0:01
eating the foods that you love and
0:03
losing weight at the same time
0:05
but is it actually possible let's talk
0:09
how's it going guys my name is richie
0:11
kirwan and today we're going to talk
0:12
about how making sure you eat some of
0:15
your favorite foods is probably a good
0:16
idea if you're trying to lose weight
0:18
even if they're foods people don't think
0:21
go hand in hand with weight loss i just
0:23
want to point out that i'm not
0:24
recommending any particular diet what i
0:26
am going to do is explain why including
0:27
certain foods can have benefits for
0:30
people trying to stick to a weight loss
0:31
diet let's get started ice cream pizza
0:34
chocolate they're some of the most
0:36
delicious foods known to humankind but
0:39
none of them are things people would
0:41
expect to see regularly on a diet right
0:43
probably because they contain the two
0:45
most scary ingredients of the modern
0:47
dieter fat and sugar in many people's
0:50
minds fat and sugar don't lead to a lean
0:52
physique right if you want to lose
0:54
weight you shouldn't even let things
0:56
like ice cream touch your lips and you
0:57
should only be eating whole clean foods
1:00
whatever that means right you see this
1:02
is a pretty big problem in nutrition
1:04
people feel the only way they can lose
1:06
weight is by being super strict and
1:08
sticking to what they consider to be
1:10
diet foods this often makes people feel
1:12
super restricted and they eventually end
1:14
up giving in to cravings and eating huge
1:17
amounts of the foods they couldn't have
1:18
before and then feeling pretty crappy
1:20
about themselves after but is there a
1:22
better way let's look at this the only
1:24
way that makes sense through science to
1:26
make things easier to understand let's
1:28
imagine a situation where a pair of
1:30
identical twins are both trying to lose
1:32
weight now let's imagine that to
1:34
maintain body weight both of these guys
1:36
need to eat 2 500 calories a day which
1:38
conveniently enough is the recommended
1:40
daily calories for the average adult man
1:42
also let's give these guys some names
1:43
because it doesn't seem right to call
1:45
them the twins let's call them bobby
1:48
bobby one and bobby too now if you've
1:50
watched a few of my videos you'll know
1:52
that for someone to lose weight at the
1:53
very least they need a calorie deficit
1:55
and if that's news to you check out my
1:57
video on calorie deficits now
1:59
let's get to the ice cream we decided
2:01
that we're going to put both of the
2:01
bobbies into a calorie deficit of 200
2:04
calories below their maintenance
2:06
calories per day 2 500 minus 200 works
2:10
300 calories per day for the bodies
2:12
which will lead to some nice steady
2:14
manageable weight loss which is by the
2:17
way how it should be done folks but
2:19
we're going to get a little weird
2:20
imagine we put bobby number one on the
2:22
ice cream diet which he followed
2:24
diligently because puppy number one
2:26
loves ice cream basically bobby eats all
2:28
of his calories as ice cream which works
2:30
out at about two pint tubs of ice cream
2:32
per day bobby number two on the other
2:34
hand followed a very similar but also
2:36
very different diet we forced him to eat
2:39
nothing but bananas and avocados because
2:43
super healthy clean foods that people
2:46
associate with a healthy diet so that
2:48
works out at about five avocados and a
2:50
little over eight bananas a day now
2:52
you're probably wondering how is this
2:54
apparently healthy whole food
2:56
plant-based diet of avocados and bananas
2:58
similar to a clearly unhealthy diet of
3:01
incredibly fattening ice cream from
3:02
outward appearances and in terms of food
3:04
choices the two bobby's diets look
3:07
completely different but
3:09
in terms of macronutrients they are
3:11
surprisingly similar and we can see this
3:13
if we look at the macronutrient
3:15
breakdown of both diets right here as
3:17
you can see the calorie and
3:18
macronutrient content of the diets are
3:20
pretty damn similar not identical but
3:23
enough to explain this now
3:25
if we observed the two bobbies over the
3:27
course of say two weeks
3:29
who do you think would lose more weight
3:31
if you said bobby number two following
3:33
the ban avocado diet you're wrong and if
3:35
you said bobby number one you're also
3:37
wrong you see the truth is on identical
3:39
calories and macros over that amount of
3:41
time the amount of weight lost would be
3:44
pretty damn similar now there are some
3:46
definite differences but we definitely
3:48
won't have time to talk about all of
3:49
them in this video but let's get back to
3:50
the bobbies now a lot of people will
3:52
think that what i've just said is
3:54
madness because most people think ice
3:55
cream is something that should be
3:57
seriously limited or eliminated from our
4:00
diets whereas avocados and bananas are
4:02
healthy clean foods that should be
4:04
included in reality we have plenty of
4:06
good evidence that shows time and time
4:08
again that diets that are matched for
4:10
calories or macronutrients end up with
4:13
similar levels of weight loss regardless
4:16
of the specific foods consumed so should
4:19
we all follow the ice cream diet
4:21
absolutely not in fact you shouldn't
4:23
follow either of the two diets i've just
4:25
described because neither is well
4:27
balanced and you'd end up suffering from
4:29
some form of nutrient deficiency sooner
4:31
or later with either of the diets and
4:33
the amount of protein in both of them is
4:35
pitiful so you can say goodbye to any of
4:37
your gains but what if we created a much
4:40
more balanced diet that had the same
4:42
calorie deficit to allow for weight loss
4:44
but actively tried to include everything
4:47
a healthy diet should have like adequate
4:49
protein to allow for better maintenance
4:51
of muscle mass a wide variety of foods
4:53
including plenty of nutrient-dense fruit
4:55
vegetables whole grains and legumes
4:57
providing a wide array of vitamins
4:59
minerals and fiber and which allow for a
5:01
greater volume of food and greater
5:02
satiety and after all those health
5:04
promoting foods have been included why
5:06
not use up some of the leftover calories
5:08
to include some ice cream which brings
5:10
us back to the ice cream why is it so
5:12
important well it is and it isn't i've
5:15
already mentioned that the biggest
5:16
driver of weight loss is a calorie
5:18
deficit but the single most important
5:21
factor for weight loss success
5:23
is consistency the ability to maintain a
5:26
diet long term you can lose weight on a
5:28
multitude of different diets but if you
5:30
can't maintain that diet for whatever
5:32
reason you'll simply gain all the weight
5:34
back in that's why so many extreme or
5:37
fad diets work so well initially people
5:40
lose a lot of weight due to the initial
5:42
calorie deficit but eventually give up
5:44
because it's so strict and their food
5:45
choices are so limited and they finally
5:48
end up in a gutter somewhere with
5:49
chocolate all over their face a half
5:50
eaten pizza slice in one hand and a jar
5:52
nutella on the other nobody wants that
5:54
neither bobby number ones nor bobby
5:56
number two's test dies or sustainable no
5:58
matter how clean a food is supposed to
6:00
be i genuinely hate the word clean food
6:04
by the way it's total
6:06
if you're stuck eating the same limited
6:08
food every day you'll get bored feel
6:10
restricted and eventually give in to
6:12
your cravings however
6:14
if your diet is unrestricted in terms of
6:16
what you can eat provided you're
6:18
including all the nutritious foods you
6:19
need to stay healthy and it allows you
6:21
to enjoy some of your favorite foods in
6:23
moderation then that diet becomes much
6:25
more sustainable in the long term this
6:27
is why flexible dieting approaches that
6:29
allow people to eat a wide variety of
6:31
foods have been shown to not only lead
6:33
to an improved relationship with food
6:35
you don't fear certain foods because you
6:36
think they'll cause you to gain weight
6:38
but also lead to more successful
6:40
sustainable diets long term like i said
6:42
bobby number one loves ice cream no
6:44
matter how healthy or well balanced the
6:46
diet i put him on if bobby can't stick
6:48
to it because he can't eat some of his
6:49
favorite foods and he's miserable all
6:52
and it's pointless but
6:54
if he can also have some of the foods he
6:56
loves ice cream or pizza
6:58
then his diet becomes a whole lot more
7:00
sustainable i'm by no means saying that
7:03
you have to eat ice cream nor am i
7:05
saying that ice cream is an essential
7:06
part of a healthy diet i'm saying that
7:10
have some especially if it helps you
7:12
stick to a healthy eating plan overall
7:14
and in the long run basically you don't
7:16
have to think of your diet in terms of
7:18
black and white it doesn't have to be
7:19
all or nothing clean or dirty perfect or
7:22
a failure to live a sustainably healthy
7:24
life everything you consume doesn't need
7:27
to be organic vegan whole grain or made
7:30
with unicorn tears if eating a little of
7:32
the foods you love makes your otherwise
7:34
perfect diet more sustainable then do it
7:37
and be happy knowing that the greater
7:39
consistency you achieve in your diet is
7:41
making you more successful than any fad
7:44
diet in existence i hope that helps you
7:46
realize that you don't need to restrict
7:48
yourself and be miserable when dieting
7:51
as always if you have any questions let
7:52
me know in the comments below and
7:53
remember to like and subscribe to the my
7:55
protein youtube channel for more great
7:57
evidence-based nutrition information