Losing & Gaining Weight
That’s a picture of me at my leanest last year (145ish). Honestly, the whole concept of losing (and gaining) weight can be extremely intimidating. There’s always some kind of diet out there that’s the “new thing”. Paleo, carnivore, vegan, low-fat (whatever that means), etc. There was a time where I figured eating “low-fat” food items meant I wouldn’t gain much fat, if any at all from it. It’s all so freaking overwhelming.
Knowing as much as I know now though, I am flat-out amazed by how easily fooled I was, as well as everyone else around me. Even today, low-fat food items are still part of huge marketing campaigns, and while they have serve their purpose in some regard, it’s not necessarily specific to losing weight. So let’s break this entire thing down to concepts we can all easily grasp and relate to. You don’t need to degree in nutrition in order to pin this down. This all boils down to calories in versus calories out. Whether it’s muscle you want to gain, or fat you want to lose, it’s calories in versus calories out.
First, let’s just look at one 24-hour-period. Everything that we do burns energy. Our bodies need energy to walk, to sleep, to do physical things (and I don’t mean lifting heavy weights at the gym – I mean carrying backpacks to school, opening our car doors, sitting there breathing, etc). Literally everything we do requires energy – you sitting there reading this post, me sitting here writing this post. During all these activities, we are burning calories. Living simply burns calories. If you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you need for the day. If you want to gain weight, you have to consume more calories than you need for the day. How do you know how many calories you need though?
Take me as an example. I’m a 5’7, 155 lb male. I currently want to shed a few pounds, so I need to burn more calories that I need for the day. There is something called the “Total Daily Energy Expenditure,” which is more commonly referenced as TDEE. My TDEE is how many calories I burn in one day based on my height, weight, gender, age, and physical activity levels. If I want to maintain my weight of 155 – I would consume the same amount of calories as my TDEE. If want to lose weight, I’d consume less than my TDEE. If I want to gain weight, I’d consume more than my TDEE. I need to know what my TDEE is though – honestly, just use any one of the TDEE calculators online (like https://tdeecalculator.net)-- use a few of these, take the average that it gives you across all three, and call it a day. You’re never going to get it a 100% right, but you don’t need to be a 100% right. You only need to get somewhat close, since it’s always going to be a moving target. And here’s what I mean by that – I’m currently 5’7 155 lbs. The TDEE Caculator says my TDEE at my current states is 2200 calories. When I start losing weight, my TDEE will go down. So my TDEE at 5’7 150 lbs is going to be lower than it was when I was 155 lbs (it says it is 2100). It’s constantly going to be changing – do not do not do not try to get it a 100% right. You just need to be in a caloric deficit or a caloric surplus (depending on what your goals are). So, what’s your goal?
If you want to lose weight? Eat below your TDEE by 200-300 calories. Why 200-300? You don’t want to lose it too fast, otherwise you run a higher risk of losing muscle. The goal here is to lose fat, not muscle. So 1-2 lbs a week is a good target. If you find that you are losing ½ pounds every two weeks, increase your deficit. If you find that you are losing 5 lbs a week, decrease your deficit. That’s why I mentioned that you don’t need to get your TDEE perfect in order to lose weight – you only need to monitor the scale and adjust your calories accordingly.
You want to gain weight? Gain muscle, I am assuming? Eat above your TDEE by 200-300 calories. Aim for 1-2 lbs a week for your gains – the same logic applies.
Now, I have three topics to cover here that are critical. The first is – your macronutrients. You have 3 macronutrients: Protein, Carbs, and Fats. 1 gram of protein is 4 calories. 1 gram of carbs is 4 calories. 1 gram of fat is 9 calories. I mentioned that my current TDEE is 2200, and since I want to cut a few pounds, I’d be eating 200-300 less, so let’s say an even 2000 calories is my target caloric intake for the day. Does that mean I am going to shoot for 222 grams of fat (2000 calories divided by 9 which is the number of calories in 1 gram of fat). Absolutely not. I need to consider my protein and carbs too. But how much of each? You’re going to find endless arguments on the Internet for this. Personally, I aim for .at least 82 x my bodyweight for grams of protein needed for the day (so 155 x .82 = 127). Why .82? “There is normally no advantage to consuming more than 0.82g/lb (1.8g/kg) of protein per day to preserve or build muscle for natural trainees. This already includes a mark-up, since most research finds no more benefits after 0.64g/lb.”
Source: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/6/376.full
The rest of my calories, I’ll fit into more protein (simply because I tend to like foot that has more protein than not anyway), carbs, and fats. Fats don’t make you fat – eating significantly above your TDEE does, so do not only eat protein and carbs. Fats are important – they regulate your hormones. Again, fats don’t make you fat.
The second topic I want to cover is duration – how long you want to eat below maintenance vs eating above maintenance. You won’t get a clear answer on this as everyone is different, but I personally like to stay in a deficit for 1-2 months at a time, and then switch gears into a surplus for another 1-2 months at a time, and then maybe stay at my current weight for a couple of months. Once you have control of your bodyweight and diet, it’s really easy to adapt for a couple of months at a time.
The third topic I want to cover is cardio – a lot of people run their hearts out but don’t lose any weight. All cardio is doing is burning calories for you (noting that you are getting wonderful cardiovascular benefits from it as well—I’m only talking about weight loss here). So if my TDEE is 2200, and I’m eating at 2200 but go on a run every day that burns 200 calories, then I am in a deficit. If I am eating at 2400 and go on that same time, I’m at maintenance. You still need to be in a deficit with cardio in order to lose weight – remember, you burn energy just living, and that’s what cardio is doing for you – burning energy.
I get it, it can be complex and intimidating at first, but if you just remember one simple thing: calories in versus calories out, then the rest will slowly start to fall into place. Consider tracking your calories using the various apps out there, or eat the same thing every day – I’ve done both and I typically tilt toward eating the same thing every day just so I don’t have to track calories and can instead, increase/decrease my portions. As always, you got this – if you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out :)
