Lyle McDonald's article on energy balance and the "3500 calorie" rule

Mycophilia

Saw this article linked on r/fitness and thought I'd share it here.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/3500-calorie-rule.html/

He clears up some common misunderstandings about CICO. Stuff that's quite common on these forums honestly. Very interesting, and definitely worth the time it takes to read!

Hendrix7

lyle is always on point

PeachyCarol

Great read!

ninerbuff

On point. Just in defense of people trying to lose a lot of weight though, many aren't as concerned about what their losing as long as they are losing. The scale for many is the go to tool for success. Hopefully reads like this will help with people who are trying to lose weight and retain as much lean mass as they can while doing it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

DeguelloTex

But if you're trying to lose a lot of weight it's pretty hard to get a deficit that isn't covered by body fat such that the overwhelming majority of the lost weight is going to be fat.

It's the people who don't have that much to lose who are more likely to eat at a deficit that requires burning stuff other than fat.

ninerbuff

DeguelloTex wrote: »

But if you're trying to lose a lot of weight it's pretty hard to get a deficit that isn't covered by body fat such that the overwhelming majority of the lost weight is going to be fat.

It's the people who don't have that much to lose who are more likely to eat at a deficit that requires burning stuff other than fat.

Oh no doubt. However many people who are very overweight/obese ignore strength training because it seems to reduce their weight loss. Hence many will just stick with cardio and lean mass along with fat is also lost. Can't tell you how many times I get clients who lose 80lbs or more, then come to me later still dealing with "soft" muscles and want to tone them up and make them firmer. They mostly just wanted to lose the weight first.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

rankinsect

Interesting read. In the end, most of the tools and techniques we use are approximations. Even fat having 9 calories per gram or carbohydrate and protein having 4 calories per gram are approximations - those are simply the nearest whole-number averages over many different types of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.

DeguelloTex

ninerbuff wrote: »

DeguelloTex wrote: »

But if you're trying to lose a lot of weight it's pretty hard to get a deficit that isn't covered by body fat such that the overwhelming majority of the lost weight is going to be fat.

It's the people who don't have that much to lose who are more likely to eat at a deficit that requires burning stuff other than fat.

Oh no doubt. However many people who are very overweight/obese ignore strength training because it seems to reduce their weight loss. Hence many will just stick with cardio and lean mass along with fat is also lost. Can't tell you how many times I get clients who lose 80lbs or more, then come to me later still dealing with "soft" muscles and want to tone them up and make them firmer. They mostly just wanted to lose the weight first.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Oh, yeah, I see what you're saying, now. The idea of almost purposefully sacrificing muscle for a scale number is something that needs to be addressed more.