Ignore Calories at your peril

There appears to be a small group of die hards online that like calling calories and calories in calories out etc old news and not relevant blah blah blah.

Well sorry CICO is not outdated.


The mental gymnastics involved in them trying to justify is truly amazing. A large part of people’s failure in weight loss is ignorance of calories. You will lose weight, anyone will lose weight in a continuous energy deficit over time regardless of health, metabolic issues or hormones. Nobody is exempt. What people get confused is, is when other health issues are present. A calorie deficit is the mechanism that results in weight loss.


You’ll say if you’re expending more energy than you’re absorbing someone will say something like insulin really would like a word or menopause has entered the chat. Or the really confused ones claiming they only ate 500-800 calories for months and never lost weight. Which never happened. Well none of those things negate weight loss in a calorie deficit. They’re issues that make it harder to achieve a deficit. They don’t stop weight loss in a deficit. 


But they can make it really hard to maintain or stick to achieving a deficit. Excess body fat comes from excess energy. It has to come from somewhere. You don’t get a health or metabolic issue and just suddenly gain body fat without excess calories/energy.

Now none of this means your diet has changed either. Although thats a big influence in most cases. Your condition could have reduced your TDEE, make you less active. Or it can influence those eating habits. All this again doesn’t negate the fact calories dictate weight control.


Nobody is saying not to manage your condition, if one applies. But ultimately calories dictate excess body fat and managing them to the point where your body utilises the excess stored for energy will ultimately result in loss. For everyone. The issue is what that requires for the individual because what works for your friend may not work for you. The mechanisim is common across everyone, calorie control. A succesful approach will differ due to individualised personal habits built up over time which have got you to your current situation. Buiulding ones towards your goals and leaving the old ones behind is the trick.


This applies for fat loss, eating healthier, growing muscle and increasing overall health.


Like the sciencey side? Check out CICO