IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER!!! (Please Read).....I am NOT advocating this as a weight loss strategy for others. This was for my own information/research purposes only, testing the metabolic adaptations that might occur on an extreme calorie deficit (emphasis on extreme). This is not intended to be weight loss advice. Although there are some interesting takeaways from this experiment, there are many unanswered questions that require further testing.
Although a deficit is crucial for fat loss, no matter what type of nutrition strategy you’re following, a more moderate approach is always going to be a healthier and better long term strategy. Even though there were no negative effects for me personally, please keep in mind that this was just a very short period of time (3 weeks) and I am making no claim as to what would happen over a longer period of time. This was part of the conversation in the original video, but for the sake of editing a 45 minute video down into a shorter overview, many important details like this were unfortunately omitted.
I am also NOT ADVOCATING the use of meal shakes only, or a liquid diet, as a good nutrition strategy. Again, this was for research purposes only, for the sake of simplicity, convenience and ensuring that calories and macros were exact from day to day. Good high-quality whole foods are always going to be your best option.
I also want to say that the information, views and opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Nova Southeastern University, its staff or students.
Lastly, before starting any exercise or weight loss strategy it’s advisable to first consult with your physician.
On a separate note, I’ve had quite a few people ask about the shake I was drinking. You can find the macro profiles here :www.amazon.com/stores/Undersu...
This shake is produced by Undersun Fitness, a health and wellness brand that I helped create. We formulated the shakes to provide a balance of both macro and micro nutrients.
Now, on to the video….When most people think fat loss, or weight loss, the first thing that comes to mind is working out more, and doing more cardio, to create a calorie deficit. The purpose of this experiment was to test the opposite: to see how much fat you can lose in a short period of time with no cardio and only short 15-minute total body workouts, 3 days/week - generating most of the fat burning from a calorie deficit and not exercise.
To do this correctly I got the help of my good friend Dr Jose Antonio at the Exercise and Sport Science Lab at Nova Southeastern University. There we did body composition testing to measure body fat percentage, total fat mass, water weight, and bone density. We also did BMR (basal metabolic rate) also known as RMR (resting metabolic rate) testing to see how many calories I burned at rest. This process was repeated several times to track progress and any metabolic adaptations, or changes to my metabolism.
Typically when a person diets, their metabolism slows as a result of the drop in body mass. With severe restrictions there can also be a loss in lean muscle mass, also known as catabolism (or being catabolic). Not only are you losing hard earned muscle, but lean muscle has a significant contribution to your metabolism. In other words, losing muscle makes it harder to lose fat. This metabolic adaptation can even potentially cause a rebound after a diet, resulting in even more weight being put back on.
The nutrition plan or "diet" that I followed was what's called a VLCAL diet or "Very Low Calorie" diet, which typically is 1,100 calories or less a day. This is only 1/3 of my maintenance calories (3,300) so the big question was how much of the weight loss would come from fat versus muscle, and what kind of changes would I see in my metabolism.
So, how much fat can you lose in a short period of time, without much exercise, and without adverse consequences?