3 Scenarios - Who Burns More Fat?

Yay! I’m first! Wow that was a breath of fresh air Joel. I was just struggling with this for the last several days because I’ve been doing HIIT for the last 6 months and have already lost 20lbs of fat but I’m constantly struggling diet wise because of work and travel. I took a test recently with an OMRON scale and it said my BMR was 1375, and of course that means more muscle needs building. I’m planning on increasing my weights and weight training and am concerned of over-eating/under-eating to facilitate muscle growth and accelerate fat loss.

Its a relief to know that unless I gorge myself, I won’t be over-eating as long as I train hard and well. Thanks Joel!

Hi Joel, I love reading your posts! I have learned alot since I discovered you & CYWT! Senario #3 is so much more appealing to me, so I am happy it is the better method!

yes i understand what you say. everyone say’s that nutrition is a main part of fat loss but what if i upped my exercise and burned say an additional 1000 calories (just for say so) would i still be burning fat if i was eating very unhealthy and drinking loads of beer. (i’m not doing this) i just want to understand how much you can burn through say doubling your routine
thanks ian

Hey Joel,
I love your site and agree with everything you say. I did the whole wanting to lose weight and simply eating less and doing some running but didn’t understand why I started to just look malnourished AND still flabby.
When you describe eating more calories and burning more calories via working out, it’s difficult to know how many calories you’re burning. I still feel that unless I’m jumping around I’m not burning calories. I do some weight training which I know burns calories and also does some cardio but I still don’t know what’s the best solution to burn the MOST calories, whilst still toning and losing size (I don’t want to lose weight - just be toned etc)
Thanks!
Charlotte

I totally agree. I tried to do too much restriction and it only worked short-term, so increasing the intensity of the workouts and eating more calories more often works best by far.

Scenario #1 - Subject A

Typical crash dieting and what runway models use on a daily basis. ;-)

I try to alternate weights and cardio days. I know that many of you will look down your noses at the cardio (6 mile run) element but, due to distance/pace monitor, I know that this burns c.800 calories. I don’t, however, have a clue what my high intensity weight training workout is burning.
Any advice on how to calculate or estimate this would be much appreciated…

What Joel says is true

Hi Joel,

I’ve been following your blogs for a few months - I have not commented before but this time I felt compelled to say a big “THANK YOU” for sharing your wonderful knowledge with us. I have an awesome trainer here in Adelaide, South Australia who is helping me get back on track after many years of illness and unhealthy weight gain. His views are very similar to yours however I find having someone else explaining something in a slightly different way very useful and of tremendous value. So thanks again and I look forward to many more of your blogs in the future.

regards
Christine

Awesome stuff Joel, this is one thing i really love about a lot of your methods mate, its REAL DAMN SIMPLE. This is just one of those examples, if there’s a good side to something mate, you find it, the simplicity really does motivate me most, its better than going to the trouble of planning out a diet that will push the wrong buttons in my body.

once again mate, thanks

Yup, works like a charm. My collegues calls me “Mr. Metabolism” cause I’m “always” eating, yet losing fat continously. The were initially coming with remarks like “trying to bulk up, hehe?” but, since going from 22% fat to 12%, those comments have kind of died out and been replaced with curious questions concerning diet and exercise.

Excellent post, Joel! I feel that in addition to the g-flux principles, the person will succeed in their goals in higher probability as it places less mental stress on themselves. 300 calories may be an ice-cream, an extra 2 ounces of nuts or a serving of fries. That would place less boundaries on the individual and he will think it’s do-able! But overall, I feel that a nutritional deficit placed willingly on a person’s diet, together with exercise, gives you the best results!

Would there not also be a difference depending on the type of exercise they are performing (ie. long, boring cardio versus weight training)?

Good article Joel. Actually I’m trying to implement just that because during the next two weeks I will be working in a place with a greater access to more calories but I will be walking more than usual (means more calories burned, yay). I’m still on my TT program of course, so those extra kcals will be burned, promise ;)

Joel, your so right! I see many clients a day and they were all going about losing fat the same way. They would eat a very low calorie diet and wonder why they were not losing any weight. I increased their calories by 300-500 and started them on a weight training circuit and boom they droped the weight and toned up.

Keep up the good work!

This is so true, Joel!
But I wouldn’t believe it just 6-7 years ago. It took a mind revolution to exercise and eat more … And watch my body act as a fat-burning mashine even when I do NOT exercise.

Great post.
Cheers,
Olga

I’ve been working with your principal you have presented here and have had surprising results, while I’ve not lost any weight (put some on in fact) i have lost fat and now have other benefits, i work a job which requires heavy lifting from time to time and have found it easier to get the work done, and had less injuries (pulled muscles etc) as well. I can’t remember when i last had back pains (something associated with my work) i can only recommend this approach to anyone who wants results.

Yes I totally agree, Intensity, short burst of anaerobic exercise is a clear winner anytime!

I have plenty of clients say “Ive done 400 calories on walking today” but will soon wonder why the pounds wont shift, the answer is intensity.

Keep up the good work bro!
Im working on a ebook inspired by the knowledge shared here and many other great sites.

B

Hey Joel, in Eat Stop Eat, Brad included a study that proved cardio did not seem very beneficial as it should be when doing 24h fasts. I fast 24h twice a week, 3 days in between. I also weight train properly (deadlifts, squats, bla bla bla) 2-3 times a week. But I do ZERO cardio. Am I doing things right? Should I add cardio in? Your reply will be appreciated.

Finally I got it I have been killing myself cutting caloric intake with zero results. I now understand the concept and looking forward to changing things this week. I have remained strong lifting weights interval style but now will add interval tread work and MMA classes to up my caloric burn and EAT MORE!!!
Thanks,
Stan

Hi Joel,

I do believe the theory of eat more (within reason) , exercise more (within reason), and you will burn fat and accomplish great gains (Not weight gain of course).
I am troubled, however, by my scenario a little. I am a 120#, 49yr , 5′3 female. I really just would like to drop a few pounds of body fat…..basically I am very fit and have good muscular definition, little body anywhere except for a small amount of abdominal fat that is being very stubborn. I also have diastasis recti from my 2 wonderful children so that doesn’t help with the slight protrusion of my abdomen (it really is not that huge but bugs me to death).

Anyway…..I exercise intensely 5-6 days/wk…..weight train, interval train, and actually teach an intense weight training/ cardio interval class twice a week.
My BMR without exercise factored is approx 1230, add exercise it’s about 1900. I consume roughly 1500 -1600 . Nothing budges. I’m trying to get in the habit of consuming a larger amount of cals once a week to trick my body a bit. It is tough for me to do mentally. Trust me my diet is pretty clean 90% of the time. If I stray on some indulgent it is still within clean eating guidelines being made from all natural products, not packaged….homemade items.

Any suggestions here??? Are my cals appropriate? Oh by the way my carb intake mostly comes from lots of veggies, 2 servings of fruit a day and a very small amount of complex carbs coming from Ezekiel bread, quinoa, some beans, brown rice only occaisionally, oatmeal and barley on occaision.

So there ya have it…..would love a little input….

Wow, that is information that no one else seems to be talking about. I am down 24 pounds and 2 pant sizes in the past 2 months, but I have not been putting my emphasis on the exercise versus the calorie deficit. The way you presented that information made me plan to really change how I have been approaching my goals. I will continue to eat as I have, but add more calories. I will also be adding additional short, intense workouts to my day so I am getting bursts of fat loss hormones through the day. My office has a program where we can add 30 minutes to our 30 minute lunch if it is used for exercise. We get paid for the time and get a mid day workout too. I will be adding a 15 minute workout first thing in the morning and one after work too to keep things really going. Thanks for the great information.

Hi Joel. Just a question….while I totally agree with your comments above, I am somewhat confused. I have just started your CYWT program and based on using the caloric guidelines, I am ‘allowed’ 1156 calories per day on a LOW CARB day. Now, I’m a 5′9, 162 pound woman. For me to workout like I do and burn about 600 calories, I just cannot do it on such few calories. I’m STARVING, which does not sound like your philosophy at all. Am I doing something wrong?

These reminders of how effective your plan is are Xtremely helpful! Keep em coming. I lost 20 lbs in the “holiday” CYWT plan and keep losing (so only another 60 or so to go!). The interval exercise plan seems to be the real key, and it is very easy to keep going back to it — I’m not even tempted to skip it, since the results are so dramatic. I can run for the first time in 20 years! Thanks and thanks again!

I purchased the Holiday Edition of CYWT and I have been following it religiously since Thanksgiving. I am not counting calories, but rather using portions and sticking very strictly to the correct food types. Baby carrots have become my friend! ( I am 54 and I am 6′2″ and started at 274 pounds.) So far I have lost 17 pounds, which is good, but not spectacular. To be honest, I use a hybrid exercise plan. I work out quite a bit more than specified in CYWT. I work with a trainer one day per week and he absolutely kicks my behind. On the other days, I am doing P90X (some of which can be even tougher than the trainer’s workout). However, I am doing this with my wife and she goes to the trainer twice a week, so I fill in with a round of interval training on the elliptical on the second day she is at the trainer. There are also some days when she can’t work out, so again, I fill in with the elliptical or Cardio X so she and I can remain synched on the main P90X program. I am averaging about one rest day per week with all of this activity. I don’t know how accurate the calorie counting mechanism on the elliptical is, but an average workout for me says that I burn about 1075 calories. So, you can see that I work pretty hard. I am not sure that I could realistically add another 300 calories of exercise per day.

I have been overweight my entire life and have been fighting this battle for a long time via many different programs (including BFL). I am always successful losing weight, but never seem to be able to maintain it. That is what I like about CYWT. It looks like a much more sustainable plan for long-term success. As I said, I am somewhat satisfied with my progress, but I sure would like to move faster given how hard I am working. In my past struggles, I have used very strict calorie counting and that has been quite successful, but it is tedious and annoying, so that is why I chose the portion approach for CYWT. Perhaps I need to go back to counting calories. Also, I think I may be hurting myself on cheat days. I try to follow your advice of eating what I want, but not being abusive by keeping quantities reasonable, etc. However, it is not unusual for me to gain 3-4 pounds after cheat day and then spend four days of the next week knocking that off before I can return to making more progress. I get the feeling that I am very sensitive to the combination of fat and sugar. Any suggestions for accelerating fat loss even more?

Thanks for all of your information and encouragement. Bob

Good post, Joel.

How do you calculate cal. burned if you are mainly doing your workout with weights. Or if you are doing interval workouts with say squat thrusts, push-ups and weights, how would you calculate this. Many thanks for all your great advice.

Bob,

I too struggle with the Cheat-Day-3-pound-gain-followed-by-the-rest-of-the-week-fighting-to-get-back-to-even. I am also in my early 50’s. I’ll be interested to see if Joel or others have thoughts on this.

By the way - be careful with the baby carrots. They are not a “free” vegetable in the way that celery, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, lettuce, etc. are. They are a carb choice and only to be utilized on higher GI days.

@Bob Barron -

Enlightening and intriguing - and frankly I am puzzled that most mainstream doctors continue to focus on the old format that any calorie = a calorie. I lost a considerable amount of weight on a medically supervised radical calorie reduction (well under a 1000 per day). I was informed that if my calories exceeded 1400, then I would be gaining weight, regardless of my workouts.
As I increased my workouts (reps as well as weight) I was exhausted every day, my sleep patterns suffered and my irritability increased, not to mention the fact I was starving.
Thankfully I found your program !

Of course, Jeff Anderson would argue with ya about HIIT over LIIT haha.. but I’ve started doing a half hour of HIIT followed by a half hour of somewhat lower intensity cardio.. so we’ll see if doing some of both makes a difference. :)

Joel—-I am 64 years old—-am gaining muscle due to you —but waist is getting bigger too—–waist is hard and am losing love handles but pants are getting tight around waist—-am I doing something wrong—-I am doing heavy two times per week, then combo resistance and cardio the other days

thnaks Doyle aka Grumpy

Hey Joel,
The best part of all the scenarios is that it is all easy to understand, and something that is easy to apply to any lifestyle, thanks mate great work!

@Joel Marion -

that’s South AUSTRALIA…. it’s ok, I’ll still keep reading ! ;-)

Great info Joel. Can you clarify one thing for me?

When calculating caloric deficit, do you use TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) minus calories eaten or BMR?

Many thanks
versace

I’m curious if you have to have a calorie deficit to burn fat and under those 3 scenarios you’ll burn more fat under scenario #3, then what would happen under the same three scenarios if there were no calorie deficit. For example, under scenario 3 say your calorie intake was 2600, you burned 600 through intense cardio and your MBR is 2,000. Will you still burn fat or are the three scenarios equivalent at that point?

@RobF - Rob - in my CYWT manual, carrots are in the free veggies list. Like you, I would have thought that they were a little too sweet to be a free veggie, but they are in there. The good thing is that according to nutritiondata.com, carrots have a very high “fullness factor” so you don’t have to eat a lot of them to feel full for a while. I did figure out that about 12 of the little fellows are only 35 calories, so that is not so bad. Better than succumbing to carrot cake!! 8-))

@Joel Marion - Thanks for the comment Joel. If you think 17 pounds is excellent, then I am satisfied. I will keep plugging away. I have also been posting my weight on my Facebook page every week. That helps with accountability because I know my friends are watching and I don’t want to disappoint them. (I also know that their comments would be merciless if I didn’t make progress!!)

hey joel, thanks for the post very informative.
i have been pretty succesful, and in the last 3 months lost 20 pounds. i weight my selfs to weeks to be at 160 pounds, i had a cheat day one week ago, and weighed my self this week and im still at 160, can u tell me, what gives?

i THINK, it may be some muscle because all of my lifts have gotten stronger, ( especially my legs), but im not too sure and im worried im doing something wrong now, would like ur advice, thanks alot!!

I’m really trying Joel with the CWYT program but my fat loss seems to have hit a plateau. I know my caloric intake is already too high for my target weight so I’m trying (with not alot of success) to decrease my calorie intake so for you to suggest I can eat 300 more calories (which would be 300 calories I don’t need) and doing more HIIT doesn’t seem logical for me … perhaps just the latter but both? I’m not saying I refuse to do it but when I’m already eating more calories (even the healthy ones on my noncheat days) and more HIIT (I already do 2-3 days a week depending on when I can fit in the time as Feb is going to be a crazy month for me), I cannot foresee further fat loss. However, I’m not the expert so if you recommend this in my case, I’ll try it.

Problem is how long of HIIT training to reach burning 300 calories? For my HIIT training, I either rotate 20 sec on and 10 sec off or 31 sec on and 29 sec off (rotate some of : Holly Rigsby stuff, your stuff, Vince stuff, Craig’s TT or KB/BW stuff).

Please advise.

Agree with your comments, but what about the type of exercise being performed? Surely it depends on what type of exercise is being performed to maximise the amount of fat calories being burned?