"Eat Less to Lose Weight Truth"

Philip Pape 0:03

Just eat more food and you'll lose the weight .

Philip Pape 0:06

Have you ever heard that advice ? All you got to do is eat more calories and the weight's just going to start flying off . This advice has been floating around the fitness industry for years and it still persists . Today , we are going to use an engineering concept called the iron triangle to show why this idea doesn't hold up . This claim doesn't hold up . We'll explore how misunderstandings whether it's energy balance or other elements behind the scenes are leading to people continuing to make this claim . You'll learn why .

Philip Pape 0:35

What looks like eating more might actually be your first step toward effective fat loss , but not for the reasons you might expect . Welcome to Wits and Weights , the podcast that blends evidence and engineering to help you build smart , efficient systems to achieve your dream physique . I'm your host , philip Pape , and today we're breaking down the eat more to lose weight idea or , shall I say , myth using a principle again straight from engineering the iron triangle , also called the project management triangle or the cost quality schedule triangle . This notion that eating more will boost your metabolism , will speed up fat loss , has become very popular , and it often comes from a misunderstanding , namely of how many calories we are actually eating and actually burning . Just this week , I talked to somebody in one of the communities I'm in who didn't realize that your metabolism adapts and changes , and that's just one of the misunderstandings going on . Today we'll uncover how people who think they're eating too little often find out they're eating more than they thought once they start tracking accurately . And that's the discovery that can make it seem like you are eating more to lose weight , when really you're just finally eating the right amount for fat loss . I do want to give a quick shout out to listener Heather M , because Heather sent me a message about struggling with this advice that inspired today's episode , and her experience shows the confusion that many people face with calorie tracking and weight loss plateaus . Let's break down this myth using our engineering lens and uncover the truth about calories , metabolism and effective fat loss in the context of the eat more to lose weight advice .

Philip Pape 2:31

Now , this advice usually pops up when someone has been dieting for a while and then they hit a plateau , they stop losing weight , and then they hear this idea hey , you're probably just not eating enough , you need to eat more . If you eat more , you'll boost your metabolism and you'll start losing fat again . And it sounds very appealing , right , and it sounds like one of those . Ooh , I didn't realize that that must be it , especially when people put the label science-based or evidence-based and yes , I use those labels as well , but it's often used as a bait and switch to get you into their coaching program to say , look , all you've got to do is eat more food . Doesn't that sound great ? But this is an oversimplified approach . And then it makes you more frustrated and confused when it doesn't work , or doesn't work like you expect , or you get blamed by your coach for not hitting the exact number . And then , oh , you didn't hit your exact . You know 1953 calories that I told you to hit . You're over by five or 10 and that's why it's not working . And specifically , I'm talking about a real person here who wrote in again Heather . She was told to eat 2000 calories a day and when she went over by even five or 10 , she was criticized for overeating , right . And this is ridiculous . Like I can't imagine coaching somebody and being that much of an a-hole about it and blaming the client in that way . And this , this is ridiculous . Like I can't imagine coaching somebody and being um , that much of an a-hole about it and blaming the client in that way and obviously the guy had no idea what he was talking about . And that's why I have a podcast , um , to kind of dispel these things , because this kind of advice is nonsense and it doesn't work and it's not going to be consistent and it causes so much confusion . And so here's what we're going to do today I'm going to introduce something called the iron triangle and then we're going to apply it to this concept In engineering , in engineering project management specifically , the iron triangle represents the balance between three factors that effectively compete with each other cost , quality and schedule .

Philip Pape 4:23

And the principle states that you cannot optimize all three simultaneously . If you improve one , it often means compromising on another . And so let's apply this concept to fat loss and its overall energy and calorie situation . First , we have cost . What is cost in our case ? In our case , cost is energy your calories consumed , right , what you eat , your calorie intake and your calories burned or expenditure . So it's just the balance of energy that is your cost . Okay , the cost generally thinking in fat loss , your cost is the deficit that you're in to be able to get that fat loss .

Philip Pape 4:59

The second leg of the triangle is quality . In our case , that quality is sustainability . It's how well you can adhere to the plan long-term , how high quality the plan is so that you could actually adhere to it and get it done . And then the third leg is schedule , or time , and in our case that is our rate of loss , how quick we're going to go and lose the fat . Right , and just as in engineering , we can't optimize all three .

Philip Pape 5:23

So think about engineering . If you want to go faster , if you want to create the product faster , it's going to cost more . It's going to cost more in terms of people and overtime in getting suppliers to send you parts faster . So you're going to have to compromise by costing more . Or if you want to go faster , you might have to lower the quality , you might have to reduce some of the requirements and not get as many bells and whistles in your product or software . So , similarly , we can't optimize our energy balance and our sustainability and our rate of loss . In other words , we can't eat 5,000 calories and lose fat or we can't go at a super fast rate of loss , like lose three pounds a week and maintain a decent amount of energy right , we'd have to be in an extreme deficit to do that , right , or we'd have to compromise , sustainability and quality , because it's so hard to do it . So it's the same idea . And let's just break each of these down so you can see what this has to do with the eating more to lose weight .

Philip Pape 6:27

Let's start with energy , energy , calorie , energy balance right , this is your cost . Okay , this is the foundation of fat loss . It's the foundation of changing your body mass , right , from a nutrition perspective . We're not even going to talk about strength training or specific macros . We're just talking about changing body mass . Your body needs a certain amount of energy to function and especially to function optimally . Right , that's where the compromise comes in . Like , we know we need a calorie deficit to lose weight , but if the calorie deficit's too high , we're going to start influencing negatively our hormones , we're going to lose energy , we're going to crash and burn , we're going to have cravings , we're not going to be able to adhere . Our sustainability is going to go down , right . So the size of your calorie deficit directly impacts the other two factors your sustainability and your rate of loss . Right Now let's talk about eating more .

Philip Pape 7:17

A slight increase in calories can sometimes help in terms of your energy , your metabolism , your hormones right . But if you'd simply do so without regard for energy balance , it's not going to lead to fat loss , unless you're in a deficit . You're not going to lose fat period period . You still have to be in a calorie deficit , all right , so let's set that aside for now . That's the first leg in the iron triangle .

Philip Pape 7:42

The second leg is our quality leg , sustainability , and this refers to how well you can adhere to your fat loss plan , both short-term and long-term . Right Meaning by long-term , I mean if it's going to take many weeks , we want to stick to it . But even in the short term , we don't want it to totally rip us apart within a week or two and then we give up . A more aggressive deficit might lead to faster results , but it could be harder to sustain due to increased hunger , lower energy , the impact to your social life and how neurotic and obsessive you have to be about all the tracking and effectively saying no to things . Right , we don't want to be in that state . This is where many people stumble . When they're told to eat more , they might again feel better temporarily because they have more energy , maybe they're no longer in a low energy state . But then , if it puts them out of a deficit , if it puts them up to their maintenance calories or higher , it's not going to give them the fat loss . It's not going to be sustainable for fat loss either . Interesting , right , it goes both ways . That's

Balancing Energy, Sustainability, and Rate

Philip Pape 8:44

the second leg .

Philip Pape 8:44

The third leg is your time , your schedule , which , in our case , is how fast we lose weight or lose fat . This is how quickly we go , our rate of loss . And , yes , a larger deficit will lead to faster fat loss , but it might compromise sustainability , right , because it's just too fast , you don't get to eat very much , you become hangry and miserable and it could potentially lead to muscle loss , which is even more dangerous . When we talk about fat loss , we don't want to lose muscle . If we go too fast , we're going to lose muscle . So when we go back to , should you eat more to lose weight ?

Philip Pape 9:17

It often ignores all of these factors , right , but it essentially promises a violation of the iron triangle . It promises quick results without a cost , right , and the sustainability kind of falls in between , because of course , eating more is gonna be more sustainable , but it's not gonna give you fat loss . So we have to balance all of these , that we consider the rate of loss along with the other two factors . So how do we do that right . So if we're violating the iron triangle with this nonsense claim that you can eat more and lose weight , how do we apply the iron triangle to make it effective ? All right Again , let's start with energy , with cost . Instead of eating more , why don't we focus on eating the right amount , which means we have to actually create a deficit that aligns with our goals ? And the only way to do that is to track and measure . And so here's where I'm going to talk about .

Philip Pape 10:12

The biggest , I'll say , cause of people giving this advice is that you are typically okay . Let's put it this way . Let's say you do eat more and you start to lose weight . Is it because you ate more ? No , it's because you think you're eating more . Why do you think you're eating more ? Because you probably weren't tracking your calories accurately in the past . Now you are , and now that you know what you are eating , you probably start to tighten up what you eat in response to trying to hit certain targets , and you feel better and you have more protein , right . And now you set the deficit that you actually want and it seems like you're eating more than you were before , but you're actually eating the accurate amount because of your tracking . And another reason for this is usually , when you are not tracking , you're binging on the weekends , right , and you're starving yourselves during the week . When you start tracking , you start to balance that out and it seems like every day you're actually eating a little more because on most days you probably are , and on it seems like every day you're actually eating a little more because on most days you probably are , and on the weekends you're eating a lot less than you were , and the net effect for the average for the week is a deficit . Okay , a lot of this is mental . So , as far as energy goes , you have to know what your maintenance calories are and what your deficit needs to be .

Philip Pape 11:26

Go listen to my recent episode called your First Cut Lose 10 to 30 pounds of fat , something like that , your first cut . And I talk about these principles . All right , the second part of the triangle we can apply is the sustainability or the quality piece . This is where we choose a deficit that you can maintain consistently over time . It may be a slower rate of loss than you quote unquote want , right , but it will lead to you sticking with it and getting the result . I think I posted a threads post recently . It said something like .

Philip Pape 11:56

Unsuccessful people will say I need to lose 20 pounds in eight weeks . A successful person will say how fast can I go where it's sustainable and I can do it ? And then , how long will it take me to lose 20 pounds ? Right , there's a difference between the two . The third leg of the triangle , then , is the rate of loss , the time right , understanding that faster isn't always better . Effectively , what I just said a moderate , sustainable rate of loss , like half a percent of your body weight a week . That is what leads to you getting the outcome and sticking with it .

Philip Pape 12:29

And now you've got the triangle nicely balanced between energy , sustainability and time , and you could actually get there , rather than this weird , nebulous , uncertain state you were in before , where you're like I don't really know what I'm eating . I feel hungry sometimes , not others . I'm probably binging on the weekends , but I'm not sure how much alcohol I had at the Mexican restaurant . This fit pro , 22 year old , on Instagram , says I just need to eat more to lose weight . And lo and behold , I start eating more and I lose weight . Well , not really Right , or you probably don't , actually , because you weren't accurately tracking before , and now you are All right . So the problem isn't that you're eating too little , it's you're not accurately tracking what you're eating , right ?

Philip Pape 13:15

I've had clients come to me convinced they're eating 1200 calories a day and not losing weight . Right , I'm just . I've cut my calories so low I'm down to 1100 . I'm still not losing weight . One of the first questions I ask is are you tracking ? And usually the answer is , well , no . But and right there I know what the problem is . And so when we implement precise tracking , we discover they're consuming much more on average per day . Right . On average , it might be 1100 calories Monday through Friday , and then 2000 calories on Saturday and Sunday . Right , and so sometimes it's you know , hundreds of calories more than what they thought , hundreds of calories more than what they thought .

Philip Pape 13:51

And that is why the eat more advice is so , so dangerous and so misleading . Because if you're already eating more than you realize , if you just indiscriminately add more calories , it's going to move you further from your goal , you're going to start drifting up in weight . And now you're going to say what the F ? You know what is going on . That's nonsense , and it is , and if you can understand this and understand the iron triangle , that there is a , there's a balance between cost , quality and schedule or , in our , our cases I'm sorry , in our case energy balance , sustainability and rate of loss . Ah then , instead of blindly following advice to eat more , you find the right balance of those three things for your specific situation . So let me just recap Eat more to lose weight is an oversimplification and usually completely false . The iron triangle energy , sustainability , rate of loss helps us understand the trade-offs involved in any weight loss strategy . Success comes from balancing these three , not from just increasing calories . And then tying this all together is accurate tracking and measuring , which is crucial to understand your true energy balance so that you can make informed decisions .

Philip Pape 15:07

All right , if today's episode resonated with you , if you found it interesting , if you're like , oh , I never thought of it that way before . The iron triangle , that's pretty cool , or ah , now I understand why eating more to lose weight isn't what I thought it was , or why it may or may not work , depending on your situation . I want you to just share this episode with a friend who's been struggling with the conflicting advice out there . We are skeptics of the industry here . I want more people to be I'll call it enlightened , but really just to be inquisitive and curious , asking these questions and getting answers that apply to them , that have the nuance and context necessary to make them work in practice . So share it with a friend .

Philip Pape 15:47

If you want to take that next step and really , really support me , please give me a five-star rating and review . In Apple and Spotify , we don't get enough of those . Very few people actually take the time to do that . I understand there's friction involved , but it really doesn't take long . Just go right now in your podcast app as you're listening to me right this moment scroll down to where it says write a review . Click that button and give it five stars and type a little blurb just what's on your mind . Hey , I love how this show XYZ done send . I would really appreciate it . Until next time , keep using your wits lifting those weights and remember that in fat loss , as in engineering , it's all about finding the right balance . This is Philip Pape , and you've been listening to Wits and Weights . I'll talk to you next time .