The Maintenance Phase Podcast Denies the Reality of Calories...

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[@emiiii]

It’s very telling how they describe maintaining a healthy weight as “continued calorie restriction and a lot more exercise”. It’s not restriction; it’s just eating the appropriate amount that is healthy for you.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

I think they think any and all restriction is always bad. It’s truly an insane mindset… one that admittedly I used to have when I was younger.

[@shiina29]

What are they talking about? No one is going around saying you’re going to lose exactly one pound if you eat exactly 3,500 calories anymore. And that’s the only thing they’re ‘debunking.’

[@kt_bug]

i’m just kind of baffled by the idea that “it’s difficult to do and can be complicated” somehow translates into “impossible, shouldn’t be bothered with, bad medicine” for them. i’ve liked michael hobbes for some of his social critiques and deep dives on other podcasts, but i think he’s out of his depth on science topics and it’s disappointing to see his lack of nuance here. makes me want to re-evaluate his old stuff.

[@jacnone]

this exactly! this primarily is where i become confused with their reasoning xD

[@GraphicallyAlex]

I think he just capitulates to Aubrey on this podcast. He sees her as the “fat expert.” I am honestly not familiar with any of his other work, I only know of him from this but this podcast is definitely a trip lol.

[@scarlet12234]

If calories didn't matter I wouldn't have lost 108 lbs by counting calories. And I wouldn't have gained 10lbs back because I know damn well I'm eating more calories than I should be. Pregnancy has contributed a bit but I'm also for sure eating more than I need to.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

They act like you can’t personalize your goals lmao

[@arthurapage]

*Results may vary*

[@noah1502]

the idea any restriction being bad is just not healthy. if restricting anything isnt good for us then why do we restrict alcohol, drugs, harmful behaviors, murder, self harm etc? its insane to think that any control of your own choices is harmful… like choosing to exercise or not, like choosing any beneficial behavior over harmful behavior

[@shiina29]

1:03:00 This is infuriating. They spent a ton of time talking about some true but irrelevant stuff (weight loss is complicated) and then just went straight in to: weight loss of literally impossible and there isn’t a single person who’s ever lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off. Holy s¥1t!!

[@pegasos1986]

Alcohol definitely played a central role in my weight gain. (In addition to the calories of alcohol itself and the other calories in alcoholic beverages, being drunk also makes it more likely that one make not-so-sound food choices.) For me, it was not a full-blown addiction but a very bad habit that I am in the process of kicking. I am within 10 lbs of my normal BMI weight range now - the lightest I have been in more than 10 years.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

Yes I would say alcohol and weight loss do not mix. I have seen so many that are “keto” drink like fishes and they never make any progress. It definitely has an effect from many different angles. I personally would not recommend any SMO or MO person drink with any kind of frequency, we are far too unhealthy to handle it imo, but I will have a drink again one day haha.

[@vlnow]

If you are a man, booze can f up your hormones. I think thats the real effect that causes weight gain. I say this as someone who has long periods of drinking in my life, and have tried several diets. Plus booze makes somw peoplw lazy

[@derp195]

Same! I quit drinking and lost a bunch of weight. A couple people were really worried about me. They thought I was losing an unhealthy amount of weight, and I'm like "drinking a ton of wine wasn't keeping my healthy. This is just what my body wants to do when I'm drinking water."

[@MaterialMenteNo]

12:42 Both Nutella and F-ism are from Italy, there are even dates for that. What the heck were they talking about? 😧

[@jacnone]

i’ve been waiting for someone to cover this episode and maintenance phase in general… they drive me crazy mostly because of the rampant misinformation! but also they laugh at their own jokes SO HARD and SO LOUD lmao i’ve never met anyone who cackles at their own shit so much xD

[@pegasos1986]

I agree. They are obnoxious.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

Lmao yes it’s so EXTRA 🤣

[@AntoniaG1991]

It's also extremely jarring when listening with earphones lol

[@jacnone]

@@AntoniaG1991 omg yeah, i was listening to them at work the other day and instinctually yanked my earbuds out of my ears haha if i listen to them now i make sure to do so quietly!

[@MrC0MPUT3R]

I listen to this podcast on bike rides because it enrages me and makes my ride soooo much better 😆😭 I am not overweight or obese myself, but I do have goals with my body weight that I try to attain. Calorie counting is literally the BEST way I have come across in 10 years of doing this shit. The father is morbidly obese, to the point that it's severely affecting his health right-fucking-now, and my brother is following swiftly in his footsteps. I try my best to give them sound, actionable advice, but people like this are doing their absolute best to poison the well. Not to mention I also have a good number of friends who are actively having health problems due to their weight. It's not that I want everyone to be stick-thin models. I want them to stop spouting disinformation that's literally killing my loved ones. Please and thank you.

[@vlnow]

No one ever talks about stress and mental state and its contribution to weight gain and weight loss. Its a huge part of the bigger picture

[@vlnow]

In my case, i see my bodies health as a mirror to my mental health. When im in good shape its kind of because my mind is good. Its a chicken and egg thing for sure, but when my mind is good im not binge eating, i have energy to excersise, i dont get smashed as often, i eat better, my stress is low etc.

[@carolineweaver343]

I also resent the fact that they think there’s a “set point” you are entitled to. No shit you have to keep restricting calories and exercise ! The reason I’ve always been thin is because I’ve never stopped eating right and always prioritized exercise.

[@huntedbystingrays371]

Ohh boy, I sure do love morning cringe. It's more pro-thyroid than coffee

[@GraphicallyAlex]

Hahaha

[@vlnow]

Is coffee good or bad ? Ive got a problem. Like if i go and buy a takeaway coffee i buy 4. All for me.

[@vlnow]

Coffees are likely not as big here compared to usa. Maybe my 4 is like 2 in the usa

[@violet5610]

You are looking amazing!! And i have a video to watch during my coffee!!

[@GraphicallyAlex]

❤

[@marisashinal6263]

1:01:28 The thing about Ghrelin (the hormone that makes you hungry) is that those with excess weight actually produce less of it because the person’s body is extremely sensitized to it. If you eat every single time you’re hungry, less ghrelin is required to initiate an eating response. Saying that a person’s amount of Ghrelin influences their calorie intake is misleading, because by eating appropriate amounts of food for your activity levels, goals, and size, your Ghrelin production responds proportionally.

[@carolineweaver343]

They’re so frustrating! Arguing so they can give up

[@Shutt1ngupn03]

A better basketball analogy would be a person asking "how do you get good at basketball" the answer being "practice" Sure some people are naturally taller or they learn faster or they come from a family of elite basketball players. So they have the advantage, maybe you will never be as great a basketball player who has all those skills and advantages BUT the best and most practical advice is still to practice to improve and advance. That is the thing you can effect change on. Same with weight loss. CICO. Eat fewer calories than energy you expend. There are healthy and unhealthy, efficient and inefficient ways to do it. just as there are unhealthy/inefficient ways to practice.

[@Andrew_O]

CICO isn't just some abstraction nor is it like basketball either. There isn't another team fighting against you. If you aren't being consistent then you're inviting more room for error. Time to get honest with ourselves....

[@TheNationalfilmbored]

I'm stopping right at the part about the scientific definition of a calorie, because there's a detail in there (one of many I've heard in this podcast) that demonstrates Aubrey's weak grasp of science. She says a calorie is based on an increase in temperature of water *at sea level*, because water has different boiling points depending on altitude. ANY SUBSTANCE HAS THE SAME SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY EVERYWHERE. In other words, the boiling point of water has nothing to do with how much energy is required to heat of x amount of water by y degrees, which is the same at any altitude. Google is your friend, Aubrey. Use it before you run your mouth.

[@kathrynyoung3362]

I wasn’t fat when I started listening to maintenance phases and I gained about 30 lbs in two years because I started to believe their bullshit. I stopped paying attention to what I ate and avoided thinking about how much I ate… bad idea 👎

[@dismurrart6648]

Oh man, idk if you mention it, I'm 5 seconds in. But there's a book called why calories don't count by Dr Giles yeo. Tldr eat right and exercise, here's how we got to now, here's some cool genetic aspects that contribute to stuff like hunger. Aubrey very clearly read half the book, realized it didn't say what she wanted it to, then cherry picked stuff. Iirc, she even presented the info in the same order. If you ever do the Michael pollan ep of mp, my favorite part is she says "I will NEVER shop at whole foods....if I can avoid it." The level of class it takes to be in a position to "need" to shop at whole foods, also means you can avoid it if that matters to you.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

Lmao! You guys kill me on the Aubrey info. 🤭🤣

[@Andrew_O]

25:19 "They don't understand why people can't maintain a deficit." I see an issue with that framing. It's not a question of "can't", it's that they "don't". People want the results but they make choices that "don't" align with it. The scales aren't getting balanced and that is almost always a choice and they are the one's responsible. Everything else is an excuse for a "won't", not a justification of a "can't"

[@GraphicallyAlex]

By that standard, if someone only eats 1500 calories of chips and cannot maintain that deficit because their body is lacking nutrition, it would just be “they won’t.” By all means, continuing in this mindset will perpetuate the issue. Most of these FAs have tried to lose weight. Some have lost more than you likely ever have, but their are biological mechanisms that kick in, if you do it wrong.

[@lisaking.goalking]

People struggling with maintaining a deficit have likely lacked the proper education on how to eat nutritionally in a way that will help them lose weight. The American dietary recommendations are also crap and so lots of Obese people have been led down a nutritionally deficient road by their own government. So they give up. The best way to help people is education on how to eat healthily first, lose weight second. Bringing up lack of willpower doesn't help. Providing an easy to follow pathway is best if we actually want to make a difference in Obese people's lives. So glad Alex is leading by example to show how that pathway is possible.

[@Andrew_O]

@@GraphicallyAlex Your example would be akin to a "fad diet". Technically it'd work but there would be consequences over time and is obviously a "bad" way to get there and not what I advocate. This is what we expect when we hear so many FA's say "I tried dozens of diets before age 20" like FatFabFeminist and HannahTalksBodies have described. They did "lifestyle change" wrong. Their impediments are psychological as they have each attested and need to be addressed separately, but the physics still apply.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

@@Andrew_O yes it’s just that CICO is not the be all end all, although OF COURSE calories matter. Haha.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

@@lisaking.goalking 💯💯 and thank you!

[@gypsylee333]

Apparently this Aubrey chick has some new book out a lot of tiktokers are gushing over 🙄

[@GraphicallyAlex]

Oh goodness, I should look into this.

[@gypsylee333]

@@GraphicallyAlex yes I will watch if you do! Thanks for continuing covering this podcast though, I'm loving it :) honestly, I know it might be too much drama but I would also like to hear your opinions on the radical side of the LGBT community that acts exactly like these fat earthers, fatsapphicbro types that are usually not LGB but the TQIA+ ones. I've been seeing a lot of channels lately with gay creators speaking out on the extremists and they're blowing up in a good way. But it's kinda random for your channel and controversial so I understand if you don't want to. I feel like those types are dragging everyone else down that is normal. I've tried to be an ally to LGBT but now that the extremists call any mild criticism transphobic Nazi murderers and are trying to take away everything women have fought for to soothe their giant egos and only a handful of LGBT are being allies back to women, but women were LGBTs biggest allies... It just hurts. Like for example they want to take away Mother's Day because it's not gender neutral and just make one "Parents Day".

[@sugaree71]

Yikes. Hope you feel better soon; had bimonthly hormonal migraines for almost a decade until menopause. You should get combat pay for doing this!! ;)

[@GraphicallyAlex]

Hahaha Omg when they would irritate me it would get so much worse. I honestly was struggling while filming this 🤣 I have had hormonal migraines throughout this journey a lot. Cannot wait to be at a healthier level.

[@rubenluevano1997]

Wow, great video. Subscribed

[@vlnow]

500 views in the first day for a long form video is proper good. You are building a solis follower base. But you should do another Hunter guesting, or similar sized livestreamer, i reckon. Coz the last one was funny and put you on the map

[@expensivepink7]

I’m nervous and excited all at once I know it’s gonna be a trip for what they say😂

[@GraphicallyAlex]

It certainly was 😂

[@Andrew_O]

30:02 "You're constantly eating food". Correct! Your body is not putting out enough energy for what is entering your body to actually maintaining a deficit! Accidentally right even as they are wrong....

[@dismurrart6648]

My beef with people on both sides of "its cico bro" is that they both have bad conclusions. Cico is absolutely true. And even if you could breathe in calories, thats still matter coming into a system. The problem with cico is we can all factor pretty well how much we eat if we try and know what we're doing. We can't know on the day to day how many calories we expended. Its like you say, you have to watch over a couple weeks or a month. Ive managed to lose 2 lbs a week for multiple months at a time at 1600, 1800, 2200, and 2400. All of those were in the same years timespan. The difference was how i felt, and daily activity. My deficit was the same even though my calories weren't. Cico didn't stop being true. Its kinda like painting something with color changing paint. You won't know until the paint dries if that color works. The other side concludes its pointless. Why paint if i won't know the precise shade of brown. But thats the wrong conclusion. In reality you should still calorie count, plus learn how to check in with your body. Eat more protein and fiber, more natural foods, get some exercise. Eventually you'll figure it out but you can't if you don't try.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

Yes it’s a very individualized approach. It takes radical honesty with yourself and accountability and responsibility for what you are eating and your workouts. Part of the way my hormones have healed is that I am more disciplined and less hungry.. the two ingredients needed to sustain a weight loss process. I never thought I would ever be able to be the way I am now. It’s kind of insane lmao.

[@dismurrart6648]

@GraphicallyAlex one of the biggest things for me was realizing that, even if a processed 200 calories was only 200 calories, some aspect of it makes weight loss harder. We both know a lot of reasons why, but either way, cutting back severely on processed foods was a huge boost.

[@dominiquewild3823]

Congratulations on the lack of moon face 🌝 ❤

[@GraphicallyAlex]

Ty

[@moonikamaarja5657]

@GraphicallyAlex; You may have thyamine deficiency.B1 vitamin.

[@vlnow]

Im almost certain that 90% of the effectiveness of excersise and movement for weight loss has nothing to do with calories burned and all about how exercise gets your body and hormones etc back into a good balance. Like turning over an engine that has sat unused for a while. Calories in might be a bit important i guess, but caloroiries out is not so. The benefit is the effect movement and exercise has on the body and mind. Prove me wrong

[@vlnow]

Calories out just shows that you exercised. Its the movement and exercise that helps the metabolism get right, not the actual calories burned. In my opinion. But yeah, if you starve you will lose weight. Not good though

[@LindseyBean]

Love your videos. I had no idea about seed oils until I watched your videos. Now I look at the majority of store bought food and I’m shocked to see so many seed oils in food you wouldn’t think necessary to add that too.

[@GraphicallyAlex]

This means so much to me. I’m so glad you are seeing it.

[@LindseyBean]

@@GraphicallyAlex thanks for all the work you do. Love the channel!