How To Do A Calorie Deficit I Diet Plan For Fat Loss I Calorie Deficit Diet
In this instructional video, Eric Roberts explains the fundamentals of a calorie deficit and how it is the sole driver of body‑fat loss, regardless of diet style. He emphasizes that a calorie deficit is an energy‑balance equation—consuming fewer calories than you expend—and clarifies that while any food can fit into a deficit, food composition matters for satiety, energy, and long‑term adherence. Roberts introduces his free calorie‑calculator videos for determining personal calorie targets and for learning accurate calorie‑counting. He discusses why “any food” is technically possible but not smart, using the analogy of feathers vs. bricks to illustrate that 100 kcal from an Oreo differs nutritionally from 100 kcal from chicken breast. He then presents the 80/20 rule: 80 % of daily calories should come from minimally processed, nutrient‑dense whole foods (e.g., chicken, oats, rice, vegetables, fruit) and 20 % can be allocated to treats. Within the 80 % portion, he stresses the primacy of protein—citing its satiating effect, role in preserving lean mass, and impact on metabolism—and provides a simple protein‑goal range of 0.8–1 g per pound of body weight. He advises realistic restriction, planning, and moderation, acknowledging that some constraints are necessary for sustainable fat loss. The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to ask questions, like, and subscribe.
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What is going on, YouTube? Welcome to today's video. In this video, we're gonna be covering what to eat in a calorie deficit. And you've probably heard that term calorie deficit so many times, you're probably about to lose your mind. In this video, I'm gonna cover everything you need to know about not only a calorie deficit, but also, you know, cool, you know you have to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Now, what do you do? What foods do you eat? What foods do you not eat? What foods should you prioritize? What foods should you stay away from? We're gonna cover all that and more in this video, so get your favorite beverage and/or your favorite food, as long as you're in a calorie deficit, and sit back and let's have a chat. All right? So first and foremost, a quick recap of what a calorie deficit is. If you're watching this video, you probably know what a calorie deficit is, but I'm just gonna do a very quick recap so we're on the same page. Remember, a calorie deficit is not a diet. A calorie deficit is an energy balance equation. Less energy than you are expending. And energy is calories. You need to be consuming less calories than you are burning. This means you are in a calorie deficit and you will lose body fat, which by the way is the only way you are going to lose body fat. It doesn't matter what diet you do. It doesn't matter what foods you eat or don't eat. The only way you are going to lose weight is through being in a calorie deficit. Now again, You can do this through keto, you can do this through fasting, you can do this through counting calories, through not counting calories, doesn't matter. But if you lose weight, just know that you lost weight because you were in a calorie deficit, not because of said diet. All right, so now, like I said, if you're watching this video, you probably know what a calorie deficit is. But if you want to know how many calories you need to eat in order to lose weight, I'm going to link a video here above that tells you. It's a free calculator. It'll tell you exactly how many calories you should be eating to lose body fat. As well, I'm going to link here above a different video that teaches you how to count calories. All right? Because one of the biggest things I see is people do not count calories accurately. So please feel free to watch the calorie calculator video and please feel free to watch the video on how to count calories accurately. That will give you a great starting point about what to go about, you know, how many calories to eat and how to count calories. All right? So that is basically quickly recapping what a calorie deficit is. Now, Let's talk about the next question, which again is basically just, okay, you know you need to be eating less calories than your body is burning in order to lose body fat. One of the biggest questions I get is, okay, I need to be eating less calories than I'm burning. Can I eat whatever I want in a calorie deficit and still lose weight? Let's talk about it right now. So the first thing I want to cover is technically, can you eat whatever you want in a calorie deficit and lose weight? Yes, technically you can because As long as you're in a calorie deficit, you will lose body fat. Is that smart? Probably not. That's probably why you've gotten to this point right now, because you're eating whatever you want and you're watching this video because you want to change that. So can you? Yes. Is it smart? No. And here's what I'll say. A calorie is always a calorie because a calorie is just a unit of measurement of energy. I talked earlier about a calorie deficit where you need to be intaking less energy than your body is expending. spending in order to lose body fat. A calorie is just that unit of measurement of energy. So 100 calories from a cookie is the same as 100 calories from a salad. They're both 100 calories. Now, in the same way, a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of bricks. In the same way, if you run a mile on the pavement, if you swim a mile in the ocean, or if you walk a mile in the sand, It's all a mile. Now you can use this to your advantage, but this can also backfire. And let me explain what I mean. You can use this to your, to your advantage because in this concept, because this is the only way to lose weight, there are no good and bad foods. There are no foods that are off limits. There are no foods you have to restrict yourself from. You don't have to cut out all your carbs. You don't have to cut out all your sugar. You can still include your favorite foods in moderation and still lose weight because of what we said earlier. A calorie is always a calorie. As long as you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose body fat. So that's one of the great things about educating yourself about weight loss and about this calorie deficit is you don't have to cut out any foods. You don't have to over-restrict yourself. You can have foods in moderation and still lose body fat. Somebody comes to mind for myself, for example, is one of my online coaching clients, Mary. Mary lost over 80 pounds and she enjoyed a dessert every single night. Every single night she had some sort of dessert. It ranged from whether it was dark chocolate, whether it was some ice cream every now and then, whether it was some Greek yogurt with some, say, peanut butter and fruit. She enjoyed dessert every single night, but she was able to lose 80 pounds. Why? Because she was in a calorie deficit. Now, this can also backfire for some people because people take this and say, oh, okay, well, as long as I'm in a calorie deficit, I can eat whatever I want and I'll still lose weight. And And while technically that is true, again, that's probably why you've gotten to this point right now and probably why you're watching this video is because you can't just eat whatever you want. You can't eat like an asshole. You have to kind of eat like a responsible adult. You know, eating donuts and cookies and chips all day long is probably not going to lead you to the results you want to see nor the physique you want to see. And we're going to talk about that here in a second, but this bleeds into the next point, which is going to be Composition versus calories. We now know that 100 calories from a salad versus 100 calories from an Oreo, those are both 100 calories. And as long as you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose body fat because the energy balance equation is in your favor. Now, the reason people say there's good and bad foods, the reason when you think diet, you probably think salads and chicken and broccoli and so on and so forth. The reason is because there's a difference between the composition of those calories Versus just the calories itself. Going back to our previous example, there's a difference between a pound of feathers and a pound of bricks. Those are 2 very different things. There's a difference between a mile in the sand, a mile in the ocean, and a mile on the pavement. Those are 3 different compositions. The ocean, the sand, the pavement, the bricks and the feathers. There's different compositions that make up that pound or that mile, even though it's still a pound and even though it's still a mile, the composition is different. Same thing with calories. Let's say 100 calories from an Oreo is entirely different than 100 calories from a chicken breast. 100 calories from an Oreo, you're probably getting one Oreo. 100 calories from a chicken breast, you're getting a good 4 ounces of chicken breast. And the Oreo, it's very high in carbs, very high in sugar, not too much high in protein. Not that it's a bad thing. Those are just facts. A chicken breast, low in fat, low in carbs, high in protein. The Oreo tends to be less filling, because it's a smaller unit, right? As opposed to a 4-ounce chicken breast, as opposed to one Oreo, you can get 100 calories from 4 ounces of a chicken breast or 100 calories from one Oreo in your stomach. When you actually eat the food, when it goes into your stomach, one Oreo versus 4 ounces of a chicken breast is going to take up more space, is going to take up less space in your stomach, which is going to make you not be as full, not be as satisfied as a 4-ounce chicken breast would. Not only that, also the chicken breast, like we said, has a higher protein count. Protein, which we're going to talk about at the end of the video, protein is the most satiating nutrient you can possibly have. So this just means it's going to fill you up. So in terms of a diet, in terms of being on a calorie deficit, when you eat foods like chicken breast or like salads or like spinach or anything high in protein, or you know, those typical quote unquote clean foods, which we're going to talk about here later, those foods normally fill you up more. And have less calories. This makes it so you can probably stick to your calorie deficit that much better. But that doesn't mean things like Oreos or things like burgers or things like tacos or things like ice cream— that doesn't mean that you're going to defy the laws of thermodynamics, which again is just if you intake less calories than what you are burning, you are going to lose body fat. Which you can still have the Oreo and still lose body fat. You can still have the ice cream and and still lose body fat, but the composition of those calories are going to give you different things, which let's be honest, losing weight is hard enough as it is. And when you're filling most of your day with things like Oreos, things like chips, things like candy, things like ice cream, things like donuts, you're going to have more calories for less total volume of food in your stomach and less filling calories. Cause you know, again, for example, let's talk about spinach for example. Spinach, for 2 cups of spinach, it's about 20 calories. Spinach is very nutrient dense. It has a lot of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, so on and so forth. It also allows you a ton of food volume. This is going to help satisfy you and fill your stomach up as opposed for less calories as opposed to the Oreos or the ice cream. Those are more calories and less filling, which is going to make it, if that's the majority of your day, it is going to make it that much harder for you to stay Stick to this calorie deficit. So this is why coming back to the question of can I eat whatever I want and still lose weight? Technically yes. Is it smart? No, because of what we just talked about. There's different compositions of calories. A calorie is always a calorie, but when people say not all calories are created equal, this is why, because the composition of those calories are different. Again, 100 calories from an Oreo is different than 100 calories from a salad. They're both 100 calories and if you're in a deficit you will lose weight, but the composition of those calories are different, which is going to have an impact on your hunger, on your energy levels, on your, on your workout performance, on your sleep, on all those things, which again, all that stuff plays a big role when sticking to your calorie deficit. It's not just about 1 day, 2 days, 3 days. It's about over a long period of time. If you can stick to your calorie deficit, That is how you're going to see results. Because again, when talking about things like keto, for example, and I hope all the keto people don't come at me, but when talking about keto, for example, cutting out all your carbs, for most people that is not sustainable long-term. So even though people may lose weight on keto, that's why so many people gain the weight back eventually is because they cannot keep doing what they're doing for a long period of time. So with all that being said, I now want to talk about the 80/20 rule. And just to quickly recap, Again, calorie deficit, eating less calories than your body burns. A calorie is always a calorie. 100 calories from a salad is the same as 100 calories from an Oreo, but just know the composition of those calories can differ. Some calories can fill you up more. Some calories can fill you up less. Some calories fill your stomach up more for less calories. Some calories do not fill your stomach up as much but have more calories. That's where things differ and that's when we're going to go into the 80/20 rule. So the 80/20 rule. What is the 80/20 rule? The 80/20 rule when it comes to eating, this is how you can kind of map what your day of eating can and should look like. 80/20 rule is basically saying 80% of your total calories should come from nutrient-dense, minimally processed whole foods. Things like chicken, things like oatmeal, things like rice, things like potatoes, things like spinach, things like salad. Things like tuna, things like eggs, all foods that are very minimally processed. And also they typically tend to be one ingredient. For example, oatmeal, one ingredient, rice, one ingredient, chicken, one ingredient. I don't know why I didn't, I don't know why I didn't put fruit here, but all kinds of fruit, an apple, one ingredient, a banana, one ingredient. They're all one ingredient foods because they're very minimally processed and also very nutrient dense. The nutrients you get from Spinach, for example, very high nutrients, a lot of minerals, a lot of vitamins, a lot of minerals, nutrients you get from food, from fruit, for example, from a banana or an apple or an orange. Very nutritious, very typically healthy for you because of the nutrient profile, because of the composition of the calories in a banana or in an orange or in a chicken breast or in a steak and so on and so forth. So 80% of your food choices should come from things like that during your day. Now, 20% of your food choices can come from treats you enjoy, can come from whether it's ice cream, whether it's a taco, whether it's donuts, whether it's Oreos, things you enjoy. But notice here, the majority of your diet is not treats you enjoy, because if that is the case, you're probably not going to stick to your calorie deficit and you're probably not going to see results and you're probably also not going to build the healthy, sustainable lifestyle that you want to build. Now, I want to make myself very clear. I don't want you to think about good and bad. That's not what I want you to think about. I want you to simply think about eat more of this stuff and eat a bit less of this stuff. That's what you should be thinking about because again, there's no food that is going to inherently make you gain fat. Cookies don't make you gain fat. Donuts don't make you gain fat. No one food makes you gain fat because again, going back to as long as you're in a calorie deficit, You will lose weight. So there's no foods off limits and you still can include them. But the kicker here is, again, I call it eating like a responsible adult. You have to include these things in moderation because if, if this were flipped, if you had 20% of your food choices coming from things like chicken, oatmeal, rice, spinach, salad, fruit, all that kind of stuff, all the minimally processed stuff, and you had 80% of your food choices coming from treats you enjoy and so on and so forth, your hunger is going to be through the roof. Through the roof. Your energy is going to be very, very, very low. It is going to be very hard for you to stick to this calorie deficit, which means you are not going to see results because if you're not consistent with it, then you will not see results. So making 80% of your food choices come from things like this can be incredibly, incredibly helpful for you during this journey, not just to lose body fat, but also to improve your health, to keep high energy levels, to have good sleep, to have good mood, all those good things you want to build that this healthy lifestyle overall. So let's say for example, you have a calorie limit of 1,800 calories per day. That's what you found from my calculator. I gave you my free calorie calculator. You had 1,800 calories per day you had to hit. In this scenario, I rounded up a bit, but in this scenario, 1,500 calories should come from these type of foods and 300 calories can come from treats you enjoy. Now again, whether this is a treat at night, whether it's a treat during the morning, whatever it looks like for you, 300 calories can be allotted to treats you enjoy, but 1,500 calories should come from minimally processed, nutrient-dense whole foods. Now on top of that, very quickly, I want to also cover protein. If there's one nutrient you should focus on more than anything else, that is going to be protein. Protein is the most underconsumed nutrient, but also the most important nutrient, especially when it comes to maintaining a healthy body weight and a healthy lifestyle. 'Cause like I talked about earlier, something was on my cheek. Like we talked about earlier, protein is the most satiating nutrient. It is going to fill you up the most. One of the biggest things I see with anybody who comes into my coaching program, they are vastly undereating in protein and they wonder why they can't stop their cravings. They're always hungry. They always tend to possibly overeat. It's because they're not getting enough protein in their diet. So one of the main things within these, you know, this 80 percentile range, Focus on hitting your protein goal for that day. And if you don't know what your protein goal should be, check out that free calorie calculator I put in there because I talk about it in there. But basically a simple range is anywhere from 0.8 to 1 times your current body weight in pounds. That will give you what your daily protein goal should be. So for example, if somebody is 150 pounds, let's just say their protein goal would be 120 grams of protein, To 150 grams of protein. That would be their protein goal for that day. So within these 1,500 calories now that you have allotted to this 80th percentile range, make sure you are getting that 120 to 150 grams of protein per day because that's going to help you that much more, stay more full, build more lean muscle mass, boost your metabolism, all those great things. If you want to learn more about number one, how to get more protein in your diet, I'm going to link an article here I wrote on the top 5 ways to include more protein in your diet. It's a very good article if I do say so myself. It's helped a lot of people, so please feel free to check that in the description below. Also, I'm going to put a video here above on why high protein is so important for losing body fat and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Before I leave this video, I want to cover something very, very quickly, and that is going to be the concept of some restriction is going to be necessary when you're going into a calorie deficit, when you're going into a diet. And again, remember, if you could just eat whatever the hell you wanted to eat and whatever quantity you wanted to eat, That's probably why you've gotten to this point right now where you're even watching this video. Some restriction is going to be necessary. You know, you can't just have chips all day. You can't just have cookies all day. You're going to have to work to work in protein. You're going to have to eat vegetables even if you don't like them because you're a grown adult. Some restriction is going to be required if you want to change your body composition and lose body fat. Because remember, if you want a different result, you're going to have to do something different. Now, this doesn't mean every single meal has to be chicken and vegetables. This doesn't mean every single meal can't include foods you enjoy. This doesn't mean on Friday and Saturday night you can't go out and enjoy some food with your friends. That's not what this means, but some restriction during this period of time is going to be required and necessary of you in order to make the changes you want to see. And I'm not saying this to scare you. I'm saying this to help you have realistic expectations heading into this. It may be a bit uncomfortable at times. It may be, you know, you might have to plan out your day so you know how you're going to get protein, you know what your meals are going to look like, and those things might have to happen, but that is what is required of you in order to see results. So to the question of, can I eat whatever I want and lose weight? Yes, you can, but it's probably not going to happen because some restriction is going to be necessary and some changes are going to have to be made. If you have any questions, concerns, please feel free to drop below. I would love to help you out. If you enjoyed the video, please feel free to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel if you like more videos like this. Other than that, thank you so much for watching and we will talk soon. Okay.
