3 Ways To Create A Calorie Deficit For Weight Loss
How To Increase G-Flux To Create A Healthy Calorie Deficit?
On today’s episode, I’m sharing 3 different ways that you can create a calorie deficit to lose weight, and the best way to increase G-Flux.
I’m sure G-Flux is a new term to many of you, so I explain how to do it, and it’s sustainable benefits, towards the end of this blog.
What is a Calorie Deficit?
First off, you may be wondering what do I mean when I say calorie deficit.
Well you’ve probably heard the saying, “calories in, calories out”.
This simply means, to lose weight, you typically need to be in a calorie deficit.
You’re in a calorie deficit when your body burns more energy than you consume via food.
That’s the simple part.
But did you know there are different ways to create this caloric deficit?
To demonstrate, lets do a little survey.
Meet Willy.
Willy works at the local chocolate chip cookie dough factory.
He has made a promise to his son Charlie, that he is going to lose 25 pounds, and keep it off forever.
After making this promise, Willy googles “how to lose weight” and learns a new word that sounds super fancy.
The word is thermodynamics, which in simple terms, refers to burning more calories than you consume.
Willy’s first thought was, I’ll just starve myself to create the biggest calorie deficit I can.
Then 4 seconds go by and he realizes he works at the damn chocolate chip cookie dough factory.
He does a little more searching and learns that a decent daily calorie deficit is 500 calories.
Willy also finds online an calorie calculator to estimate how many calories you burn in a typical day.
The next day, Willy takes out a piece of paper and writes down 3 different ways to create that 500 calorie deficit.
Calorie Deficit Strategy A: Eat Less.
Eat 500 calories less then he burns in a typical day without working out.
- Total calories burned throughout the day: 1,900
- Total calorie intake available from food: 1,400
- Caloric deficit: -500 calories
The thought of only being able to eat 1,400 calories a day scares Willy because he knows that’s the equivalent of eating just 4 chocolate chip cookie dough cookies.
He decides to add in some exercise in the form of walking on the treadmill.
Calorie Deficit Strategy B: Eat Less. Walk on Treadmill for 60 Minutes.
Willy walks on the treadmill for 60 minutes to see how many calories the treadmill burns.
Within 5 minutes of walking on the treadmill, he’s looked at the clock 6 times, and cringes at the thought of doing this mindless and boring cardio workout every day.
He makes it through the 60 minutes and sees that he burned 400 calories.
- Total calories burned throughout the day: 2,300 (1,900 + 400 calories from cardio)
- Total calorie intake available from food: 1,800 (an extra 400 calories vs. not working out)
- Caloric deficit: -500 calories
Calorie Deficit Strategy C: Eat Less. Follow an Afterburn Style Workout Program.
Willy hears about a unique and fun type of workout style called Afterburn Training that combines weight lifting and cardio to really boost your metabolism, burn fat, all while building lean muscle.
He follows the workout program for one session, finishes in 45 minutes, and feels amazing.
Not only did the time fly by, but he feels young and athletic, and actually enjoyed the workout.
He checks his activity tracker and it shows he burned 650 calories.
- Total calories burned throughout the day: 2,550 (1900 + 650 calories from the workout)
- Total calorie intake available from food: 2,050
- Deficit: -500 calories
After doing the experiments, Willy looks at each strategy carefully.
Even though they all create a 500 caloric deficit, the process to get there are different.
According to Willy:
- Calorie deficit strategy A sucked.
The reason was because he couldn’t eat very much food, which made him feel super weak and vulnerable to losing muscle, which he heard is not a good thing since muscle helps keep your metabolism fast and healthy.
- Calorie deficit strategy B was boring AF.
Willy cringed at the thought of being a slave to a treadmill for 60 minutes every day.
Even though he could eat an extra 400 calories because of it, that extra cookie at the factory was not worth the boredom.
- Calorie deficit strategy C was on point.
Not only did Willy enjoy the endorphin rush from an incredible workout, he also felt stronger, more athletic, and slept amazing that night.
To top it off, the thought of being able to eat an additional 650 calories made the thought of “dieting” way more bearable.
The Winning Calorie Deficit Strategy Is…
It’s pretty obvious which of these 3 ways is not only the most healthy way but also the most sustainable way to create a calorie deficit and lose weight.
The Answer: C
If sustainable weight loss was just a numbers game, all three calorie deficit strategies would be equal.
However, Living Lean is more about psychology than mathematics.
Besides the fact that everything you eat, as well as your physical activity, creates a fat burning or fat storing hormonal reaction in your body, the simple equation of creating a calorie deficit needs to be sustainable.
Since strategy A is an extremely low calorie approach to weight loss, it’s creating a hormonal reaction that can slow your metabolism.
It does this because when you body is excessively under fed for long periods of time, it can enter starvation mode, meaning your body holds on to stored fat for survival, while burning muscle for energy.
Since muscle is key to a fast and healthy metabolism, you eventually become a skinnier, saggier, fat person.
Strategy B is creating a slightly better hormonal environment as you can eat more, but 60 minutes of cardio a day can be super boring, meaning most people will quit before they can see any weight loss results.
Plus this much cardio, on reduced calories can also burn into lean muscle tissue.
Hello weak and slow metabolism.
With all this said, strategy C is the clear winner.
Not only do you get to eat more food, which will keep you energized, you’ll also love your workouts, and love your body recomposition results.
More lean muscle, less flabby body fat means healthier metabolism and more daily calorie burn.
What is G-Flux?
The best way to create a healthy calorie deficit is by increasing your G-Flux.
This is a simple equation:
Eat more + Exercise more to still be in a deficit = Losing more (while still being strong and healthy)
When you exercise, you increase your metabolism, you burn calories and you elevate the amount of fat burning enzymes in your body.
You’re also keeping your body happy by feeding it an adequate amount of calories, thus keeping it from going into fat survival storage mode, and once again you’re increasing your metabolism.
Win-win!
- The right amount of exercise increases your metabolism.
- The right amount of eating increases your metabolism.
The trick is to exercise more, so you can eat more, while still remaining in a caloric deficit.
That’s G-Flux.
So stop starving yourself and start exercising more.
Just don’t go overboard with too much exercise.
If you’re unsure about how much exercise is too much and what types of workout are best for burning body fat while maintaining and in some cases building lean muscle, check out my all-time best selling workout program, Live Lean Afterburn 2.0.
It’s been transforming the bodies of men and women from all over the world.
BROWSE MORE EXERCISES TO LIVE LEAN!
Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
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