Science of What Works For Me Works For You

Funny thing is, all I am asking is for proof for an assertion. I haven't even stated if I agree with said assertion or not, but most of the responses take aim at me as if I had attacked something. This shouldn't be that hard.

I think the bigger problem is you haven't told us what the assertion is. "People say you're doing it wrong, prove it."

Well, what is "it?"

What you have to understand is that there are some ways in which all humans (and for that matter some ways in which, all mammals, all animals and all life) are the same. And there are other ways in which all humans (mammals, animals, life...) vary.

Living things do not break the laws of physics, so calories in v calories out is true for all living things. How they get their calories may vary, and plants get calories from sunlight and convert them into glucose, but the law of energy balance holds true, just in very different ways.

On the other hand, clearly living things do vary. I mean humans are nothing like plants. And humans are all different in some ways and similar in others.

The key to answering this question is to know which factors show variation, and which ones don't. Some things there is no variation because a mutation in the genes that control it result in the egg not being able to survive long enough to even become a chemical pregnancy. So they get eliminated from the gene pool pretty much as soon as they arise. On the other hand, where things *can* vary, i.e. variation does not result in failure to live, then they tend to vary a lot, because variation increases a species chances of survival, i.e. the more variation there is, the more likely it is that some members of the species will survive a radical change in the environment.

In terms of fat loss, energy balance isn't even about genetics or evolution, it's about energy balance. All living things follow the laws of physics. Energy isn't created or destroyed.. energy taken in by the human body that's not used for keeping the body alive or for daily activity is stored as fat. There are medical conditions that can mean that either side of the energy in v energy out equation are not where they should be... for example someone could be eating loads but their gut isn't absorbing it so they're basically crapping it all out again, well in this case the energy isn't actually going into the body (it doesn't count as "in" until it's been absorbed into the blood) so they may well be eating thousands of calories a day and losing weight (but if this is happening this is actually a very serious medical situation that needs treatment or they'll die).... it's also the case that some conditions like hypothyroidism slow down the body's metabolic processes so that someone with this condition will gain fat eating the number of calories that wouldn't usually cause fat gain in someone their height and weight... but in both these cases, calories in still equal calories out and no-one's body is breaking the laws of physics.

In terms of what varies for fat loss... well, there are many different ways to create a calorie deficit, for example a lot of people find that eating paleo means they end up in a calorie deficit because the foods allowed on paleo are not all that calorie dense. Others count calories, but so long as the person is eating at a deficit, they will lose weight. If they're not losing weight then they're not eating at a deficit (and in a small number of cases that might be due to a medical condition that puts the "calories out" side of their equation below where it should be) - so when it comes to *how* you create the deficit, there is room for individualisation, although some approaches work better than others. Some will be fine and happy eating a restrictive diet like paleo - and so long as they're not miserable or experiencing episodes of overeating on the forbidden foods or periods of not being able to stick with it, then that's fine. Calorie counting will work for everyone so long as they do the maths right. Failure to make calorie counting work is because of not doing the maths right, e.g. guesstimating portion sizes, miscalculating TDEE, etc. Some people's body won't burn the number of calories that the TDEE calculators predict... it may take trial and error to find the right number if that's the case, but it will work for everyone.... whether everyone actually wants to count calories is a different matter, and if people can't stick to it consistently, then it's going to fail because none of these methods work if you don't actually do them. Some people may find it easier to stick to a restrictive diet like paleo than be consistent counting calories... if they're getting the results they want then that's great.

Anyway, no you won't find specific studies that cover this question as a whole question, studies answer more specific questions, and also, anything that's basically physiology 101 the place to look is university textbooks - which summarise decades of research to give an overview of the basics of how the human body works. Jumping straight to specific studies and peer reviewed articles without having that basic foundation first is like trying to run before you can walk.

Proof of what, exactly? That science works? That people are doing it wrong?

I'm confused.

Proof of what, exactly? That science works? That people are doing it wrong?

I'm confused.

He is saying that if you are doing weight loss correctly there should never be a plateau. That when people get stuck it is there fault and not other things.

There are medical conditions that can mean that either side of the energy in v energy out equation are not where they should be...

Thanks for the long response. Now, what if someone has a condition that throws the energy equation out of balance, but it's simply not severe enough to call attention to itself? What if someone's energy equation isn't massively out of balance but only a bit out of whack?

Im sure it happen. How about people with more muscle. Muscles burns more calories than fat at rest. So muscular people eat more to balance it out.