📩 Contact us: talkingwithdocs@gmail.com
A nutrition professor made headlines after losing about 27 pounds while eating mostly junk food like Twinkies for 10 weeks. Sounds impossible, but there is real science behind it.
In this episode, the doctors break down why weight loss comes down to calories in versus calories out, based on the laws of thermodynamics. Food quality absolutely matters for health, energy, and long-term success, but without a true calorie deficit, weight loss simply does not happen.
We explain how this experiment worked, what it proves, and why it does not mean junk food is a healthy strategy, even if the scale goes down.
You’ll learn:
– Why calorie deficit drives weight loss regardless of food type
– How the laws of thermodynamics apply to body weight
– Why food quality still matters for health and sustainability
– The difference between short-term weight loss and long-term health
– What people often misunderstand about “junk food diets”
– If you are confused by mixed messages about dieting, clean eating, and calories, this episode helps separate weight loss science from nutrition myths.
🎧 Listen on Your Favourite Platforms:
Spotify:
Apple Podcast:
YouTube Music: • TWD Podcast
👕 Shop Our MERCH:
❤️ Support Oakville Hospital:
📱 Follow Us:
TikTok:
Instagram:
Facebook:
🛑 DISCLAIMER:
This content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor before making changes to your diet or lifestyle. Full disclaimer at talkingwithdocs.com.
#weightloss #caloriedeficit #nutritionmyths #dietscience #fatloss #caloriesinout #healthynutrition #weightlossfacts #talkingwithdocs
source
I lost 97 pounds from
Eggs , chicken, fish , and potatoes
Nothing else
I even went above maintenance sometimes and tracked no macros
Just a small calorie deficit and surplus around 300 minus and 100 plus .
Took 2 years though but i lost almost no muscle
Two important considerations:
First, your muscles are “metabolically active”, which is to say using the large muscles in your body soon after a meal will convert some of what you just ate into energy, thereby reducing your weight gain. Timing your exercise after a meal is very beneficial.
Second, the visceral fat in your gut is also metabolically active, so eating more than you need means that fat will scoop up the excess intake and convert it to fat, ostensibly to be used in the big hunt(which we all know is not going to happen!). So you should aim to reduce your visceral fat which you can do by maintaining a calorie deficit over a period of time.
Good luck!
Also, I'm glad you touched upon the exercise dynamic in this discussion as far as calorie burning goes. The fact of the matter is dieting is much more effective than physical exercise in weight loss. That's not to say that exercise doesn't play a factor or that you shouldn't exercise for overall health.
But think of it this way:
Let's say I eat two plain donuts, that's about 300 calories a piece. Do you have any idea how much exercise you would have to do to burn those 600 calories!? You'd have to run outside (not on a treadmill) about 5 miles. At a medium pace, that's going to take you well over an hour even if you don't stop to catch your breath.
That's a shitload of work! Do you have the time or energy to do that every single time you need to burn off those two extra donuts? Isn't it easier to just not eat them in the first place?
Case in point, it's almost impossible to "outrun" too many calories. There's nothing wrong with exercise to push yourself a little further into a calorie deficit, but the diet portion is much much easier.
Yes, a calorie deficit is not only the number one most important factor in losing weight / body fat, but the one that is absolutely 100% positively necessary.
The people who claim that "you can eat as many calories as you want as long as you don't eat any carbs / sugar" are the morons who simply can't help but gorge themselves. These are the people with very low self-discipline who want to delusionally believe that they can still make pigs out of themselves as long as they change the ratios of what they eat.
This is absolutely unrealistic and unfathomable. They just don't want to hear that you have to actually eat less total food / calories because then they won't be able to make grotesque beasts out of themselves. They can't help themselves.
They want to be able to eat 10 burger patties and 4 lb of bacon a day as long as they don't eat a piece of a single bun. This is just not reality and I'm so very sorry to break it to you. Not only will you get enormously fat from that, but you're probably going to need a quadruple bypass.
It's very simple math, you will gain weight in a calorie surplus regardless of what type of calories you eat, and you will lose weight in a calorie deficit regardless of what type of calories you eat.
Yes, I realize that not all calories are created equal, there are proteins, carbs, and fats, and they are three categories because there are differences. Otherwise they would just be called calories.
But what they all have in common is that an excess of one, two, or all three of them, can and will make you fat/gain weight.
I went from 218 lb with a size 38 waist down to 152 lb with a 30 inch waist simply by eating less calories. I had two slices of pizza and a diet soda instead of six slices and a regular soda….. basic shit like that.
I still ate cookies, cakes, ice cream, and donuts, I just kept my total calories every day about 500 below my maintenance level. And I lost weight, and I can name countless other people who have.
I don't want to hear bitching and complaining about insulin this and ketosis that, yes it is harder to lose weight when you're insulin is triggered/elevated if you're one of those people, but you still will even if it's at a slower pace.
It would help to know how many calories create/or lose a pound….3,500. divide by 7 days….it's math.
Did you just say that if he did need a vegetable or can of peas he would die discuss the information so bogus
The problem is is we’re not calorimeterS
I spent this first week of losing weight trying to set habits – walking 10k steps (about 8.5km for me) a day and eating healthier. I did the maths and found out my basal metabolic rate is 1600 and with the 10k steps a day I'm burning about 2000 calories a day not including digestion and minor activities throughout the day. This is going to be rough
❤ it is so true
I finally lost weight by #1 being honest with myself. Tracking calories. Eating in deficit for 12 months. And lost 80 pounds! Great video
Two items missed.
1st, labels can be off by 25%. I did my own n1 test on dropping sugar & I kept (100) cal daily deficit. Dropping sugar doesn't loss weight as one MD & researcher mentioned do to his bias so always test don't just believe. If you have a deficit & as I added same weight back so it appears that labels during 2024 were off about 7%. Having a deficit of (250) cals works well long term. Don't rush the process change your choices one item & one gram at a time.
Most people do underestimate the amount they eat out, these programs for picking foods are >80% off so add the 1st entry manually.
Exampke, if you order a large pizza 🍕 & wieght them at home, I had a range of of weight between 25oz to 50oz & the 25oz cost more. Weight comes mostly from more cheese in most cases. Cheese = more saturated fats bad for heart healthy LDL & more carbs = more water gain. I now make my own healthier pizza at home & control all ingredients to hit my nutrition goals. Just two oz of cheese gives you the same flavor of 8oz, I even grate my cheese now, my only dislike, saves cals but as you reduce cals know what you miss. My calcium levels dropped so I added a bit back. As far as my sugar I'm now at <24g of total sugar daily & just 4g added. My macros are on goal 33% carbs, 50% fat & 17% proteins with 100g max goal on protein.
2nd most of my markers are now optimal from the carb & sugar drop rolling them back to age 28.5 now for the past two years & I'll be 65 soon so thats 36 years as my markers were creeping up but still in range or just over at times. So always stay optimal & get aggressive once off the mark!
If you turn your nutrition as a game, as a science experiment, you'll keep doing it for the knowledge. Your blood work is the report card! When you see your results youll continue the quest for health & longevity. 🍀
Didn’t Pen of Pen and Teller ate only potatoes.😂
Love this video. I’ve been on my own journey for 3 months now and I am 32lbs lighter. I cannot explain how better I feel rn. I started with tiny habits… like more water, short walks, less snacks. I also started with gym, for first time in my life xd I took meal plan Dietornia and that’s when it got serious. I lost 32 lbs so far. I messed up many days, not gonna lie, but I kept going. If someone needs structure, that site really helped me.
I stopped eating SAD and went WFPB and lost 40 pounds without counting calories.
Absolutely the best! Always believed that where the calories came from, carbs vs protein, made THE difference, not calories in calories out. Is this not why the keto diet works…but the keto Twinkie diet would work also. Blown away! Unfortunately this may have an impact on my consumption of red wine and chips. 😔
Crazy diet… After botched prostate cancer removal surgery. I had to have life saving emergency surgery. Anyway, ICU on a diet into my nose etc, in a bag of what looks like cotton wool. I lost 12 kgs. Despite not being overweight! I was 91 kgs 1,90 metres high down to 79!
Milkshake diet. Makes you feel full. When you need some "happy food" to cure the blues. You can still count calories, and watch your fingernails grow. 🙂
Loved the diabetes talk and actually how keto work ( not) –
@ 800-1000 kCal, I maintain weight at best.
Any MORE I GAIN.
@ that avg daily of 800, I lost 65 lbs in 18 mos.
Two 6-month courses of tirzepatide enabled me to do this.
65 yo male…good health.
thanks guys
Dr Brad, I've just seen a reel which came up on my YouTube feed from a channel called 'NourishNest Health'. It looks very much like an AI copy of you. I don't know if you are aware, but you may want to check it out if not. I love your 'Talking with Docs' channel.
How do I loose fat with the calorie deficit method, without losing muscle also?
I lost 25 lbs in three weeks just eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and water with electrolytes. The bread was always toasted and each slice was about 70 calories. On occasion I would have tea with sugar. Also I had covid and in alot of pain in my hip that the doctors told me it was mild arthritis. Then I was offered a hip replacement. I regained ten pounds from the horrible hospital food I had for over two weeks and although my mri showed a torn meniscus from a bad fall I had before the surgery…9 months before the mri, my VA surgeon said I dont…so Im hoping not to gain any more weight. No junk food on a vegan diet since 1989 and I just started with a protein shake in the morning, pasta with homemade sauce for lunch and tofu for dinner.
Sixteen years ago, after contracting my 5th cold in just 10 months, I radically changed my life, including adopting a plant-based diet. Over the next 3 months, I lost 25 pounds (11.4kg). I ate no meat, very little dairy, no eggs, very little bread, and a TON of legumes, veggies and nuts. I also adopted a rigid sleep hygiene schedule. Today, I weigh exactly what I did after losing the weight. I was already physically active, so I didn't need to increase it. I also watch where I touch, never use a public pen, and have not had a flu or cold since Dec. 2010 (also, no covid).
In 2009 I read Eat Fat Get Thin by Dr Mark Hymen. It's basically 70% vegetables and 30% meat. I was told I can eat as much as I want as long as my carbs stay under 20. I was 238 lbs at that time and my Dr's have always told me to lose weight. I had tried the 900 calorie diet, grapefruit, etc.. As a truck driver it was easy to do as I could snack on boiled eggs, 100% grass fed and finished beef sticks, brussel sprouts, broccoli, etc.. Any truck stop I could get a hamburger without the bun and dressings. Or go to a buffet and eat as much baked fish as I wanted. I didn't count calories at all, but I was eating whenever I was hungry. It's the easiest way of eating I have ever used. I got down to 142 lbs but then, for the first time in my life my Dr told me to gain weight. I went to 50 grams of carbs a day and now I stay around 160 lbs.
I found , and continue to find it easy. At Thanksgiving with my family I eat whatever my family makes. I did put on 15 lbs in my 10 day visit. When I got home I went back to 20 carbs, and also incorporated a form of intermittent fasting. I stop eating at 20:00 and don't eat breakfast until at least 08:00. If I'm not hungry I don't eat breakfast until I am. So sometimes it's a 12 hour fast, at others it could be the 14 hour fast that they recommend. But I don't allow it to be law, or a burden, if I'm hungry at 08:00, I will start making breakfast. In under 1 month, back on my lifestyle of eating my way, I was back down to 159 lbs. It's the only thing I found that works, and it's so nice to hear a Dr say that you need to put on more weight. But the last time she was just mean, she added the phrase, "at your age" 😡. She said the "elderly" could carry a few extra pounds. That's just cruel, I hope you Dr's don't do that to your patients, both at your age and elderly in one visit. In my mind, I'm still 25 😆
The best way to be thin and healthy is to eat organic foods and stay away from all junk foods and sugar. Meats should be grass fed…eggs should be pasture raised and free range, vegetables should be high quality and organic. I am 80 – was hit by a car last year and got a concussion. It has taken a long time to heal. I am pretty well now, except I sometimes have insomnia. I eat a healthier diet than most people do. I grow a lot of my own vegetables. I used to have 3 chickens who were free ranged and ate their natural diet of bugs worm's and weeds. Those girls produced enough high quality eggs to feed about 15 people a day. It is around Christmas time that I go off my usual diet and eat sugary stuff. I do get back on it in January.
All the best for you
Amazing video
So useful , I enjoyed watching this
Mr. Joule might be pleased if he was called a Megajoule because we deal with energy on this scale typically. Except in America where they eat British thermal units. In the case of a man the "inefficiency' is not a waste becasue we need heat to live. It seems that the body could be minimally changed to make more heat for winter like now.
I have found that if I don't maintain a balanced diet, my food cravings go through the roof and the weight loss fails because I can't keep to the diet. As a small person, my calorie intake needs to be on the low end anyway(less than 1400 calories/day) to not gain weight. So those of you who can eat 2600 calories per day, be grateful!😂
Control portions. Reduce calorie intake. Exercise. Keep moving.Take a mutivitamin. Increase fiber and vegetable intake. Lift weights. Keep a food intake journal. Chew food well. Smaller plates. Drink a glass of water before meals. My suggestions: Eat foods that increase both your energy level, thermogenesis, and happiness and get a good night's sleep.😊
If trying to lose (or gain weight), mis estimating calories is a good reason to keep a daily journal of food intake.
“It’s not healthy” – 2 seconds later- “this is so awesome, I love this”
Isn't weight gain (and the unhealthy effects) all about the biological "lost in translation" effect when the mind advances faster than it's cellular counterparts? Intuitively(?) the body cells tell the stomach what it needs (vitamins, minerals) but the stomach can only communicate to the brain "fill me up with what is tasty and readily available", but unfortunately an advanced mind has unwittingly created the perceived effectiveness of alternatives (more cheaply and readily available) to fulfill the needs of the body, but the needs are not fulfilled and thus the stomach repeats the request.
Minor correction: a calorie deficit must lead to a stored energy reduction. That's the first law of thermodynamics. Not weight. Energy. What ever the semantics, nobody breaks the laws of physics. Despite how much they might think they do.
The guy who lost the weight was actually eating 12 twinkies per day! Which sounds like a lot to me, and also really gross.
WRONG! PLEASE READ! I PERSONALLY LOST HALF my body weight.. 150lbs BY WATCHING TV IN BED DRY FASTING… Weight loss is about WATER DEFICITS.. these men are literally going to kill anyone who listens to their horrible advice,.
You can lose the same weight sleeping all day.. as running 21 hours per day at an aerobic pace.. dry fast or you're losing weight like a moron. Calories is BUNK… Its 10X weaker than water deficit for weight loss and autophagy
IF FAT… Go 2 DAYS (48 hours) NO FOOD.. NO WATER… man up
Then spend ONE day… (24 hours) WATER FAST (re-hydrate.. salt is part of hydration and necessary when water fasting)
then 2 MORE DAYS DRY FASTING…
This is 5 days (2 dry,1 water, 2 dry)…
PAY ATTENTION TO MATHEMATICS…..
MATH IS GOOD.. THESE MEN ONLY CARE ABOUT VIEWS
https://pubmedDOTncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31958788/ (replace dot)
^^^ in that pubmed study 10 participants lost 7kgs on average over five days..
"The following parameters decreased: waist circumference (8.20 ± 0.61 cm), body weight (7.010 ± 0.3 kg),"
Just because the above two doctors were educated in the 1930's doesnt mean you should listen to them.. Breakfast as the most important meal of the day comes from kelloggs.. not doctors..
MATHEMATICS PEOPLE… LEARN OR DONT.. but calculators are cheap…
In MY 5 DAY (2 dry, 1 water, 2 dry) FAST.. I lose approx 19lbs.. which approx 4lbs returns.. after refeeding and rehydrations… So a NET LOSS OF 15LBS per five days…
The PUBMED STUDY .. entitled "Dry Fasting Physiology: Responses to Hypovolemia and Hypertonicity"… is on the internet.. google is yoru friend..
APPARENTLY THESE DOCTORS ARE HAPPY WITH ANTIQUATED EDUMACATIONS…
My fast and THEIR Pubmed medical paper.. BOTH saw 7kg of weight loss NET.. within 5 days..
——————
THESE TWO HARMFUL MEN.. advocated 'treadmill', and such in this video.. NOOOOOOOOOO.
To lose as much weight as I can lying in bed watching star trek reruns in my underwear.. a MORON would have to go on his treadmill at an AEROBIC PACE of 500 calories per hour.. for 105 HOURS.. A HUNDRED AND FIVE HOURS….
to lose the same weight as me.. or 21 hours DAILY…
——————–
A pound is approx 3500 calories (rough).. and a Kilogram is roughly 7700 calories..
You would need to bicycle, jumping jacks, treadmill, or run like a moffo at an aerobic pace for 21 hours daily.. (21.. not a typo).. four hours sleep.. to lose 15lbs or 7kg in 5 days…
So…
MAN A: Watches TV in bed and SLEEEEEEPS (2 dry, 1 water to be safest, and 2 more dry).
MAN B: Pretends calories are related to weight loss.. the are.. in a weak and weak and silly and weak one more time way..
I've got NEWS for you.. NOBODY can run at an aerobic pace 21 hours per day..
Now lets talk AUTOPHAGY.. not that these guys have heard of anything past 1930.. So lets not.
The old Testament has a lot about Egypt that was known for fasting.. I suggest SUNDAYS were a dry fasting day everyone did weekly..
This PUBMED study had same results.. perhaps I was fatter. my results seem to be the same with a water fasting day in middle..
I was 300+pounds.. and it made me realize I didnt want to be the 400lbs guy..
CALORIES ARE GOOD FOR EATING.. calories neutral should be an aim.. but nobody will lose weight in a quick and healthy manner if they do not do dry fasting..
THE FATTEST PERSON YOU KNOW… could have abs by summertime..
PUBMED STUDY STYLE: Go 5 days.. eat and drink calories neutral (normal) on weekends.. Do that for 1 month and youd lose 28KG.. (60+ lbs)
Any fat person could literally lose 60lbs PER MONTH.. lying in bed watching TV.
I did it slower.. I was doing my 5 day (2 dry, 1 water, 2 dry) dry fast every month.. sometimes twice a month at the beginning..
I thought my scale had busted..
My education was about calories bullshiite also.. How could I break medical rules and norms.. How..
APPARENTLY.. NOBODY THOUGHT ABOUT WATER DEFICIT as the obvious choice..
Method A.. Underwear in bed.. watching ^TV..
Method B.. Exercise and crap.. exercise is stupid for weight loss.. totally stupid.
I mean. exercise.. but not for weight loss.. for fun..
These men know zero about real weight loss… it is sad uneducated people feel compelled to speak on such important topics.
These men are murdering anyone who thinks they are correct.. and stays fat because of them..
LEARN.. THEN TEACH.. I lost 150lbs.. its was pretty easy.. I did that fast 10 times only.. only 7 ten times and I lost 150lbs.. It changed my life
Calories deficit is a boring lifestyle that would take a decade to work.. go have some Pizza..
Its 2026.. exercise is for stupid people.. no joke..
I have my OWN before and after pics on a dry fasting video
This video is BAD for your health.. extremely bad .
After I gained way too much weight after my last pregnancy and only had 3,5 months to get back into my work clothes again during my leave, I lost 25 kilo in 3 months by only eating 2 eggs, a small plate of green beans and a big protein bar a day (and a shit ton of vitamins and minerals to make up for what i did not get…), every day. I ate the same thing every day, because that allowed me to not think about it and these were things I was fine with eating a lot of. I honestly felt really good while doing and was bouncing of the wall with energy, even though I did not sleep well at all (new born…). Looking back I was probably in a deep state of ketosis most of the time. This was over 15 years ago and I did not even know keto was a thing and fasting was something only monks did. I knew my diet wasn't that healthy, but I was adamant about showing up at work my exact same normal weight. I also refused to consider buying any new item of clothing in my new "fat size". I thought doing it like this for a few months wouldn't be too bad. And in the end it completely worked, lol. Everyone called me crazy and I probably was, but I lost every single kilo and never gained it back. Afterwards I wasn't (and still am not) able to eat as much as I did before my pregnancies, but I was okay with that and stuck to a new healthier diet and lots of exercise. In hindsight I'm happy I did it, but also realize it wasn't healthy.
“The world’s natural tendency to chaos”? Diets or not, we’re there.
There is so many weird ideas around weight loss. Thank you for making this info easy to understand and realistic. Talking with Docs is fabulous!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hIV09XHZsQI —-Brad is off to AI land again!
Move more, eat more! Just eat more protein and less saturated fat! 💪
Before he could walk with a cane. What's up?
My neighbor just got hip replacement. He can barely walk.
Question?
How does my reg dr see me?
I'm 70 next year, he sees me as exceptional but I feel pathetic.
Another terrible way to lose weight, hyperglycemia! Eating nothing but Twinkies is a good way to get started on that. Just have to pound those Twinkies harder. A lot harder. Be sure to wash them down with soda or lemonade or something such.
Wife here. Correct docs about plants . I went Whole Food Plant Based no oil no dairy no meat for health and not only did I lose weight I had been trying to get off since having our two kids many years ago also got off blood pressure meds and reversed pre diabetes . So it is hard at first but well worth the effort and change . Lots of fiber rich foods .
I learned a few years ago my weight loss goal shouldn’t be weight, it should be body fat reduction. About 10 years ago I did 30 minutes of yoga everyday for 6 months. Didn’t lose any weight but I know I lost at least 2 pant sizes. I’ve since got one of those scales that measures body fat percentage, muscle mass etc. My goal is to get my body fat percentage down to 30%. I’m currently at 40%.
QUESTION: What is your professional opinion about this bamboo compression sleeve by OneCompress? It’s supposed to allow circulation and airflow around the knee. Lots of ads about this now. Is it a hack or do you two recommend them?
Pretty much the only way you lose weight is through breathing. All that carbon you ate becomes co2.