TPL#10: Debunking Calorie Myths

Happy Monday, Friend!

Today at a glance:

A 4-min read clearing up some of the common confusion about calories.

Sidenote, I’m no longer doing a Tweet for the Monday edition. It seems with the Twitter-Substack beef that’s been happening, Substack no longer embeds the Tweets.

A Quote

The greatest treasures of life are the things that can’t be bought.

Of course, having no money makes these pursuits difficult, but understanding what the real goal is and that money is a vehicle and not the end in itself is helpful for perspective.

Content

I thoroughly enjoyed this podcast.

Alex Hormozi is so much more than just a hardcore money hustler; there is a deep philosophy underlying his goals and purpose. And Chris Williamson is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasters!

They touch on topics such as the pursuit of potential, life as an infinite game, how to understand what you’re optimizing for, plus tons of actionable strategies for personal and professional growth.

Everywhere I look online, I see misunderstanding about calories.

If you’ve wondered about any of these questions, I’ve got you.

After reading this, you’ll understand what calories are and the answers to some common points of confusion surrounding them.

Let’s get into it.

What the heck is a calorie?

For the longest time, I thought calories were something inside food, like a specific molecule.

But calories are a unit of measurement.

Calories represent the stored energy in food.

So calories aren’t inside food, and you don’t, technically speaking, consume calories.

You consume food that has a certain amount of energy within it.

Calories are how we measure this energy.

Now that we cleared that up let’s start with my favorite (or least favorite) calorie myth you see all over the place.

Good and Bad Calories

The problem with this should be obvious from the definition of calories. If a calorie is just a measurement, how can there be “good” and “bad” calories?

There aren’t.

What people usually mean when they say this is that there are foods that have a ton of calories relative to their nutritional value. These are “unhealthy” foods, like a donut or a large pizza.

But the problem isn’t with the calories; it’s with the number of calories and the lack of protein, fiber, and micronutrients.

Why is the belief in good and bad calories problematic?

If people believe that there are good calories, they imagine that it’s harder to overeat “good” calories.

They’ll avoid ice cream but slam back sugar-free peanut butter, protein shakes, and any other “good” calories they find.

But regardless of the source, eating more calories than you burn causes you to store fat.

Ditch the narrative of good and bad calories.

Some foods help you reach your goals, and some foods make it more difficult, but it comes down to the volume of calories.

Calories aren’t moral.

“So and so” tried a calorie deficit, and it didn’t work…

I see this one a lot. It’s always an anecdote about how someone tried all these options to lose fat, and none worked.

Keto, Paleo, Atkins, calorie tracking…

The problem with this is it makes calorie tracking seem like a gamble, which may or may not be successful.

But the only way for calorie tracking not to work is if you do it wrong.

If you execute a calorie deficit correctly — meaning that you get an accurate sense of your TDEE (how much energy you burn in a day) and calculate what you eat to ensure it is a smaller number, you WILL lose fat.

100% guarantee.

If somebody advertises that they “tried tracking calories” and it didn’t work, it means they were doing it wrong.

The problem was with their execution, not the approach.

But this dude doesn’t track calories, and he’s ripped…

This is another example of conflation.

Here, someone is conflating tracking calories with energy balance itself.

There are lots of people who don’t track what they eat but live with an appropriate energy balance, meaning they don’t eat more calories than they burn.

If these people lift weights and eat a lot of protein, chances are they’ll look great.

Nobody is saying that you must track your calories to lose fat or build muscle, but it’s important to recognize that people who don’t track aren’t exempt from the laws of energy balance.

Too often, these people give off an “I’m an exception to the rule” vibe or imply that they have some magic approach.

They don’t.

They’ve just found a way of maintaining their energy balance without tracking.

This is totally cool, except when they pretend that the laws of thermodynamics don’t apply to them.

To lose weight, you need to maintain a calorie deficit

This is partially correct. The issue is with “maintain.”

Nobody maintains a calorie deficit.

A calorie deficit is consuming less energy than you burn.

Maintaining this would mean starvation.

A calorie deficit is a temporary tool used to reduce body fat.

The reason that nobody maintains a calorie deficit is tied up with why permanent fat loss is difficult, and so many diets don’t work.

Metabolic adaptation is the term for how the body adapts to weight loss. As you lose weight, your metabolism slows down.

This is due to a number of reasons:

It takes less energy to move a smaller person around; so after weight loss, you’ll burn fewer calories during workouts or doing anything that involves movement.

The other components of metabolism (BMR, the Thermic Effect of Feeding) also slow down.

This means that what once was a calorie deficit will eventually stop being a calorie deficit.

It’ll be your new maintenance.

This is why I’m so big on sustainability.

If someone has been losing weight in a way that is not sustainable, meaning they can’t do it forever, what do you think happens when they stop their diet and go above their new maintenance calories?

This is the fate of 95% of diets…

It’s also why you need to proceed with extreme caution anytime you find yourself in a weight loss program that you don’t see yourself sticking with forever.

The goal is not to maintain a calorie deficit.

The goal is to have maintenance calories that are enough to allow you to enjoy your life, progress in your training, and be happy.

Calorie deficits are temporary.

Caloric maintenance is for life.

TL;DR

Calories are a unit of measurement, and they’re NOT moral.

A calorie deficit cannot not work — if someone tried and failed, it means they weren’t in a deficit, no matter how much they believe they were.

Just because someone doesn’t track what they eat doesn’t mean the rules don’t apply to them.

You can’t maintain a calorie deficit. The goal is maintenance.

I hope this cleared up any potential misunderstandings you might have had. Let me know in the comments if you have any remaining calorie questions.

When you’re ready, here’s how you can work with me.

I want to help you ditch confusing diets and workout programs and help you achieve your fitness goals in a way that works for you.

If you’re tired of spinning your tires, failing to get results, and wondering what you’re doing wrong, apply for 1-1 coaching now.

Results are guaranteed.

You’ll hit your goals, or I’ll work with you for free until you do.

-Colin “Calories aren’t moral” Matson