How Many Calories Should I Eat on My Diet?
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- This video is a free preview of my 6.5-hour course called Intermittent Fasting: Fast Weight Loss That Lasts. This link will take you to the full course:
www.udemy.com/course/intermit...
In this video, Dr. O explains a great way to determine how many calories you should be eating on your diet.
Medical and Health Disclaimer:
This Video Presentation is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or symptom. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read or seen on this informational and educational Video Presentation. Your use and reliance on this Video Presentation is at your sole risk. If you believe you may have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately.
This video is a free preview of my 6.5-hour course called Intermittent Fasting: Fast Weight Loss That Lasts. This link will take you to the full course:
www.udemy.com/course/intermittent-fasting-fast-weight-loss-that-lasts/?referralCode=E9AB633FE56C0548990
Hi Frank! How do you calculate the number for maintenance calories
Great question@@Waqqas.Khokhar. This would be your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). Here is a nice way to estimate it:
czcams.com/video/_N8J8yHAcwc/video.html
And here is a simple way to estimate your body fat percentage if you don't know it:
czcams.com/video/DMtbjowYtJA/video.html
I hope these help. Reach out if you have any questions or if your numbers seem off
This is the BEST explanation of how our bodies use calories! I have read a lot, watched many videos, but this is the only thing anyone needs to know to lose fat without losing lean body mass. Thank you so much for all of your hard work researching and creating videos!
Thank you for the kind words. I think it definitely gives us a great starting point for sure.
My newest series is about how to preserve lean mass while losing fat as quickly as possible. I mention this same study in this video that explains why you can be much more aggressive if you have a lot of fat on your body:
czcams.com/video/83JNUiYhFlY/video.html
And this has a scary reminder of what can happen if we push harder than our body fat can allow:
czcams.com/video/QI8ISII3ewk/video.html
I hope these help as well :)
Do you have a book in the works? If not, you should. I've read them all and you have the answer, hands down the most comprehensive, fact based and CLEARLY PROVEN ADF knowledge anywhere! :)
Thank you so much for the kind words, Eva. You truly made my day. I pour my heart and soul into my work because I want it to make a difference.
I could definitely see books in my future, but my real passion is making my online weight loss courses. My passion shows through more in video than in the written word. I also feel like people learn more with short, digestible videos.
I want every course that I create to be the last resource you will ever need on the topic. I pride myself on combing through the research so that you don't have to. I used information from 79 studies for my intermittent fasting course, 103 studies for my better sleep course, and 183 studies (and counting) for the course that I am working on now about non-exercise physical activity.
I am not going to lie. It takes A LOT of work, but it is worth every second as long as it continues to help people. Thank you for the vote of confidence. That is just the fuel that I needed to keep going :).
@@GrowGrayMatter I talked you up to Fledge Fitness, he's a big influencer in the FASTING world. He loved it & has put up a video about you. He's got 274 THOUSAND followers that he told to go check you out!! ;) your welcome
@@evaouellette5551 Thank you so much for your support. It truly means the world to me :)
@@GrowGrayMatter I'll be taking your course and update you as I progress. I feel very confident with your knowledge as my guide. Especially with how much fat is burned on the days you don't eat. I had no idea; I've never seen that discussed.
@@evaouellette5551 I am so happy to be a part of your team. I will support you in any way that I can. And make sure you check the bonus lecture at the end of the course. You can find a link to my Facebook support group as well. I help people there on a regular basis as well. You can either post or send me messages. This is not a job to me. It is a calling :)
Finally an explanation of calorie requirements that makes sense. No wonder the scales aren't going down for me and no wonder I keep getting different answers when I calculate my daily macros. From this video I have discovered that I can go 2 days consecutively until I need to consume calories! What an eye opener!!!! Now.....can I do this? I'm going to try. Thank you for this.
I am so happy to hear that it helped. It is the most confusing video that I have ever made because of the math, but I also feel like it is the most powerful. Why guess how much you need to eat when science can help give us the answer? :)
I was in the same place as you. I started my weight loss journey with a 60-hour fast and 2 36-hour fasts per week. I had more than enough fat energy to handle that. It was aggressive, but I was confident (based on the calculations here) that my lean mass was safe.
I lost 49 pounds in 10 weeks using that strategy, and I have actually gained lean mass long the way.
Then I switched to an ADF approach where I fasted a little less. And as my numbers have changed I have dropped down to a single 36-hour fast per week now.
Here is the video where I explain the ADF plan that I used. This might be the perfect place for you to start:
czcams.com/video/OPdKtS5Cqr8/video.html
Reach out if you have any questions. I am here to help
@@GrowGrayMatter - Thank you so much. I'm embarrassed to say that I have been dieting for 40 years with no real success. I am 63 yrs old and still obese at 240 pounds! It's ridiculous. I am going to die soon, if I don't win this battle. I'll tell you, I'm scared. This video has given me hope. It's my last chance.
@@katieirish5765 I completely understand. I tried and failed for years. I knew that I needed to change now if I want to see my grandkids someday.
Here is my health transformation story:
czcams.com/video/-Zf6KnetG4M/video.html
I don't share my story to impress anyone, but to impress upon you that you CAN do this and that you CAN change your health.
I truly hope that this is the last time that you will ever need to lose weight. Let me know how I can support you more. You got this!
@@GrowGrayMatter - I just found your channel last night and saw your story. So I watched a few others and when I saw the math on this video the bell went off. This is the most important video on how calories work. It seems simple really, but it demonstrated that I was already carrying 4200 calories worth of groceries on my body already and I never knew how to really use them. Just amazing. I will be spending most of my days watching all of your videos. Bless you for taking the time to help others this way.
@@katieirish5765 I absolutely love how you put that. You are already carrying the groceries on your body. No need to add more :)
Reach out if you have any other questions. I love talking about this stuff, and I am here to help
This is so informative exactly what I’ve been wondering. Thank you!!!!
You are very welcome. The first 2 parts of my most recent series shares even more information about how to dial things in. I hope they help :)
Thank you so much for these examples!
Thank you for the kind words. I know that the math can be complicated, so I am happy to hear that the examples made it better :). This video is built around a very powerful study. I love how we can let science tell us how to lose fat as aggressively as possible without sacrificing lean mass (muscle).
Let me know if you have any questions. I am here to help.
Wow wealth of amazing info! I have read a lot of books recently and watched a ton of CZcamsrs on this topic & this is definitely the most comprehensive channel I have found. Thank you for sharing all of this info! Based on your calculations I fit into the category of being able to eat a small amount of food on my fast days. Can you link to the video you mentioned in comments where in you discuss the modified ADF plan? Looking forward to watching your videos and really getting consistent with this to see some results! 🙏
Thank you for the kind words. It really does mean a lot to me. I do my best to combine the science with my personal experience. Why guess when science can give us the answers? :)
That video will actually be coming out this Sunday. Stay tuned :)
Thank you for this video series. This video was a great explanation.
I am glad that it helped. Reach out if you ever have any questions.
It's counterintuitive but you can be more aggressive with your calorie deficits and not lose lean mass if you're exercising, in particular, moderate strength training. Very good information.
Thank you for the kind words. I agree 100%. These are the numbers that I have everyone start with, but they are definitely a bit conservative. When I am working with someone directly I have a list of things they can do that allow them to be even more aggressive than this. The big ones for me are resistance training, protein intake, and sleep.
Here are a couple of videos that talk about this more:
czcams.com/video/GBS3Hf8YjHI/video.html
czcams.com/video/LCJKmzK_o_0/video.html
I like the analogy that I used in the top link about exercise. And the sleep studies are shocking to say the least.
Feel free to reach out if you have more thoughts or questions. I love talking about this stuff
Great as always!
Thank you, as always, for the support and the kind words :)
So happy I’ve found this channel
I am happy you are hear as well :). Please reach out if you have any questions. I am here to help.
I am actually working on a neat update to this video for early next year. This video is still the foundation behind how I make weight loss recommendations, but I do think there are ways that we can train our body to burn more fat and be more aggressive on our weight loss journey. I look forward to sharing what I have found :).
I did talk about this same study in this video as well:
czcams.com/video/eFTs5MfODnM/video.html
I hope it helps
Wow, great calculation! It helps me realize that I really don't need to try ADF because I would be losing my muscles. I am going to share it with my boyfriend, too. Thanks for your work.
Thank you for the kind words. I built my entire weight loss strategy around this topic. I let data drive my calorie deficit and I was able to lose weight as quickly as possible while still adding lean mass. It was the closest thing to magic that I have ever experienced lol.
I am super excited to make an updated version of this video. I still start everyone with the 30 calories per pound guideline. It is a solid place to start.
But, I have also learned (through research and experimentation) that my body can definitely release more than 30 calories per pound of fat now. Now being the key word. I know this because I can still do 2 36-hour fasts per week while still gaining a little lean mass even though I am only 14 pounds from my ultimate goal weight. But How?
The 30 calorie per pound number is great for the typical person, but there are lots of things that you can do to increase how much fat your body can use as fuel. I am diving super deep into all of them. I am not sure if I will be able to come up with an exact number, but I think there are situations where we can increase fat burning by at least 50% per day.
Since you like the science side of things I will nerd out on it a bit with you here, but stay tuned for more in the video.
We know that our Respiratory Exchange Ration (RQ) can change. I get mine tested every time I get my metabolic rate tested. We also know that becoming "fat-adapted" means that our cells have built more mitochondria and increased fat-burning enzymes. So all we have to do is figure out how to flip these switches. So far, here is the list of things that help you burn more than 30 calories per pound of fat per day:
1. Fasting. This is why fasting gets easier over time. These adaptations occur
2. Low-carb/keto: Same adaptations occur
3. Exercise: Multiple studies have shown that fat adapted athletes can burn TWICE as many calories from fat during exercise.
4. Combining the 3: Keto while eating, having a fasting window, and doing some fasted cardio should really ramp up this process.
5. Sleep: Poor sleep greatly reduces how much fat we can burn. This is why poor sleep causes lean mass losses.
6. Meal timing: People who finish eating earlier in the day burn 15 more grams of fat per day. That's 135 extra calories that comes from fat. Just this little factor leads to a big change
This is the main list so far, but I will keep digging. Stay tuned :)
Thank you so much for the amazing work you're doing and providing for free. Please I need some clarification.
Stats - 37y.o, female, 112kg, 170cm, 49%bf.
My TDEE (1,836 calories) is almost half what my body fat can provide, which is 3,634 calories. So a massive negative. I'm doing a mix of OMAD and ADF but will need to build up to go longer. Do I need to eat up to my TDEE on eating days, seeing as I can't even exhaust the calories from my body?
Thanks!
thanx for the content.
It is my pleasure. I am glad that you find it useful :)
Great Video👍!
Thank you. I am always happy to hear that. I talk about this study in a more recent video as well.
czcams.com/video/83JNUiYhFlY/video.html
It is part of a series about how to maximize fat loss while preserving (or even gaining) lean mass like muscle along the way:
czcams.com/play/PL7zPcraYKbGD171OjtsEoE3OF3U97m4L1.html
I hope this entire series is a huge help. Reach out if you have any questions
Thank you for your content! What you do is greatly appreciated. I've done the DEXA as well as the In Body Scan. I believe the DEXA is better (more accurate) and I plan on making an appointment again. Would it be okay to do the In Body Scan in the meantime?🤔
Thanks for the kind words. I am here to help :).
Knowledge is power. I agree that DEXA is better, but I don't see the harm in doing the In Body Scan.
Keep me posted!
Hi Dr. O. I'm 5'11 and 265 so I technically could go with out eating for awhile and still be ok based on my % fat and the calories available from my fat stores. Should I be worried about carbs or just calories and protein? I've been on Keto before and scared of corn, potatoes, ect. However, following your advice its more about calories and not eliminating certain foods other than junk. I want to make sure my head is in the right place as I start focusing on protein and calories vs eliminating certain food groups. I appreciate all your videos and time taken to put this content out! Happy New Year.
Thanks for reaching out. I am sorry for the delay in responding. I took some time off while my son was home on Christmas break.
Meeting your protein and calories needs should be the top priorities. These are the key ways that you will preserve lean mass while losing fat.
I have an entire series on that point in case you haven't come across them yet:
czcams.com/play/PL7zPcraYKbGD171OjtsEoE3OF3U97m4L1.html
When it comes to where you want your energy calories to come from (carbs/fats/mixture of both) they key is to design a diet that works well for your body and that you can stick with long enough to see results. I work with people who do great on low-carb, but I also work with people who lose fat while eating 300-400 grams of carbs per day.
That being said, I do think that there are advantages to being keto, but I am biased since it works so well for me. I have found that I feel better mentally on keto. I also have a much easier time fasting when my body is already running on fat for fuel.
But, in the end, the key is to try different approaches and see what works best for you. I would love to hear what you end up doing.
Thank you!
You are very welcome. The science behind this method of determining calorie intake is super fascinating :)
I'm getting some ideas about what I'm doing wrong... Thanks so much!!!
I am very happy to hear that. Reach out if you have any questions. It is always my pleasure to help :)
Here is what I like to share with anyone who is trying to optimize their fat loss and deal with things that are slowing their process. I call it the fat loss sweet spot series:
czcams.com/play/PL7zPcraYKbGD171OjtsEoE3OF3U97m4L1.html
I hope this helps :)
This is so interesting. I have been on yo-yo diet for all of my life. I’m going to follow this after I figure it out.
When in doubt, I like to ask science for the answers :). The study from this video is based on data from one of the most famous weight loss experiments of all time.
Let me know if you have any questions when you run the numbers for yourself. It can be a bit complicated.
I am here to help
@@GrowGrayMatter thank you so much .
I’m 130lbs with 38% body fat (per scale). So 130lbs x 38% = 49.4 lbs body fat.
49.4 x 30 = 1482 fat calories
Recommend calories
1600 - 1482 = 118
So on fasting day I should consume 118 calories.
I think I will follow your recommendation to do ADF .
Thank you so much for your help and really enjoy watching you and doing the math . Hope it’s correct !
@@Panji2000 Thank you for sharing your numbers. I agree that you would be a good candidate for alternate-day fasting at this point.
As you lose fat, you will reach a point where you will want to reassess and switch to a less aggressive fasting schedule, but we can cross that bridge when we get there :)
I no longer do alternate-day fasting, but I still sprinkle in 36-hour fasts on a regular basis. I love how they make me feel, and I love getting most of my "dieting" over with in 1 or 2 days per week. It allows me to take psychological breaks from dieting. I think that is why I have been able to stick with this program so easily.
I wish you the same results.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
@@GrowGrayMatter thank you so much for reply. I appreciate you and your hard work to keep us all healthy. ❤️
@@Panji2000 You are very welcome. Keep me posted on your progress. I always love hearing weight loss success stories :)
Hello Dr O' Neill, Thank you much for this video and information. I have watched copious videos and read so many books, but this video makes sense. Its been eye opening for me. I have been "dieting" for years and its always a struggle. I work so hard and don't see the results I want. However im feeling a bit unsure about what my sweet spot is. I have worked out my numbers and I am in a negative number. These are my details
Age 53
Weight is 90 kilos or 198 pounds
Body fat percentage is 39%
Height is 1.67 CM
My TDEE is 1789 calories
My BMR is 1555 calories
So 198 pounds x 39 % = 77.27
77.27 x 30 = 2318
2318 less TDEE 1790 = -528
I dont know what deficit will be healthy for me and reasonable.
I do fast everyday, 16 or 18 hours and 2 long 36 hr modified fasts a week where I have around 500 calories per day.
I have worked out that maybe 1200 calories a day is ok for me. I'm just guessing a number here.
Not sure if that is good for me or not
My other question is, on the day that I come off the long fast. Do I eat 1200 calories on that day. Or do I have to make up the balance of the previous day also in order to maintain my lean mass. I feel good on my fasting day but not so good on my eating day. I do exercise at least twice a week. Walking and moderate strength training with machines for the last 4 months. My apologies for such a long post. 😀. Please let me know if I am on the right track. I will so appreciate any feedback
No need to apologize. I love hearing from people that are trying to transform their health. I love getting to play a small part in your success :)
It sounds like you are on the right track for sure.
The negative number that you received just means that your body fat can provide for your energy needs. This means that you can be more aggressive with your fasting and your calorie deficit. Your current fasting programs sounds perfectly safe. a 1200 calorie per day average will de safe based on your current numbers.
Here is a video that explains why your body fat level makes such a big different. I talk about this same study, but also explain why someone with more body fat can protect their lean mass much better than someone who is already lean:
czcams.com/video/eFTs5MfODnM/video.html
Just be sure that you are getting plenty of protein during your eating windows and especially on your Modified 36-hour fasting days. Here are 2 videos that explain why and also explain how to determine how much you need:
czcams.com/video/DLa2g4GSAO4/video.html
czcams.com/video/yfuqISpCPyo/video.html
I am very happy to hear that you have added exercise as well. I am the worlds biggest fan of focusing on building our muscles while we lose fat. This can make a HUGE difference. Here is the video that explains why:
czcams.com/video/_e0bNFsSjw8/video.html
I hope that my work continues to help you. Reach out if you have any other questions. I am here to help :)
@@GrowGrayMatter Thank you for the reply. 🙂 Knowing I'm on the right track takes away the doubt Now I feel more.confident. I will watch these videos. Love learning about health and fitness. Your videos are amazing; so insightful and inspirational.
Thank you so much for the kind words@@judia20. It makes me very proud to hear that. Reach out if you have other questions :)
Thank you. Im the first guy.
Then you are a perfect candidate for alternat-day fasting (in my opinion). The science behind this is actually really neat. I am glad that you found it useful.
Thank you for this great information! I am finding your videos extremely helpful. Understanding the math is helping explain why I am not successful losing weight. How do I know how many calories to consume on my feeding days if my bodyfat is supplying a greater number of calories than required per my TDEE. I am 5'5" and weigh 185. My Tanita scale says I am carrying 64 lbs. of bodyfat. That would be 1,920 calories supplied by my own bodyfat. My TDEE is 1,820 calories. I obviously need to start weight training to increase muscle mass. Any guidance you can offer for someone like me who is upside down on bodyfat calories and TDEE required calories is greatly appreciated!
Thanks for the kind words :).
Some people try to be super aggressive and diet on their eating days as well, but I do not see that as the path to long-term success.
I recommend not being on a diet on your eating days. This means that you should eat your 1,820 calories (or close to it) on your eating days.
Look at it this way, if you eat 1,800 calories every other day, that is the same as eating 900 calories per day. That is a 6,440 calorie deficit every week and you are only dieting half of the time. That is the power of ADF.
If you push harder than that, you are 1) more likely to quit, and 2) more likely to lose lean mass or see a drop in your metabolic rate
If you want to be more aggressive, do that on the calorie burn side. Bump up your walks and add some weight training.
I have been at this for more than 2 years. The reason I can easily stick to the plan is that I am not dieting all of the time. This is the first time in my 44 years that I have been able to stick to it for more than a few months. Eat on your eating days. Make this a plan that you can stick with until you get so lean that ADF is no longer the right choice for you. That is an awesome problem to have :)
Wow thank you so much! This just makes so much sense to me now. I am 59 and never had an issue with weight. But I think working a desk job my whole life and not maintaining my muscle mass has resulted in my current situation. Thank you! I am on board 💯!
@@jendubois4376 I am happy that you are excited. I try to help with the education and inspiration, but the perspiration is all up to you :).
I completely agree about the lack of moving from a sitting job being a huge deal. I will be putting out videos about that topic in the next month or so. I have looked at a LOT of studies on the topic. Can't wait to share more, but long story short move as much as you comfortably can :)
Dr. O - Thanks for all that you do to share your knowledge. I have been watching your videos and learning where I succeeded unknowingly or where I failed. I have done your ADF protocol and succeeded losing weight but I’m now at the phase where my TDEE is almost equal to the amount of calories my body can provide from fat alone. Does this mean I can’t ADF anymore? What are my options to lose this remaining body fat? Thanks
Thank you for reaching out, and for the kind words. It is truly my pleasure to help :)
This is a great question, and a very important one.
I built my entire weight loss strategy around this topic. I let data drive my calorie deficit and I was able to lose weight as quickly as possible while still adding lean mass. It was the closest thing to magic that I have ever experienced lol.
I am super excited to make an updated version of this video. I still start everyone with the 30 calories per pound guideline. It is a solid place to start.
But, I have also learned (through research and experimentation) that my body can definitely release more than 30 calories per pound of fat now. Now being the key word. I know this because I can still do 2 36-hour fasts per week while still gaining a little lean mass even though I am only 14 pounds from my ultimate goal weight. But How?
The 30 calorie per pound number is great for the typical person, but there are lots of things that you can do to increase how much fat your body can use as fuel. I am diving super deep into all of them. I am not sure if I will be able to come up with an exact number, but I think there are situations where we can increase fat burning by at least 50% per day.
We know that our Respiratory Exchange Ration (RQ) can change. I get mine tested every time I get my metabolic rate tested. We also know that becoming "fat-adapted" means that our cells have built more mitochondria and increased fat-burning enzymes. So all we have to do is figure out how to flip these switches. So far, here is the list of things that help you burn more than 30 calories per pound of fat per day:
1. Fasting. This is why fasting gets easier over time. These adaptations occur
2. Low-carb/keto: Same adaptations occur
3. Exercise: Multiple studies have shown that fat adapted athletes can burn TWICE as many calories from fat during exercise.
4. Combining the 3: Keto while eating, having a fasting window, and doing some fasted cardio should really ramp up this process.
5. Sleep: Poor sleep greatly reduces how much fat we can burn. This is why poor sleep causes lean mass losses.
6. Meal timing: People who finish eating earlier in the day burn 15 more grams of fat per day. That's 135 extra calories that comes from fat. Just this little factor leads to a big change
This is the main list so far, but I will keep digging. Stay tuned :)
Ok. Back to your question. This is the reason I made the fat-loss sweet spot series. I wanted to highlight all the things you can do to maximize fat loss while protecting lean mass.
czcams.com/play/PL7zPcraYKbGD171OjtsEoE3OF3U97m4L1.html
The last video in the series will be the key for you. If you start to see lean mass losses, it is time to tap the brakes and use a less aggressive plan.
Here are the 2 programs I moved to once ADF became too extreme for my needs:
czcams.com/video/H11GlsSQ2-I/video.html
czcams.com/video/FTKsq7b7Gvs/video.html
I threw a lot at you here. Please reach out if you have any questions. I am here to help :)
@@GrowGrayMatter thanks so much. You are inspirational.
I really appreciate that@@stephaneviola4764. We are all in this together :)
I’m definitely have enough body fat to sustain the fasting but would you be able to clarify something. (45% body fat, 300lbs, 5’7” male) I need to resistance train to get my strength and cardio to lift my endurance, preparing for an upcoming exam. With ADF, on the days that I train and not fasting should I be aiming for my maintenance calories or less or more. I do track my daily calories and estimate with an Apple Watch and Lose it App.
Thank you for reaching out. I love to help. I am going to send you several videos that answer pieces of your question.
Here is the ADF plan that I recommend. You will see that you should eat maintenance calories or slightly above on your eating days.
czcams.com/video/OPdKtS5Cqr8/video.html
This explains why I really like this approach if you are also training. I think that calorie cycling is great if you want to be well-fed when you train but still be in a calorie deficit at the end of the week:
czcams.com/video/6BcgfgVQLw4/video.html
And here are the tool that I have people use to try to estimate their energy needs:
czcams.com/video/_N8J8yHAcwc/video.html
I wanted to see these so you can compare it to what you are getting from your Apple Watch. I love my Apple Watch for tracking my step count and my heart rate, but you need to be careful trusting the number of calories that it says you are burning. Studies show that these numbers can be 25-50% too high. You can definitely start with the numbers that it gives you, but rethink things if you aren't losing weight as fast as you think you should be.
Reach out if you have any other questions. I am here to help
Thank you so much for this I've never heard it explained like this before. What would you recommend for me? I'm 155lbs and 21% bf. I'd love to lose 10 lbs of fat. I maintain on 2000/day. Last year I did 15/9 and lost 10 lbs of fat and 7 lbs of muscle in 6 months. I ate 1500-1600 per day. I was not lifting weights but I am now. Ty!
Thanks for reaching out. I am glad that this video helped. I actually plan on doing an updated one early next year. I still believe that the 30 calorie per pound of fat rule is a great starting point, but I want to see how many things we can do to maximize fat-burning and crank that number up a bit :)
I am sorry to hear that you lost so much lean mass last year. I think that adding strength training will make a HUGE difference for you. I am happy to hear that you are doing it.
Here is where you should start. It is a video series I made for people exactly like you. It is called the fat loss sweet spot series. It is everything that I recommend to make sure you are preserving (or building) muscle while losing fat:
czcams.com/play/PL7zPcraYKbGD171OjtsEoE3OF3U97m4L1.html
Let me know if you have questions as you go through this series. It will help you make a really smart plan to get those last 10 pounds off.
I really appreciate this video and reading your responses to some of the comments. I must ask, I've been losing about 2 pounds per week. I currently weigh 201 pounds at 5 foot 8 male. I was 248 pounds a few months ago before I started my lifestle change. (Gym+diet) Is it normal for me to lose seemingly no weight for 5-6 days, and then all at once I'll drop 2 pounds overnight and keep it off? Usually happens on my rest days.
Congrats on your progress! That is great to hear :)
Weight loss is definitely not linear. I still see fluctuations of 2-3 pounds on a daily basis. Most of this has to do with fluid accumulation. My guess is that your muscles are less inflamed on your rest days, and relaxation can decrease the amount of fluid that your body is holding onto as well.
Your progress is great. As long as the trend keeps you moving in the right direction you are good to go :)
My body fat is 123 pounds x 30 so that's 3690, my maintenance calories is 2314. My knees are so bad I can barely walk. Maybe just eat a can of sardines every other day for a few months? I've been doing ADF with 1500 calories every other day for 2 months and have dropped 30 pounds. Should I cut it down to just a bit of protein? I can do that. I thought sardines would have some Omega 3. Thanks.
I'm 69, put all this weight on in the past 12 years, was a mountain hiker before that, got a desk job I hated and ate myself half to death. Retire now and fat as a pig.
And I'm starting a cooking/spirit/UFO channel!!!! I've not filmed a single cooking episode yet, just my own ghost/UFO stories. Maybe I should focus more on ghost experiences before I become a ghost. Thanks
Thank you for sharing. I feel your pain. I have been in your shoes with even more fat to lose.
I understand the desire to make the program even more aggressive. But I also think that it is very important to take a long-term view of things. The goal should be to lose as much fat as you can, as fast as you can, without losing muscle and tanking your metabolic rate.
I think you should eat your maintenance calories (or slightly above) at least 2 days per week. This will give your metabolic rate a boost, plus the psychological break from dieting makes things more sustainable. Here is a video where I talk about that:
czcams.com/video/t8WGN9v34C4/video.html
But, people with more than 100 pounds of fat can be more aggressive. Here is what I did when I first started. I did 1 60-hour fast and 2 36-hour fasts peer week. I was able to lose 49 pounds in 10 weeks with that strategy. But this still gives you 3 solid days of eating per week.
This video explains why you can be more aggressive when you have a lot of fat to "protect" your lean mass:
czcams.com/video/83JNUiYhFlY/video.html
I hope you can find that balance point where you lose fat fast without impacting you muscle and metabolism. It certainly can be done.
Good luck with your new channel as well. I hope you are at it for years and years before you become a ghost :)
For the first 2 examples you didn’t specify how many calories they should eat… please clarify! Thank you
How often during a diet do you reassess the calculations and adjust the diet?
This is a great question. I think it depends on how close you are to your goal weight. I used to redo my calculations every time I lost 30 pounds. But now I adjust once a month based on how my measurements change.
I also get my resting energy expenditure (metabolism) tested every 3 months to make sure that I am not being too aggressive with my diet.
My goal has always been to lose fat as fast as I can without losing muscle. It is a balancing act for sure.
I’m breastfeeding, how should I factor that in?
okay but if you can alternate day fast as an obese person how many calories should you eat on your eating day?
Hi Dr. O. Clarification needed on calorie cycling. If someone is 270lbs and has 100 lbs of body fat and their TDEE is 2500, is it OK if they only eat 1000 cals per day on eat days or do they need to eat the 2500 on eat days? If I understand you correctly they'll have 3000 of fat supplied calories a day on fasting days but can we tap that still if eat less then TDEE on eat days? Thanks for all you do!!!
Great question. You are correct that someone who has 100 pounds of body fat can be more aggressive than someone who is leaner. This is part of the reason I love using this math to determine how hard to push the gas with someone who is losing weight.
I have definitely had periods where I was more aggressive. I had some weeks where I did 1 60-hour and 2 36-hour fasts. It is definitely possible to stay in a calorie deficit on eating days as well.
BUT, I typically do recommend eating at least your TDEE on eating days most of the time. our eating days are when we recover from our last fast and prepare for the next one. They are also amazing psychological breaks from dieting. Staying in a calorie deficit all of the time may speed up weight loss, but it will also speed up metabolic adaptation while making us less likely to stick to the plan.
Here are 3 videos where I talk about the benefits of having days where you eat at maintenance or above:
czcams.com/video/6BcgfgVQLw4/video.html
czcams.com/video/t8WGN9v34C4/video.html
czcams.com/video/FTKsq7b7Gvs/video.html
If you do decide to be on the more aggressive side, be sure to watch this series on how to preserve lean mass while losing fat. The early videos talk about what "aggressive" means, and then I go into all the key ways to make sure that most of the weight you lose is fat:
czcams.com/play/PL7zPcraYKbGD171OjtsEoE3OF3U97m4L1.html
I hope this helps. Keep me posted on your progress
I am breastfeeding, how should I factor that in?
This is where my confusion comes in.
Why would we need to know what the minimum amount of calories we need to eat per day is? if you still need to follow the rule of "you should only lose 0.5 to 1% weight per week".
So for someone at like 190 pounds, 20%+ body fat, they can eat a minimum of 1000 calories. But the problem here is if they do, they will lose weight far too fast since they would still need to lose 1% max per week right?
So wouldn't it be easier to just say, maintenance calories - 500-700 calories a day to lose weight?
3500 cals = 1lb of fat. So just doing 500 under maintenance is sufficient right?
This is a very good question. I completely agree that a person needing to lose 20 pounds should stay far away from their minimum calorie target. But I use it for 2 specific cases:
1. I work with a lot of people that are 300+ pounds. They can diet much more aggressively (for the reasons I mentioned in my recent video series) since they can safely lose 3-4 pounds per week. It is nice to know how aggressive someone can be.
2. I use it to help me determine if someone has enough fat on their body to support alternate day fasting. ADF is perfectly safe for someone if their minimum calorie target is a negative number. As they lose weight, I use that number to determine when they need to tap the breaks and use less aggressive approaches.
I hope this helps
@@GrowGrayMatter Nice. Thanks for clearing that up
My pleasure @@DraZtheProbleM
If I'm doing Keto + Alternate Day Fasting and have been in Ketosis for the past 45 days, would this calculation still apply, having in mind the body is used metabolize fats more effectively?
Great question. The 30 pounds per calorie rule is a great recommendation for the "typical" person, but there is always wiggle room as long as you are pulling a lot of levers that will help you preserve lean mass. Longer fasts are perfectly fine if you are exercising, getting good sleep, and eating protein-rich meals in your eating windows. You can also burn more fat calories if your body is fat-adapted. This occurs as you get used to intermittent fasting and/or low-carb diets. Your body literally grows new mitochondria so you can burn fat faster. It is a pretty cool process. And then, as you said, ketones have a muscle protecting effect as well.
I still like to do 1 36-hour fast per week. It makes me feel great. But I usually add a little bit of MCT oil since it is more aggressive than my body fat can technically handle.
Trust your body as well. If you are feeling great, then keep on trucking :)
My most recent videos are all about finding the perfect balance of cutting fat without losing muscle. I think they will be a big help.
Be blessed.
MISSING ASSUMPTION!!!
Dr. O’Neill there is a very important caveat with that study. The Minnesota subjects were eating a calorie-restricted but HIGH CARBOHYDRATE diet of bread, turnips, potatoes etc. So they would have been experiencing energy shortages AND high blood insulin levels from all the carbohydrates! High blood insulin inhibits fat metabolism. It could be that your body can pull energy out of fat much faster than in the Minnesota study while fasting, because in a fasted state your insulin isn’t elevated. I’ve seen people reference this study many times, but nobody has noticed that critical assumption/detail.
I actually agree with you 100%. I try to give conservative advice to the general public because the typical person is doing things that will already put their lean mass at risk (poor sleep, not resistance training, eating too little protein, etc), but I have no problem with someone being more aggressive if they are controlling these other variables.
I generally give someone 300-500 more calories of fat-burning "wiggle room" if they are on a smart fasting program and/or producing ketones. I will also tell someone to stick to an aggressive fasting program longer than this calculation would recommend because you can squeeze more calories out of your fat once you are fat-adapted, as well.
What factors do you use to determine when a calorie deficit is too aggressive? I am working on a series about preserving lean mass, so I am all ears. Thanks for sharing
@@GrowGrayMatter Thanks for your reply! First of all I want to thank you for your video. Im currently doing an ADF pattern of fasting on Tue-Thur-Sat so I was very encouraged to see how well it worked for you. It gave me a big big boost of motivation
The work of Dr. Fung has been my main guide in all this, but I just discovered your channel and its a great supplement. I especially liked seeing what you eat on your eating days and that really inspired me. Im gonna look up some recipes and copy your idea for my feeding days for a few weeks. (1. spinach omelette for breakfast 2. salad for lunch 3. meat and veggies for dinner, plenty of water.)
Im not sure how to figure out the ideal caloric deficit, metabolism can be a moving target, you might move a lot more or less in a given day, body temperature can have an effect. Maybe the better approach to help people is to figure out good signals from the body? Is your ability to exercise or stamina too reduced? etc. Counting calories can wear someone out after a few weeks. It was certainly hard for me to do that for more than 6 weeks the one time I tried it.
Im still learning a lot, but your channel is helping, and so I wanted to give you thanks and make sure you were aware of that potential problem with the Minnesota experiment data (the Minnesota starvation experiment was also done during WW2, so there was a lot they didn't understand back then)
Please keep up the great work sir. Im subscribing today. kudos!
-James
@@BaiZhijie Thanks for sharing, James. Dr. Fung was the person that made my consider fasting in the first place. I heard him on a podcast and decided to give it a try. The rest is history :)
I hope that you do great with your program. Your meals sound great :)
I am actually working on a series right now about finding your fat-loss sweet spot. I will have a video coming out in a few weeks about signs that you are losing lean mass. I think that listening to your body's signals is super important. The canary in the coal mine for me is sleep. If I start to struggle with sleep, or if my morning blood glucose is elevated, I tap on the brakes.
I agree that counting calories is not for everyone. I eat similar meals most of the time, so I do very little tracking. I tracked a lot in the beginning, but now I can eyeball things. I track every once in a while to spot-check, and I will track closely if I have a specific goal I am going after.
This video is part of the series I just mentioned. Its a modern take on the MN experiments, but they didn't seem to learn any lessons from the past. The people in this study got wrecked, but they were only eating 49 grams of protein per day:
czcams.com/video/QI8ISII3ewk/video.html
Sorry I notice this has already been answered in Wills question thank you...
I am just wondering if you suggest someone should alternate day fasting my fat calories are 2760 but my maintenance is 2490 how many calories should i eat on the second day 2200
No need to apologize. I am here to help :)
Your fat calories being higher than maintenance tells me that you are a good candidate to try ADF. If you eat at maintenance (2500) every other day you could get into a calorie deficit that is large enough to lose 2.5 pounds per week. That is pretty amazing considering that you are only in a diet every other day :).
Here is the ADF plan that I followed:
czcams.com/video/OPdKtS5Cqr8/video.html
And here is how I ate on my eating days:
czcams.com/video/R8YZKroAGMo/video.html
There is nothing magic about how I did it. But this approach works very well for a lot of people.
Do you have any ideas about how to go about this with lipodema? Since some of the fat weight is not metabolic, do you think that some of it would not factor is as energy producing fat weight? I know I cannot know how much of my weight is lipodema fat, but do you think it would make a big difference? should I be more conservative since not all of my fat is metabolic?
Thanks for reaching out. This is a really good question. I agree that some of your fat will not "count" since it won't be releasing energy the same way that typical fat does. The only problem is that I can't say how much of your fat is off limits.
My best advice would be to start on the more conservative end. Then, be on the lookout for any signs that you are being too aggressive. Here are the top things that I track whenever I want to know how hard I can push:
czcams.com/video/B_I7MHKD_bo/video.html
I hope this helps. Reach out if you have any other questions. I wish you the best of luck :)
I’m clearly someone who should be doing alternate day fasting but on the days I’m eating how do I know how many calories I should consume?
Hi Will. I LOVE alternate-day fasting. It allows you to get into a BIG calorie deficit while still getting a psychological break from dieting every other day. The key is to NOT cut your calories on your eating days. Let the fasting days do the work. So, I generally recommend eating slightly above your maintenance calories. You can go as high as 25-30% above maintenance and still be in a nice calorie deficit.
When I was doing alternate-day fasting, I would eat 3,300 calories on my eating days. Now that I have lost 175 pounds, I only fast 2 days per week, and I eat 2900-3100 calories per day on my eating days.
I hope this helps. Feel free to share some more information if you want me to try to give you specifics. Good luck to you!
@@GrowGrayMatter thanks so much!!!!!
@@Thrillmania my pleasure to help. I wish you good luck on your weight loss journey. You CAN do this!!!
Hahaha thanks for this maybe this comment should be featured
I am about to start my course and ADF. After watching many videos and doing all of the math can you please tell me if my thinking is correct? I weigh 173 pounds and have 26% body fat. I figured that out to be 45 pounds of fat. I then multiplied that by 30 and got 1,350 calories of energy coming from my fat. I calculated my TDEE to be 2100. So then I took 2100 - 1350 and got 750. So my question is: When I do Alternate Day Fasting should I eat 0 one day but then 750 the next day? Or do I eat 0 one day and 1500 the next day? Thank you for all of your help!!
Hi Craig. It would be my pleasure to help you. You ran all the numbers correctly, but the confusing part is figuring out what they mean. That is common for sure.
You burn 2100 calories per day
Your body fat can provide 1,350 calories per day
This means that you need to provide the other 750 calories per day with food. If you eat less than that, you risk losing lean mass as your body searches for fuel.
You certainly can do ADF, but I feel like you should probably use a fasting approach that allows you to eat every day. ADF is generally best for people that need to lose 40 pounds of fat or more.
Jump back to the 6 minute and 30 second mark and look at that example. You would be a similar example as that person.
You may be better off doing something like 16:8 fasting, or just doing occasional 36-hour fasts rather than doing it every day.
I have a video coming out next week that talks about modified ADF where you still consume some calories on your "fasting" days. This is what I did as I got leaner and closer to my goal weight.
Please let me know if this helps. I will support you in any way that I can. If you do decide to do ADF, I can also give you some tips to make sure you preserve as much lean mass as possible.
I understand completely! I think pure ADF would be tough for me. I am able to do 20 to 24 hour fasts quite easily mentally and physically but I think 36+ every day would be too difficult for me. So I think I am going to do my 20:4 and then do the 36 maybe twice a week? Or maybe once a week? From watching many of your videos I think I am realizing the key to the whole program is being in a caloric deficit for week and how we all get there may be different. Would you recommend 1 or 2 days per week for the 36 hour fast if you were in my shoes? Thanks again!
@@craigdaniel5664 I agree 100%. We all need to be in a calorie deficit at the end of the week. How we get there depends on personal preference.
I hope you see how that math makes sense because that is also a crucial deal. We now know how aggressive we can be while still protecting our muscle.
If I was where you are now, here is the plan I would use for myself.
1. I would only do 1 36-hour fast per week. Even 1 is a bit aggressive for you, but it is a great way to get in a big calorie deficit for the week. It also allows you to eat more on exercise days.
Speaking of that, I am not sure if you are strength training, but I strongly recommend it.
Here is my video where I explain why it is the crucial way to preserve muscle on a diet:
czcams.com/video/GBS3Hf8YjHI/video.html
2. Make sure you are very well-fed on the day after your 36-hour fast. This should also be a day that you train. Fasting leads to an anabolic response when you start eating again. Feed your muscles some calories, protein, and exercise on that day :). ADF usually calls for a 12-hour eating window after a complete fast, but I think 8 hours is plenty.
3. As you get leaner, you may want to consider going to an 18:6 approach on the other days of the week. This will allow you to spread your protein out a bit more. This becomes more important as you get closer to your goal. Look for any sign that you are losing muscle, and fast less aggressively if you see that happen.
4. Dial in everything else that promotes fat loss while preserving muscle. Exercise and getting enough protein are both huge. But so are increasing overall physical activity, managing your stress, and getting good sleep.
Sleep is one of the most powerful weight loss tools in the world:
czcams.com/video/LCJKmzK_o_0/video.html
There is a lot to consider here, but this is what my plan would look like for myself. Let me know what you think. Once you get under 20% body fat these little things become huge
@@GrowGrayMatter
I do some light resistance training 3 days per week and I run four days per week. 3 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles and 7 miles. I am going to follow your advice. I am thinking about doing what you recommend and doing a 20:4 and then reducing to 18:6, and I will definitely do one 36 hour fast each week. I realize after watching some more of your course that the number that when you say the amount of calories that come from food each day is the absolute minimum that you want to eat so you don't lose lean muscle mass. Since we both calculated about 750 calories together I think I will try to stay around the 1000 to 1100 range. One final question is: The day after my 36 hour fast how many calories should I eat? Thanks again for all your help and I am truly enjoying your course which I think is a steal!
@@craigdaniel5664 Thank you for the kind words, Craig. My course is far fromperfect, but I have never seen a more comprehensive resource on the subject. I try to make that true about all of my courses. I easily spent 200 hours making it and another 100 hours researching it.
I think this sounds like a really solid plan for you.
The most complex thing about the math is that people think that number (750) is what I am asking them to eat. It is the least you should eat, but there is no need to go that low.
Ok, on the day after your 36-hour fast, I would eat at your 2,100 maintenance calories or slightly above. This serves multiple purposes:
1. It helps you recover from the longer fast. This is especially important as you get leaner. Flood your body with calories and proteins so that you don't see any unnecessary metabolic adaptation.
2. This will be a psychological break from dieting. 1 day a week you will be eating plenty and can feel satisfied. Having this day to look forward to can be really important mentally.
I talk about this a lot in the course section on calorie cycling.
Look at it this way. Even if you eat 2,700 calories on that day, you will still be in a 1,500-calorie deficit between the 2 days. That is a really solid deficit, yet you basically added a refeed into your woee. This is an absolute game-changer for lots of people.
But don't feel like you have to force-feed yourself. If 2,100 calories are enough on that day, then you will lose fat even faster. Just keep those extra calories in your back pocket if you need them :).
When you get to the point of calculating the calories that need to come from food, do you include protein calories? It seems that they should just be allocated to preserving lean body mass, and calories for energy coming from carbs and fats should be separated out to provide the needed amount of energy to meet the TDEE.
This is a great question. Protein calories definitely behave differently than carb/fat calories, but I still count them in the total because they can be used for energy. Preserving lean mass is one of the things your body is doing to account for your TDEE, so not counting them would put you in a calorie excess at the end of the day.
Protein should be the top priority. I would focus on building your diet around it, and then fill in the rest of the calories you need with carbs/fat/mixture of both depending on which makes you feel best.
Be sure to check out this series since preserving lean mass is a priority for you (which it should be):
czcams.com/play/PL7zPcraYKbGD171OjtsEoE3OF3U97m4L1.html
Part 5 and 6 specifically talk about the importance of protein, as well as how to determine your protein needs.
I hope this helps
Thanks for the reply. Appreciate it.@@GrowGrayMatter
It is always my pleasure@@randalllassila9090
I bought your course but Do you offer paid consults? 8’i can give you all the data and then you can just tell me what you recommend
Hi Anamosa. I get this question a lot. I do not offer consulting at this time. My goal is to try to add some small-group coaching in a few months, and perhaps a few 1-on-1's, in a few months. Between my full-time teaching, family, church obligations, and my own exercise I am just out of time at the moment.
But I will support you in any way that I can. You can message me in the course, or ask a question in the course Q&A section. Share any information you can with me and I can offer some tips. I will definitely help you with the math to set a smart calorie target and choose your best intermittent fasting approach. It would be my pleasure :)
I don't if i can still get a reply by now but i will appreciate if i can get a reply. I'm 27yrs woman, i weigh 80kg . My calculated body fat % is 26.3%. Height is 170cm. Still can't figure out how many calories to eat without loosing too much lean mass but also making sure my body uses stored fat and is ADF recommended? According to calculator ideal weight is 61 to 63kg. I will be so blessed if i can get a reply
It would be my pleasure to help you. I entered your numbers into the Legion TDEE calculator from this video:
czcams.com/video/_N8J8yHAcwc/video.html
It estimated your metabolic rate (total daily energy expenditure) at 1,890 calories at rest to 2,500 calories with moderate amounts of activity.
The fat you have on your body can provide 1,388 calories.
This means that ADF would be pretty aggressive for you. It would still be possible, but you would be risking lean mass since your body needs to come up with at least 500 calories per day that it can't get from your fat stores.
If you want to diet on the aggressive side, I would definitely make sure that you are doing everything that you can to preserve lean mass. My next video series will be on this topic, but there are some points to get your started. This means eating plenty of protein, lifting weights, getting good sleep, and managing stress.
You would also be a good candidate for Modified ADF. This would allow you to get some calories and protein on your "fasting" days. Here is more information on that approach:
czcams.com/video/H11GlsSQ2-I/video.html
Another solid approach for you to consider would be the Warrior Diet (20:4) fasting or something called 2MAD. These 2 approaches would allow you to fast most of the day, but still get some calories and protein in 2 meals during your eating window.
Here is another really important video for you to look at. I walk through how to choose between ADF and eating One Meal A Day (OMAD).
czcams.com/video/ebw63MmKDM0/video.html
I hope that all of this helps guide you down the right path for you. Please keep me posted.
Thank you very much for taking out time to analyse and reply. I'm very grateful. Will go with 2mad. Thank you very much
@@VibrantZee It is truly my pleasure, Zainab. We are all in this together :)
Would appreciate your response please.....you need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pond.....say youre 50 lbs overweight arent you carrying an extra 175000 calories on your body? ( 3500 times 50) If your TDEE say is 2500 calories per day 175000 divided by 2500 equals 70 days to fast to burn off your fat stores...Altho not continuous cant you just log the days you fast until you burn your fat stores??
This is a great question, and a very important one. The answer to your question would be yes, except our metabolism is way more complex than it appears on the surface:
1. We can control how big of a calorie deficit that we get in, but we cannot control where I body will take the stored fuel from. Fat is a great energy source, but it burns very slowly. This is where the 30 calories per pound of fat number comes into play. If you ask your body to burn calories faster than fat can keep up, it has no choice but to take it from other places (lean mass). You have power over how much weight you lose, but you don't have power over how much fat you lose if you diet too aggressively.
2. Your metabolism will adapt in ways that we cannot control. Every pound you lose will cause your resting metabolic rate to drop a little bit. Every pound you lose also makes you lighter so you spend less calories when you move.
This is why you want to try to build muscle if possible, or at least preserve it if you can't build more. Muscle burns 3 times as many calories as fat, so losing lean mass will cause your metabolism to drop faster than losing fat.
3. Your metabolism will adapt in ways that we can control. The bad news is that our metabolisms usually slow down with weight loss (mine actually went up 181 calories per day). But the huge majority of this slowing is cause by a unconscious decrease in physical activity, called NEAT or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.
If you allow this to happen, you will need to be in a calorie deficit a lot longer to lose 50 pounds. The solution is to not let it happen. Keep moving as much as you can, and try to keep a step count or set movement goals if possible.
I hope this shows you how complex fat loss actually is compared to weight loss.
Here are some videos that talk about this topic further:
czcams.com/video/yQe38Q9z80k/video.html
czcams.com/video/7XVqcDgmRfM/video.html
Reach out if you have more questions. I am here to help
@@GrowGrayMatter T Y SO MUCH for your detailed and thorough lesson..BTW ...Congrats on your continued success!! One more question....what test do you get to have your metabolic rate evaluated?? Thanks in advance...I just emailed my sister info on your comprehensive course....shes been struggling 30 years....
@@bottanoog9545 You are very welcome. I personally reply to every comment because every question comes from someone that wants a better life. I will continue to do so as long as I can for that very important reason.
I get a Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) test done. It is a super accurate test because it measures how much Oxygen you use and how much Carbon Dioxide you exhale. It also can tell you if you are burning more fat or carbohydrates as well.
Your best bet is to Google Resting Energy Expenditure and the name of where you live as well as the zip code. If you find any sites from centers in your area you can feel free to share the link with me and I will do some snooping for you.
Be blessed.
@@GrowGrayMatter you are a blessing in peoples lives for sure!!
@@bottanoog9545 I truly appreciate hearing that. I made a real mess of my life for a while, but I am on a mission to make a difference with the second half of my life :)
Dam I can go a whole day without eating that’s crazy lol awesome video
Thank you for the kind words. Yes, a negative number when you do your calculations does mean that you should be a really good candidate for alternate day fasting.
Here is the approach that I use if you haven't seen this one yet.
czcams.com/video/OPdKtS5Cqr8/video.html
Let me know if you have any questions. I am here to help
@@GrowGrayMatter yes sir I absolutely will thank you very much
@@ramongutierrez1106 Keep me posted :)
@@GrowGrayMatter I will thank you sir
I'm a bit confused...if you take you take fat calories from TDEE won't you just maintain your weight..and not lose weight.
Ok I think I'm understanding..the fat calories that the body is using to maintain is actually burning that amount in fat calories.
Am I correct or no..because I was really confused how maintaining the same amount of calories it needs to maintain its weight is helping you lose weight...whether it's from food or within your body already. I was thinking if you eat it then your actually eating more than you should. But if you eat the difference you are actually maintaining and if u eat less then you lose weight. But I'm confused 😕
Hi Trisha. Good question. The math can be a bit confusing. I will use an example
1. Your TDEE is 2,000 calories per day, so you burn 2000 calories per day
2. You have 30 pounds of fat on your body. Take 30 pounds x 30 calories per pound and you get 900 calories. That is how much energy your body fat will provide.
3. This means that you would want to eat a minimum of 1,100 calories to preserve lean mass.
4. If you eat 1,100 calories, you will burn 1,100 calories from food and 900 calories from your body fat stores. Well one your way to weight loss success :)
If you share your numbers I can help you with the specifics, but I hope this example shows you the point of the process.
Thanks I believe I understand now...once a portion of the burned calories comes from your fat stored calories to burn what your body needs at the maintain its TDEE..the body actually loses that fat calories content helping you lose weight
Well I'm hopingthis is what is meant.
@@trishaconstantine9540 Absolutely :). Your body will need to burn your TDEE calories every day. This math is to help you figure out how much you need to eat to make sure that your body doesn't need to dip into your lean mass.
TDEE minus Fat Calories is the minimum amount you need to eat, but you can eat more than that. Just make sure you stay in a calorie deficit.
If your TDEE - Fat Calories number is a negative number, this means you are a perfect candidate for Alternate Day Fasting
Good luck on your journey. I am here to help
So I’m a 127 lb female (4’11”) and Renpho scale shows 31% fat.
1181 calories from fat and TDEE is about 1500 calories.
319 is calories I should at least eat. I’m Confused about what that tells me about how many calories I should eat per day to lose fat weight- without fasting. Is there a formula from this point? 😊
Hi Valerie. First off, fasting is not required. I teach an intermittent fasting program, so I reference it a lot. But a calorie deficit is a calorie deficit no matter how you get there :).
So, you know your minimum calorie target now (319 calories), and you know your maintenance calorie ceiling (1500 calories). The short answer is that any calorie target between those 2 numbers should lead to fat loss without risking excess lean tissue.
If you want to lose half a pound a week, you need a 250 calorie per day deficit (eat 1250 per day on average)
If you want to lose 1 pound a week, you need a 500 calorie per day deficit (eat 1000 calories per day on average).
A safe rate of weight loss is generally 0.5% - 1% of your body weight per week, so I wouldn't be too much more aggressive than that.
The name of the game is losing fat without losing muscle or causing your metabolic rate to decline. Slow and steady wins the race.
I hope that this helps :).
Dr. O
@@GrowGrayMatter yes thanks!! So aim for about 1000-1250/day. My Apple Watch usually shows I burn between 1650-1900 total/day depending on exercise calories burned. Do I adjust for that, or no? Thanks again!
@@smileyface050208 It depends. I would trust your TDEE more than the apple watch. I love my apple watch for step counts, but I don't trust the calorie numbers to be very accurate. Here is an article that talks about how hard it is to get an accurate calorie count:
macrofactorapp.com/problems-with-calorie-counting/
The only way to know that you are on track is to pick a calorie target, get as close as you can to it for a while, and monitor your weight. If 1000 calories per day is leading to 1 pound of weight loss per week, it is spot on. If not, you will need to adjust up or down.
I wish there was an easier answer, but humans aren't calculators. We are making our best guesses with the estimates that we have to work with :).
Here is the TDEE calculator that I use if you want to check that 1500 calorie number.
legionathletics.com/tools/tdee-calculator/
Let me know if you have more questions. My pleasure to help.
@@GrowGrayMatter I've been looking at Macros for diet. Thoughts? Does it matter which type of macros I eat if it's the same calories?
@@smileyface050208 I think it is super important to get enough protein. 1 gram per pound of body weight is a nice target to aim for.
One you have your protein needs met you can play with different combinations of carbs and fat until you find what works best for you. I prefer lower carb when my goal is fat loss, but I bump carbs up when I am focusing on building muscle or performance in the job.
You really need to find the ratio that works best for you.
I hope that points you in the right direction
Let me know if you have other questions
Sorry Im a lil confused on why you used 30. I’ve been tryna learn how to cut and I read that 1lb of was 3500 calories is this something different?
No need to apologize. Metabolism is complicated, and the math is the hardest part :).
you are correct that 1 pound of fat can hold 3500 calories, but there is a limit to how much energy your body can release in a day. Burning fat is a pretty slow process.
The 30 calories per pound of fat number is how much energy your body fat can provide in a 24 hour period. So, someone with 50 pounds of fat on their body can get 1,500 calories per day of energy from it, and someone with 20 pounds of fat on their body can only get 600 calories from it per day.
The study that I mention in this video explains what happens if our body fat can't meet our energy needs for the day. We either have to get the extra calories from food, or our body needs to find other fuel sources. This is when our body starts to burn lean mass (like muscle) as a fuel source.
If you share how much body fat you have, and how many calories you need per day, I can help you figure out how much you need to eat to preserve lean mass. It is always my pleasure to help.
I asked a similar question
So the answer is your body won’t just burn fat all day
There’s a limit to how much fat it will burn per day before switching to another source ? That stinks
Wish my body would just burn all this extra blubber
Could be at my goal weight in a few weeks if that were possible 😂
@@anamosa1574 Well said :). Fat is a great fuel source, but it burns pretty slowly. Kind of like a big log on a campfire. If you need more fuel than fat can provide at any given moment, it has to pull it from other places (blood glucose and lean mass).
If we could force our bodies to run on fat we could just wire our mouths shut until we had a beach body, but we have to play by natures rules :)
It's not 0, it's -5700 cals
Thanks for sharing. This means that you should be a great candidate for a more aggressive type of intermittent fasting program like ADF:
czcams.com/video/OPdKtS5Cqr8/video.html
It is NOT game over. I am living proof of what you can accomplish if you never give up. I will support you in any way that I can.
Ok, by those calculations you wouldn’t have had to eat any calories on your “eating” days because you had enough stored on your body. I am about 300 lbs. I am in the same boat. And because my lean body is about 100 pounds, it would be a while before I would need to actually have calories. And you say your point of calculating all this is so you don’t lose muscle mass. So if you were so big that in the calculations you didn’t have to eat anything in the beginning (I know you did I’m just saying that I guess you wouldn’t have had to), and you wouldn’t have lost much muscle mass, why did you eat so much on your eating days? Respectfully, You seem to contradict yourself.
Good question. These calculations help you determine how aggressive of a calorie deficit you can be in without losing lean mass. It is true that having as much fat as I had in the beginning would have protected me if I was more aggressive, but there are really good reasons why I chose the approach that I did:
There are a lot of factors at play, so let's look at some of them.
1. Body fat protects you from excess lean mass loss, but it cannot eliminate it. The high protein intake on my eating days was one of the ways that I was trying to protect my lean mass while being super aggressive on my dieting days.
2. I was not just trying to preserve lean mass. I was also trying to build it. I wanted to be in an anabolic environment on my eating days to accomplish goal. This is a main reason why I cycled my calories and protein up on my training days. My eating scheduled also helped fuel my training so I could optimize my workout performance. This helps explain why I was able to add 15 pounds of lean mass (documented by DEXA) while losing 165 pounds.
This video helps to explain my philosophy around the importance of calorie cycling rather than always being in a deficit:
czcams.com/video/6BcgfgVQLw4/video.html
3. I was trying to preserve my metabolic rate as well. Studies have shown that re-feeds and diet breaks can preserve some of the loss of metabolic rate that occurs while dieting. This may explain how my metabolic rate went up 181 calories per day (documented by REE test) while losing weight. This video talks about that:
czcams.com/video/t8WGN9v34C4/video.html
4. I needed to make the program sustainable. Part of the value of ADF is that you aren't on a diet every day. These psychological breaks from dieting are the main reason that people can actually stick to the program long enough to see results. I could have lost weight more quickly if I would have kept my calories low on my eating days, but the odds that I would have stuck to the program this will are slim to none.
I hope that these points address your question. Let me know if you have other questions. I love talking about this stuff.
@@GrowGrayMatter thank you so much for responding! Ok. That’s all what I thought. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t saying from a scientific point of view someone would have to eat beyond maintenance calories on their eating days. I’m currently keto, just started this month, and by the calculations I wouldn’t technically have to eat a calorie till about next January. Haha of course I’m going to eat but would like to do like 1100 calories on eating days. Since with Keto I’m cutting out a lot of junk (and I do a protein heavy keto, not a fat heavy keto) I can actually get a lot of food in with 1100 calories. Thank you again for answering
@@user-xu5js1nl7l You are very welcome. You can definitely be more aggressive as long as you can handle it. The longest recorded fast is 382 days, but I wouldn't aim to break that record if you want to preserve lean mass :).
I wish you the best of luck on your journey. Keep me posted on your progress.