How To Do A Calorie Deficit Diet : Science Simplified

Eat in a calorie deficit. Eat in a calorie deficit. Oh yeah, and eat in a calorie deficit. What in the hell does it actually mean? And how can you actually implement that into your daily life so you can start seeing the progress and losing the weight you want to lose? Don't worry, because in this episode of Science Simplified, I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about a calorie deficit so you can start seeing the progress that you want to see. Let's go ahead and begin. You've probably heard of this term before, calories in versus calories out. The human body, you need energy to survive. Energy comes in the form of calories. A calorie is just a unit of measurement of energy. So essentially what you're trying to do with a calorie deficit is you are trying to have— you can think of it 2 ways— less calories coming in than how many calories are going out, Or you could think of it as you need to have more calories going out than the calories that are coming in. And again, the calories coming in is from what you consume with food, with drinks, alcohol, all of that stuff. And the calories going out is what we call your TDEE, your total daily energy expenditure. Let's touch on that a little bit more right now. Your total daily energy expenditure, or just how many calories your body burns during the day is made up of 4 main components. The first component is going to be your BMR, which is just your basal metabolic rate, which is essentially just how many calories your body burns at rest. If you laid in bed all day and did absolutely nothing, this is how many calories your body would burn on a day-to-day basis. This is different for everybody, but this takes up 70% of how many calories your body burns during the day. Next up, we have something called your NEAT, your non-exercise activity thermogenesis. This just means how many calories your body burns by walking around, by moving, by blinking, by fidgeting, essentially all of the activity during your day that isn't dedicated high-intensity exercise. Hint, this is for later in the video. This is why walking can be such a big component of your weight loss. But don't worry, we're going to touch on that in a second. Next up, we have your TEF, which is your thermic effect of food. This takes up roughly 10% of how many calories your body burns during the day. Your TEF, your thermic effect of food, just means how many calories does your body burn actually digesting the food That you consume. Because when you eat food, it doesn't just like automatically vaporize into like some nutrients for your body. Your body actually has to work to break down and digest the food that you give it. Another hint, protein has the highest thermic effect of food, and we're going to talk about how you can implement more protein into your diet later in the video. And then last but not least, we have something called EAT. Your exercise activity thermogenesis. This takes up roughly 5% of how many calories your body burns throughout the course of a day. And again, this exercise activity thermogenesis is just your dedicated bouts of exercise. So your 60-minute lifting session, your 45-minute cardio session— this is your dedicated exercise and how many calories it burns. It only takes up 5% of how many calories your body burns throughout the day, roughly. Because I'll get some people that ask me, well, Eric, if you're going on a dedicated walk, doesn't that mean it's activity? Me, for example, I— there's a desk behind me. I sit at that desk basically all day long. If I didn't make myself get up and go get steps, I would not be getting any steps. I would not be walking at all. So maybe technically that would fall into the EAT category, but that's not like high intensity. That's not a program I'm on. I'm just trying to get outside and get more walks, or when I'm parking farther away at the grocery store or things of that nature. So I would still classify that under NEAT. And so this right here is how your body burns calories on a daily basis. Essentially, a calorie deficit is just making sure you eat Eat less calories than whatever your TDEE is right here. What is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to start working towards eating less calories than what you burn right here? You can talk about that right now. The easiest way to help yourself create a calorie deficit is, in my humble opinion, going to be walking. Talked about this earlier in the previous segment, but. Everything else equal, let's say you're eating the exact same amount of calories, nothing else changes. If you're somebody who's currently getting 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 steps per day, if you ramp up your calories to that 7,000, 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 step per day mark, that will make a massive difference in the amount of energy that you expend, the amount of calories that you burn. Because remember our TDEE model that we talked about, 15% of your overall calorie burn comes from your NEAT. And so if you ramp up your steps, you're ramping up that 15% of the TDEE, which is going to help you create a calorie deficit because automatically you're burning more calories even if you're eating the same amount of calories. Nothing else changes. But you get more walks. That is the easiest way. It's also the most easily accessible and the simplest way. I'm not asking you to cut out all of your carbs. I'm not asking you to go lift for an hour. I'm not asking you to do these things. I'm asking you go outside and get an extra 10 to 15 to 20 minute walk. Park farther away at the grocery store. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Getting in more movement. Please do not underestimate how important it is to start getting more steps, getting more walking. Not to mention, when you start walking more, what I've seen personally happen for a lot of my clients and Clubhouse members is because they start walking more, they get less stressed. They have more mindful decisions later on in the day. Why do you typically overeat? Why do you tend to maybe not make the best decisions with your nutrition? It's because you're stressed. It's because you're emotional. It's because you're frustrated. It's because you just kind of want to say, Fuck it, for lack of better terms. But I've seen the people who can consistently go for walks, it helps you de-stress, it helps you clear your mind. Not only are you getting more calorie burn, but you're also being able to make better nutritional choices and decisions, which again can flow right into creating this calorie deficit that we're looking for. And then last but not least, I've also seen walking helps you get better at Not walking, although it probably does help you get better at walking, but it helps you get better at the skill of making time for yourself and making yourself a priority, which most people who are gonna watch this, you take care of everybody else besides yourself. You take care of your work, you take care of your kids, you take care of your family, you take care of the bills, you take care of all these things And you leave yourself on the back burner. It seems so simple, but even just like dedicating a 5, 10, 15-minute walk to yourself can allow you to get better at the skill of making yourself a priority. Which, when you make yourself a priority, what do you think is going to come from that? You're going to make your meal prep more of a priority. You're going to make your workouts more of a priority, your sleep more of a priority. You can start to see how, in a good way, These decisions start to snowball in a positive way, all from you getting more steps and going for more walks. Please don't be that person who underestimates how important walking actually is. Once you've covered that base, the second most important thing by far is going to be your nutrition. Let's talk about the top 5 things that you can do today in order to change up your nutrition to help you create this calorie deficit. that much more. Really quickly, before we get into the top 5 things you can do with your nutrition, I just want to remind you, if you want it, I have 45 totally free workouts that you can pick up. These workouts are meant to build strength, build muscle definition, and honestly just give you some free workouts because I see so many people have no clue what to do with their workouts. If you want to pick them up, I will put the link in the description of this video below. All you have to do is just enter your email. I'll shoot them right over to your email. Totally free. If you want them, pick them up. If not, that's okay as well. Let's get right back into the video. All right, the next step after you've gotten your walking increased, you're, you're, you know, you're trying to hit that 6,000, 7,000, 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 steps per day mark. And remember, with the walking, the goal is just to do more. So if you are doing 3,000 steps per day, I don't need you to immediately bump to 10,000 steps per day, but go from 3,000 to 4,000. 4 to 5.5, 5.5 to 6, 6 to 7. Just try to get more. Once you've started trying to get more walks, then you're going to focus on the top 5 nutrition things. Because let's be honest, you've probably heard before, you can't out-train a bad diet, right? You've heard that. That just simply means no matter how much activity you do, remember calories in versus calories out. No matter how much calories out you have, if you can't control the calories in, you're not ever going to be able to get this equation working out in the right way for you to help you get into a calorie deficit. So the top 5 things you can do, the first one is going to be something I call the 2-2-2 method. And I've done this with a lot of Clubhouse members. It's actually a part of the first program that we have inside of the Clubhouse called our Non-Negotiable 90. So what the 222 method is, you are going to have 2 servings of fruit per day, you're gonna have 2 servings of vegetables per day, and then you're gonna have 2 liters of water per day. This way you're covering the main bases of— you probably know to eat healthy, you probably know to drink more water, but the 222 method allows you to put some numbers on it. It allows you to track it. It allows you to check it off. And I would encourage you, when you go throughout your day, write down 2 servings of fruit, 2 veggies, and 2 liters of water. Check it off when you get done. If you have a fruit at breakfast and lunch, check it off, check it off. It's gonna feel really good checking those things off. When you get done your, you know, your 1 liter of water, check it off and know you have 1 more liter to go. So the 2-2-2 method, run it throughout the course of your day, and I promise I promise you it'll help you start to get into your calorie deficit. Number 2 is going to be having 30 grams of protein by 9:00 AM. Why is this important? Most people, when do most people overeat? It's not at 11:00 AM when they're in the middle of a meeting. It's when you get home, you're at the nighttime, you're hungry, you're craving, you're exhausted, you're tired, you overeat. One of the best things to do to prevent overeating, which can obviously help you keep your calories in check your calorie deficit is trying to get more food, especially more protein, earlier in the day. Because protein, not only does it have the highest thermic effect of food, where you're actually going to burn more calories from eating more protein— remember, we talked about that earlier, so you can see how that helps you create a calorie deficit— but protein is also the most satiating macronutrient. This just means it helps keep you the fullest for the longest. And so if you can get more food, more protein earlier in the day, you won't be as hungry, you'll keep your calories in check, and you can stay in your calorie deficit. Number 3 is gonna be having 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. Now, if you are somebody who is counting calories, all of this stuff can apply for you. And if you want to know how many calories to eat, don't worry, we're going to talk about that towards the end of the video, so stick around for that. But if you are or are not counting calories, I love this method where you're having 3 meals and 2 snacks. To get a bit more specific with the meals, try to make the meal fit on one plate and also try to include on that one plate— make one half of the plate vegetables, make 1/4 of the plate protein, and then make 1/4 of the plate carbohydrates. And then for the 2 snacks, try to fit them in the palm of your hand. I know if you have a small hand, I'm sorry. I have a big hand, so I'm good. You know what they say about big hands? Big gloves. Fit it in the palm of your hand and try to make it some sort of fruit or Some sort of vegetable or some sort of protein if you can. But the reason I love this, and I usually split it up to where it's like breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. You don't have to do that, but I like doing that because it gets you a good steady source of calories, a good steady source of protein throughout the day. That way, once again, when you get to your meals, you never really let yourself get overly hungry and starving. Most people, once you've gotten to the point of starving, it's over. Like, you're not going to think about eating healthy. You're going to order out, you're going to DoorDash, you're going to overeat because you let yourself get to the point of being so hungry. This— well, this, this combined with this is going to help you fight off that hunger, which will allow you to be in that calorie deficit that much more. Number 4, Somewhat piggybacking off of the 2-2-2 method, we already talked about getting protein at every single meal, but I would also incorporate some water or just your favorite zero-calorie drink at every single meal. And here's why. Water, inevitably, the more water you drink, the more full you are going to feel because you actually have just more substance inside of your stomach. So it's going to help you be more full. It can also help give your stomach and your brain time to talk because you've probably had that feeling before where like it almost feels like your stomach is like this bottomless pit and you're like, just, you can eat more, you can eat more. Water with your meals or again, any zero calorie drink is going to allow you to give yourself some time, let your stomach talk to your brain a tad bit, and you'll usually end up practicing much more moderation with your calories, with your meals. You'll be more full. Which is what we've been talking about. It will allow you to keep your overall calories in check that much more. Not to mention, most people are dehydrated when they go throughout their day. So if you drink more water, you will be more hydrated. One of the main things dehydration usually brings is hunger. Most people think they're hungry when in all actuality they're just dehydrated. So it can help keep you hydrated as well. We are trying to get Fiber 2 times per day. Well, first off, why is fiber important? Fiber is important because number one, it is a very slow digesting nutrient. This means slow digesting, it will help keep you much fuller for a longer duration of time. What is the concept, the theme of this entire thing? If you're more full, less cravings, less hungry, you typically eat less calories. Calories. It's very satiating. It leaves you way less hungry. So getting fiber 2 times per day— some of my go-to fiber foods are going to be raspberries, bananas, almonds, high-fiber cereal, high-fiber bread, chia seeds, oatmeal, kiwis, apples with the skin. And I could keep going on and on, but those are a few of my favorite ones. If you want Just go ahead and click that Google machine and type in high fiber foods. I'm sure it'll bring up a list of high fiber foods that you can start to incorporate and again, make it 2 times per day. All right, now that we've got your walking, we've got your nutrition, let's talk about the next piece of the puzzle when it comes to creating your calorie deficit. And that is going to be cardio versus weights. This is the age-old debate of what you should be focusing on more, what you should do first. Here is my two cents. You can take it for what it's worth. I would be choosing, if I were you, to prioritize lifting weights over doing cardio, and here's why. If you are doing what we talked about in this video, you're already walking 5,000, 6,000, 8,000, 10,000 steps per day. Let that be your cardio, because like we talked about, you can never out-train A bad diet. So many people try to use solely cardio as the main way that they try to create their calorie deficit. They just keep trying to jack up their— remember, calories in versus calories out. They just keep trying to jack up their calories out. But remember, what did we say about how many calories in your total daily energy expenditure? That chart, 5% of your total daily calories comes from your Cardio from your dedicated exercise. So you're trying to play a game that's not really going to work. The math is never going to add up. This is why I say let your steps be your cardio. You might be able to add a little bit extra, and we'll talk about that here in a quick second, but focus and prioritize your strength training and your weightlifting over cardio. Also, when it comes to burning calories, let's just use that. Yes, weightlifting is going to burn calories, When you do it, but it's also going to do something else. It's also going to burn calories after the fact, because when you build muscle, the process of building muscle, having to repair your muscle from the workout, having to build new muscle, that requires calories. When you do cardio, it's just you burn the calories and you're done. There is no lingering effect after that. Whereas with weightlifting, muscle building, building strength, That is gonna burn calories after your workout. And then one last big key here most people don't get: if you are weightlifting, you are going to build muscle. Remember again the chart of your total daily energy expenditure. 70% of your calories burned during the day comes from your BMR. Guess what highly impacts your BMR? Oh, having more muscle. The more muscle you have, the higher your BMR is. And so you can get like 3, 4, 5 birds with one stone from you lifting weights. This is why I recommend prioritizing lifting weights. Now, if I could ever get— you see this? I was trying to get this damn thing open. Now, how many times should you do it? I would say 3 to 4 times per week of lifting weights is more than enough for you to see some really good progress. It's what I program inside of My Clubhouse, we have a 3 times a week option, or we have a 4 times a week option with exact workouts, reps, sets, everything. Now again, remember what I talked about earlier in the video. If you want some free workouts, they're going to be in the description of this video. So just go ahead and check those out and download those, or you can feel free to join us inside of the Clubhouse if you would like as well. But 3 to 4 times a week workouts. And I say, do not do this over here, which is don't think because you're trying to lose weight, you should just like Do lightweight for high reps to tone the muscle and burn more fat. No, I want you to go into your strength training sessions looking to get stronger, looking to build muscle, looking to lift heavier. Because remember, your walking and your nutrition is going to mainly take care of the fat loss. You want to be able to use this weightlifting to get stronger, to build muscle, to lift heavier, to push yourself in workouts and increase Your workout performance, not to mention increase your bone density, increase your metabolism, increase your core strength, protect yourself from injury. So look to push yourself when you're going into your strength training sessions. Now you can do some extra cardio if you would like. I would say 2 to 3 times per week of extra cardio, whether it's the bike, whether it's the treadmill, whether it's the elliptical, At about 20 to 30 minutes each session. Now, I wrote down here again, do not do— if it's up to me and my 2 cents, I would not make this cardio high-intensity cardio because again, what did we talk about earlier? Being hungry, making sure you stay within your calories, so on and so forth. You ever gotten done a HIIT cardio session? What are you doing after a HIIT cardio session? You're exhausted, going into the pantry, looking for anything sugary. Right. Tell me if I'm wrong. You're going in and looking for these very like high, high sugar, high salt foods because you're exhausted. Your, your body is also really stressed out. HIIT cardio is a lot of stress on your body. This can backfire in a lot of people's weight loss journey because when your cortisol and your stress go up and you don't recover from that stress where most people don't, that's when you get more cravings, you get less willpower, more hunger, less, energy, more fatigue, more exhaustion. It makes it tough, makes it very tough to stick to your calorie deficit. And remember, going back to that chart one more time of the total daily energy expenditure, your exercise only takes up like 5% of your total daily calorie burn. And so you're trying to do HIIT cardio to burn more calories. Not only is it not burning that many calories, but also it's backfiring on the nutrition side of things. Which is really what is going to be the driver of your fat loss. So if I were you, 2 to 3 times a week, 20, 30 minutes, low intensity. When you're doing your cardio, you should be able to keep a conversation just like you and I are right now. That's how you know that you're in the right spot, the right intensity level when you're doing your cardio. Last but not least, like I promised, if you would like to figure out how many calories you should be eating to lose body fat, I'm going to put a video up right here that will allow you to do just that. And one last time, if you're interested in getting more help in your journey, you can check out my Clubhouse. It is my online coaching program where you get exact workouts, exact nutrition guidelines, help, support, and accountability from myself and all of the members inside of the group. You can just head to erfclubhouse.com to check it out if you would like. Hope this helped and we'll chat soon.