On your journey to your best body possible, you're going to have to do some bulking & you're going to have to do some cutting. When you do your cutting, you MUST achieve a net calorie deficit (more calories burned than consumed) each week if you're going to make any actual headway on the fat loss front.
Let me explain...
The first law of thermodynamics clearly states: "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed."
Fat is stored energy on the body.
Technically, you can lose fat without being in a calorie deficit (often called a "recomp").
This is because a calorie deficit isn't necessarily the mechanism that drives fat loss....that would be lipolysis or fat oxidation. What will ultimately determine how much fat your lose or gain is the rate of oxidation (burning) vs the rate of deposition (storage).
All that said, your net daily/weekly/monthly calorie balance will end up playing a HUGE ROLE in influencing that rate of oxidation vs. the rate of storage.
Remember: Energy is neither created nor destroyed.
If you recomp, you will still have the same amount of stored energy (it'll just be more favorable as you'll have more muscle and less fat).
That said, you're only going to be able to recomp TO A POINT. If this wasn't true, you'd eventually just be all muscle and zero fat.
Do you expect that to happen?
Of course not!
So, while a calorie deficit doesn't mechanistically drive fat loss, it does heavily influence the mechanisms that do.
Ultimately, if you do NOT lose appreciable weight you will NOT lose appreciable fat. The operative word here is appreciable as you may have noticed.
I don't think you're reading this article because you want to get a smidge leaner. I think you're reading this article because you want to peel allllll that excess fat away (and ultimately achieve your best body possible) leaving only enough fat for you to survive!
So, in conclusion, your best bet while actively trying to cut/lose weight (which you'd prefer to come from fat) is to achieve a net calorie deficit each day/week.
I like to look at metrics on a WEEKLY basis rather than a daily basis because getting bogged down by micro timeframes usually does people more harm than good.
Yes...each day matters but you don't need to be stressing out about the degree of your calorie deficit each DAY. Nail the day to day but only "worry" about the week to week.
Get in a net deficit so you can lose APPRECIABLE fat each week...not just trace amounts.
Let me explain...
The first law of thermodynamics clearly states: "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed."
Fat is stored energy on the body.
Technically, you can lose fat without being in a calorie deficit (often called a "recomp").
This is because a calorie deficit isn't necessarily the mechanism that drives fat loss....that would be lipolysis or fat oxidation. What will ultimately determine how much fat your lose or gain is the rate of oxidation (burning) vs the rate of deposition (storage).
All that said, your net daily/weekly/monthly calorie balance will end up playing a HUGE ROLE in influencing that rate of oxidation vs. the rate of storage.
Remember: Energy is neither created nor destroyed.
If you recomp, you will still have the same amount of stored energy (it'll just be more favorable as you'll have more muscle and less fat).
That said, you're only going to be able to recomp TO A POINT. If this wasn't true, you'd eventually just be all muscle and zero fat.
Do you expect that to happen?
Of course not!
So, while a calorie deficit doesn't mechanistically drive fat loss, it does heavily influence the mechanisms that do.
Ultimately, if you do NOT lose appreciable weight you will NOT lose appreciable fat. The operative word here is appreciable as you may have noticed.
I don't think you're reading this article because you want to get a smidge leaner. I think you're reading this article because you want to peel allllll that excess fat away (and ultimately achieve your best body possible) leaving only enough fat for you to survive!
So, in conclusion, your best bet while actively trying to cut/lose weight (which you'd prefer to come from fat) is to achieve a net calorie deficit each day/week.
I like to look at metrics on a WEEKLY basis rather than a daily basis because getting bogged down by micro timeframes usually does people more harm than good.
Yes...each day matters but you don't need to be stressing out about the degree of your calorie deficit each DAY. Nail the day to day but only "worry" about the week to week.
Get in a net deficit so you can lose APPRECIABLE fat each week...not just trace amounts.