activity . But generally , the more very uh variables we add in , the harder it is to know what is and isn't working . So you want to set your calorie intake and then see how that is impacting everything .

And if you're finding that you're really hungry or not fueled , you can always adjust your calorie intake and levels based on that . But if you're adding back in calories from your training , you're potentially not creating that calorie deficit , because those things are wildly inaccurate .

Not to mention , there's a lot of times where we'll train really hard on a day and we'll be hungry the day after because we're repairing and rebuilding and we can't necessarily then eat extra because we've eaten extra the day before when we really didn't need it .

So you want to set a calorie intake and try and stick with that , within a hundred calories plus or minus , to give yourself the best and most accurate data to adjust off of .

And then if you are feeling really hungry or not feeling fueled , you can always increase or you can always decrease And you can always then eventually say , hey , i know , i am , you know , burn a certain amount where I do need more on these days after So , i'm going to intentionally bump 200 calories .

But the more we just eat because we earned the calories from our workouts which we didn't earn the calories the more we're going to probably , more often than not , sabotage ourselves and not create the calorie deficit and the macro breakdowns that we truly need .

We're going to be creating so many more variables that we can track And all this goes back to giving ourselves the data we need to meet ourselves where we're at , to make the changes we need to see lasting results . So if you've thought , hey , tracking isn't working , it's probably that you're making one of these . You know mistakes and they're not intentional .

We all even have the deviations , despite our best of intentions . But it's some system that you might be able to reveal if you take a really close look at your tracking , and not only day to day , but take a look at those weekly averages , the monthly averages and how they're truly adding up .

But use that data to your advantage and give yourself the best possible data to work off of . Those hip workouts you love might be working against you All right . So I love a good hit session as much as the next person . High intensity interval training . There's something about the intensity of it , the sweat , the feeling of fatigue . That's just oh so nice .

But as good as I think that interval work can be , you know you can not only improve your conditioning because you can vary the work to rest intervals , to work different energy systems , i think it'd be very time efficient . You can burn a ton of calories , which can be beneficial to weight loss , in a very time efficient manner .

I think it's also always key that we understand the downsides to any upside , that we don't get so married to one tactic or technique or piece of equipment that we can't see that there are also potential problems to it . And it might be what's holding us back .

Because I think when we get so into loving something , when something isn't working out , we then never assess whether or not it's that thing we love .

We assess all the other changes we made , especially the ones we don't like as much , and we'll end up eliminating those things that might be working when it's the thing that we love , just because we were so into the benefits of it .

Okay , so as much as I personally was even really stuck on only using hit training , you know all those interval work feeling really worked for my workouts . I realized that ultimately was holding me back , and only once I assess the negatives to it could I see how potentially it might be detrimental to somebody in their weight loss journey .

So , yes , it can be good in that you are improving the condition You're working . A variety of energy systems is very time efficient .

It can be a great way to burn more calories , which we are trying to create the calorie deficit , although all of you have probably heard me rant against how much we see training as just a chance for more calories And we really need to see it as a way to build functional strength muscle to help improve the long , our longevity , our quality of life , our overall

weight maintenance . But that's another subject . But Falling in love with it and only seeing those benefits , we then don't see the negatives that can arise . And I do want to highlight those because it might be why your calorie deficit or your dietary changes aren't really working . Okay , so if you think about these sessions , they are freaking intense .

They can impact subsequent training sessions . They can make us not see the strength gains that we really need or the muscle gains we really need from other workouts because we aren't able to train at the same intensity If we aren't giving yourself enough rest in the intervals of work , keep getting longer . We're turning it almost even into steady state cardio .

We might not be realizing it . We think , oh well , i'm working longer and resting less , therefore it's harder , i feel more worked , i'm getting better results . But that's not always the case . We're turning it potentially into more of a catabolic activity which might even be fighting against the muscle gains we're trying to achieve with our strength training workouts .

So not only might we see you know , a point in diminishing returns in our other workouts , but we might be doing this catabolic activity , and more catabolic activity than we recognize , because we think , oh well , it's intervals , it's not that steady state running or the city state cycling , not to mention because these training sessions are intense .

They deplete us even more And if you're in a calorie deficit already and you're even going low carb , you're going to find that you've really depleted your glycogen stores , you really depleted your energy , which again , not only negatively impacts other training sessions , but that might be why you're starting to see cravings add up .

We don't recognize that the hard training , the lack of you know carbohydrates , especially for our training intensely can create cravings for other things As our body tries to find a way to encourage us to give it what it feels like it needs , and that can make it harder and harder to stick in the calorie deficit you've created , not to mention make your calorie

deficit larger than you even thought it was . But it can make you start craving foods that aren't as healthy and ultimately sabotage your long-term success .

Because a lot does come back to our mindset And if we don't recognize that this could be causing the cravings , we start to A not be able to just sort of out willpower , the fact that we're having these things , but we can't even adjust our nutrition right .

If you do assess Hey , this is intense , i know I might need more carbs for these sessions , you can always work around any downside to something , but you have to recognize the impact that it's actually having .

If you don't assess that hit sessions might have this negative impact , you could love them and then feel like you just can't stick with any of your dietary changes , when really it's that your dietary dietary changes aren't matched to workouts or , if you want to make those dietary changes , maybe need to address changes to your workouts right .

So it's assessing how all the systems are really working together . Because if those workouts are depleting your glycogen stores , creating more of an extreme deficit than you really intended , that can lead to us getting hunger , having those cravings increase and that can lead to us overeating or falling off our plan . Okay .

Also , we have to assess the impact they are having on those other sessions . I can't stress enough the importance of building lean muscle if you want to see the best fat loss results and the best lasting fat loss results .

So when I first started working to achieve a leaner physique , i turned to way more metabolic workouts , way more cardio workouts And I got thinner . But I didn't see my body recomp happen as efficiently or as well Like .

I saw myself lose weight on the scale but I didn't look as lean as I like until I actually added in more strength workout and slower strength workouts . Because when you are in that calorie deficit to push the weight loss and fat loss , you want to do everything you can to retain the lean

muscle . If you're in that maintenance mode , if you're in that surplus , you might find it a lot easier to add in those cardio workouts because you have that readily available fuel . So it's not that you don't want to balance these different things or you can't include different forms of training over the course of your life span .

But it's also important that we understand the again cost or reward of any types of things we include in the systems to work together to see the best results as fast as possible .

So if you're driving hard towards fat loss and you are including a calorie deficit , to have your macros dialed in , doing what you can from a workout standpoint which might mean eliminating some of the cardio that you often include could be really key in favor of more of that strength work to build that lean muscle .

Make sure you're retaining it so you don't see those metabolic adaptations as you come out of that deficit and move into maintenance And then maybe even add back in some of the hit that you really enjoy .

If you do say , hey , you know , i really like these hit sessions again , just plan for it with your nutrition and then even plan for it with your workouts where you might do more metabolic type strength workouts , generally more circuit training things with less rest , things that get your blood pumping a little bit , cause again , it's not really cardio or strength .

There's a continuum . While you might usually include more metabolic type strength workouts , maybe during the phallus phase to have some hit . You include hit , but then you also have slower lifting sessions .

The key is recognizing how all systems work together and not becoming so married to one technique or one tool that we can't see the downsides to be able to really address it and how we program everything to work together .

While it is so tempting to simplify things and say it's just about calories in versus calories out , create that calorie deficit for weight loss , there's so much more nuance to it And while we want to make small changes , we want to make getting started as easy as possible for ourselves . We don't want to miss out on all the opportunities that we have .

We don't want to miss out on all the opportunities to see the best results as fast as possible and truly make the lifestyle changes we need to get lasting results . So remember there's so much more to it And the more we can embrace the learning process , the better our results are going to be .