Common fat loss mistakes: calorie calculators and cardio - Pt 2 - The Fat Loss Files - Ep. 213

So without further ado, I present to you mistakes, Number six is assuming that your calorie calculator is accurate and that you must follow the target that it gives you to the letter.

There are two crucial problems with this assumption.

The first one is that it makes you feel like there's something wrong with you if you're not losing fat on these calories.

And then you can fall into traps like believing people who say that it's your hormones or that your metabolism is broken or some other flavor of bullshit of the week in the fitness space to justify why you're not losing body fat.

Is this just a waste of your time and possibly money if you buy into some supplement scam or something like that? The second problem is that this assumption doesn't encourage data collection and experimentation.

In my view, the most effective mindset to adopt when you start your fitness quest is that of a scientist.

Nothing is good or bad.

Everything is an experiment.

You try it and it either works or it doesn't.

If it works, you keep it.

I don't know why my voice said that.

If it works, you keep it, and if it doesn't, you try something else.

Of course, there's a bit more nuance than this.

You don't need to try absolute bullshit, which is why I have this podcast, to make you aware of what's not worth your time.

And if something doesn't work right away, sometimes you just need to work harder and or for longer before you see results.

My point is, there's no reason to believe that if something isn't working, there's automatically something wrong with you.

Sometimes, like in this case, the tool can be inadequate too, because in reality, calorie calculators offer an estimate.

They use one of many different fitness formula, each based on population averages, each with a margin of error.

That's why I don't really use them in my coaching practice, unless I absolutely need a caloric estimate right away for a client for some reason.

My preferred approach is to ask a client to track calories and macros for at least a week.

This teaches them how to do it if they've never done it before.

It already raises awareness around their nutrition habits and often fosters positive change without me saying anything.

And it gives me data that's personalized to them as opposed to taken from a population average.

In any event, calculators aren't bad if you want to use them.

But if the calorie target that you get isn't working, it's possible that it's just not a deficit for you, and the formula used by the calculator is overestimating your caloric needs.