Mocktail Minutes

Under-Eating vs Calorie Deficit

• Mocktail Minutes • Episode 121

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This week we are talking about the MAJOR difference between a calorie deficit for weight loss and just straight up under eating. 

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/bayleethedietitian/ or https://www.instagram.com/brianna.dietitian/ and send us a DM! You can also follow the podcast https://www.instagram.com/mocktailminutes/

Featured Mocktails:

Spindrift 

Liquid Death 

Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Baylee:

Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey

Brianna:

This is Brianna.

Baylee:

This week I am drinking a liquid desk. Honestly, the whole time I thought these were like some crazy drink and I thought they were like a seltzer. It's literally sparkling water.

Brianna:

Yeah. And they have flat water too, or still.

Baylee:

it's just water in a can

Brianna:

Yeah. It's pretty good though.

Baylee:

flavor. I mean, takes like water.

Brianna:

Just tastes like water. Today I'm doing a spindrift, it's a

Baylee:

I do like those.

Brianna:

They're so good. I, I kind of forgot about these, but I'm doing the mango orange. It's so good. And I like that it has like real fruit in it, you know, instead of like, the flavors are natural flavors. So.

Baylee:

I drank those all the time when I was pregnant. Like that was my drink, but I haven't gotten'em lately. That must be a new flavor. I don't remember that one.

Brianna:

Yeah. That's why it caught my eye because I was like, oh, mango, orange. I feel like I would've already tried that. Yeah.

Baylee:

feel like I need to like squeeze some lemon in my can or something.

Brianna:

You're alright. Water.

Baylee:

I was like, it's literally just sparkling water. There's nothing crazy.

Brianna:

I know. I used to think they were like energy drinks or something. No, there's water.

Baylee:

Yeah, I mean, I guess water gives you energy. The marketing is good.

Brianna:

Yeah, it is good. It is really good. And they look fancy.

Baylee:

in a can.

Brianna:

Seriously. I went, where did I go? It was like this bakery or something the other day. And both my older kids were like, we wanna, we want a liquid death. And I was like, you,

Baylee:

You can't drink those. Those are bad

Brianna:

yeah. Like get one of the 75 cent water bottles and share it. I'm not doing

Baylee:

And share it.

Brianna:

You had to walk around with your liquid death. Like what do you think we are? No.

Baylee:

Yeah. Think we're rich. Nope.

Brianna:

Kate, your mom's a dietician. Okay. act accordingly.

Baylee:

Yes, the marketing is very good on these. I will give it that.

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

I need some flavor though. I like my

Brianna:

have flavored ones.

Baylee:

are, are they flavored? Like how are they flavored? Do they put sucralose in them?

Brianna:

I don't think so. I think they just have like a lime, a lemon and maybe a, maybe a berry. I, I might have made the berry one up,

Baylee:

I have to look for those.

Brianna:

yeah.

Baylee:

I'd much rather spend$4 on flavored sparkling water.

Brianna:

Yeah, like an op, something that just makes a little more sense. But yes, I, I do like them.

Baylee:

Yes. Well, today we are talking about undereating. Versus a calorie deficit. And these are often used interchangeably. Yep.

Brianna:

Yep.

Baylee:

Interchangeably. That's really hard to say. They're often used at the same time when they shouldn't be.

Brianna:

Yes, they're used in the same context.

Baylee:

they are not the same though. We're gonna differentiate them. Because you may be someone who thinks I'm in a calorie deficit to lose weight, but maybe you're just plain old undereating and it's really wreaking havoc on your body. So undereating really, this comes from like if you've been spending a long time dieting or if you're like, man, I'm really focused on eating healthier and your eating healthier is just like eating less. If you've been skipping meals. Maybe you're stressed low appetite or just have some like disordered eating patterns. These types of things can lead to this undereating, which then often leads to nutrient defic deficiencies, weight loss resistance, hormonal imbalances, metabolic downregulation or adaptations, fatigue and muscle loss. So not really anything great that we want and. I think a lot of times we like, like we just do this unintentionally because we've had it so screwed into our brain that you must be in a deficit to lose weight, which I'm not saying is false, but we have to look at a like, what is your true calorie deficit? Is it, are you doing that or are you undereating? There is a difference, but it could also be. Maybe you need to reverse diet before you go into that deficit because your body is so stressed out.

Brianna:

Oh yeah, and this is, especially if you have been eating chronically low calories for a very long time, which I'm gonna be completely honest, I feel like 90%, maybe even more of the women I work with are not in a deficit. They're undereating. If they've been trying to lose weight, like, because when I do, someone's like total daily energy expenditure, like how much calories they need to survive plus our activity. They're like, what are you talking about? Like, because it's usually always close to 2000. Over 2000. And I know darn well they've been doing 1400 or less for like a long time.

Baylee:

Which is generally not enough for an adult, I would say. I dunno. What's your lowest that you've had someone go for like a healthy intake?

Brianna:

I think the lowest I've ever seen. And I had to like recalculate it a couple times'cause I was like, hmm. Was like 1600. And this was someone who was like very short, not active at all, at all. But usually it's like 1700 plus.

Baylee:

I would say most people need to be around 17, 1800.

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

I think I've had one that was like 1500. She was like five foot.

Brianna:

Yeah. Like very short, not active, like Yeah. It was rare, like I had to recalculate it. I was like, no.

Baylee:

wait a second.

Brianna:

Yeah. I feel like most women. Around 1800, depending on, obviously, depending on height and activity and all that. But whenever I see someone eating under 1800, I can, I'm almost like positive, like, okay, they're not in a deficit, they're just undereating.

Baylee:

Mm-hmm. And for a reference, like we were just talking about this, so I think it. I previously used to never share like my intake or my weight or anything like that. But I don't know, like if it helps you, if it helps you, if it's not gonna be helpful, just like press fast forward for 10 seconds. But I'm five three, I'm between like a hundred twenty five, a hundred thirty pounds, and I eat about 1900 calories a day. So just to give you reference, a lot of times we see. These numbers and we're like, oh my gosh, that is too much. I'm almost eating 2000 calories. I'm five three. Like I'm not a very tall person.

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

And so you might need a lot more than what you think.

Brianna:

most do. And when we're talking about like deficit versus like undereating, so I would say. A deficit lies somewhere between your basal metabolic rate and then how much activity you're using for the day, right? So like your maintenance would be your BMR plus, how much calories you need to do all your activity. Somewhere in there is a deficit. It's usually like 10 to 20% of your maintenance or 200 to 500 less depending. But if you are eating less than your basal metabolic rate, you are undereating. So like we've talked about that a million times, how much calories you need to just like do your body to do its daily functions. Like if you were to do nothing all day. You're undereating, that's when you're at risk of like lowering your metabolism, having those hormonal imbalances, you know, hair loss, brittle nails, trouble sleeping, constant fatigue, poor recovery, all the things that most women complain about. That's why so, and I, and I, I think that gets lost.'cause like on, you know, social media whenever's, like you need a deficit. You need a deficit. It's not that we're saying you don't need a deficit, but I. I am like, we're missing the big piece where like you can't just keep eating less and less and less. That's not a deficit. You're just straight

Baylee:

You are eating?

Brianna:

You're just straight undereating, and there's a reason you're not losing weight.'cause most women are like, I don't know, I've been eating 1,250 calories for like five months and I haven't lost weight. I'm like, well, that's why. And then there's nothing scarier than being like, well then eat more. You know?

Baylee:

Yeah, when you've had it drilled in your head to like eat less, to be smaller type of thing. But there's lots of things that can kind of come up with this too. So if you're thinking you're in a strategic deficit, but you're just plain undereating. You're, there's like some consequences that go along with it. Number one, you're usually under field overstressed. Chronic undereating triggers stress hormones like cortisol, which increase water retention, affect your insulin insensitivity, and promote fat storage, which usually we don't want, especially when we're trying to lose weight.

Brianna:

Yes. That stubborn belly fat. I'm like, yeah. Yeah.

Baylee:

thing, I mean like the metabolic adaptations. So if you chronically undereat, your body adapts by just burning less calories because your metabolism has slowed. You have a lower need, so you're non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Also just like you move it throughout the day and you're losing muscle mass, it takes too much work to maintain it. You're not eating enough so your body gets rid of the extra things essentially.

Brianna:

Yeah. And then when I see women like chronically undereating and then just trying to work out every single day, I am like, you're spinning your wheels. Like it's way too hard. I wonder you're frustrated. That's, I think like people don't realize how big a stressor is of undereating on their body. And like they'll like, you know, use their Apple watch or their order ring and like, oh my gosh, my HRV like sucks. And for a lot of people, like that's a sign of undereating.'cause it is such a stressor. And so sometimes when we're talking about like, if you wanna lose weight, you have to lower your stress. Like, yes, we mean like breath work, meditation, taking a beat, having work boundaries, time for yourself, but also just like those physical stressors of like. You need to feed yourself because if you can't, can take care of any of the other stressors in your life, focus on that one, because that is one that's like happening all the time, like impacting you chronically.

Baylee:

Mm-hmm. And I always just like to remind people, if you think you don't have time to eat, you do. You make the time. You have time. You're just. You gotta realign your priorities and decide what exactly you want. We can always come up with excuses around it, whether they're legitimate or not. Oh, I had a busy day at work. Okay, cool. At least go eat a protein bar. Like go do something. I've also done it where I've overpacked my day and like, oh yeah, hmm, how I should eat today. So always making sure you make the best out of this situation. Don't just kind of put it in the fuckhead luck type of thing. But another thing that happens I think with like the undereating versus calie deficit is we start to confuse weight loss. With fat loss. We get so obsessed with just looking at the scale, and that's why we just keep eating less and less and less chronic undereating. That's going to, again, you have that water attention from stress. So the scale can kind of go up with that. You have muscle loss instead of fat loss, and it can be like a skinny fat look or like a stubborn belly fat, where it's like, I just don't understand. Like, why can't I build muscle? You can't build muscle if you're under, it's just not gonna happen.

Brianna:

Yeah, and I've had plenty of women who are like, okay, I got to my goal weight, but like I don't look the way I thought I was gonna look. I'm like, okay, well I'll, I mean age sure factor, but it is likely due to the fact that you don't have any muscle mass anymore. So no, you're not gonna have the firm butt and like the tone look and like the slow mo bay watch going down the beach. It's that skinny fat work look, which. Most women are still unhappy about, and then they have to dig themselves out of, well, now I have to actually eat more, really repair my metabolism. Really actually. Strength train. And then that's just like more work. Yeah.

Baylee:

So here's what you need to do. Eat enough protein, especially, but also calories to support your metabolism. Not to say you have to track your whole entire life away. Use a modest deficit when it's applicable to you. Once your metabolism is supported, prioritize strain training. Like we can't emphasize this enough. If you really wanna see results and you want long-term fat loss, you gotta strength train. I mean, that's just. It's just how the cookie crumbles.

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

And then I would say avoid extreme restriction and honor your biofeedback. I swear it can kind of get tricky. But we talked about this in our last episode of like understanding your hunger and fullness where yes, sometimes, especially if you're in like a reverse diet phase, you might have to schedule your meals a little bit. But not to where you're just stuffing your face and now you're vomiting. It's like

Brianna:

Yeah.

Baylee:

we're just challenging the stomach a little bit. It's not used to eating lunch, so we gotta get it used to it, and then eventually your metabolism is.

Brianna:

Because if you are one of those people who are like, I'm just not hungry all day, you, those have really gone offline doing some intentional eating, even small, that'll come back metabolism's like, Hey, we can do it. We love this. But I would encourage you too, if you're someone listening to this and you're like, maybe I do need a reverse diet, the strength training piece has to be there. Like I am gonna purchase a giant neon sign that says that so that everyone can see it in the back of me when we meet. Like you have to be strength training. I don't know what to tell you, but that's a perfect time to do it.'cause technically you're probably in a little bit of a surplus for you and what you've been in Great time to build muscle. We need that. Especially if you're terrified about gaining weight, which I feel like majority of people are like, oh my gosh, is the scale gonna go up? It could, but like term, it's gonna be worth it. But yes, you need a deficit. And also caveat, you cannot go from undereating. To a deficit and expect weight loss. You need to go up to maintenance, work your way up there and then you can do a deficit. So a lot of people kind of like skip that part'cause it seems scary. But no, you can't just be like, okay, well instead of you know, 1400 calories, I'll just do 1600'cause that's technically a deficit for me. Well, no, you kind of messed that up a little bit'cause you've been undereating for too long. Work up to maintenance, drink training while doing it. When you're ready, do a deficit and then don't stay there. That's the other thing too, like I think people are just like, we need to be in a deficit. And it's like you're in a deficit all year long, like 12 weeks max out of the year is what you're supposed to be doing for a deficit. And those are for people that like. I feel like our, we, we get a lot of that from like bodybuilders, just to be honest. Like the bulking and the gutting and the bulking and the gutting. So that might not even be strategic for someone in the normal life to be like a full 12 weeks outta the year. But it's like very strategic how you do it. It's not just like, well this is my calories'cause I wanna lose weight or maintain weight. Not the same.

Baylee:

And it's not always gonna be like this quote unquote, stressful, because eventually you're gonna get to your goal. And then you're just always maintaining and you don't have to change things all the time. But I think the first part is honestly, I think the working up to maintenance is the hardest part for people. And then we do the deficit and then you have to figure out, okay, what is your maintenance now? And we just, you keep going until you're at your goal. So it can take some more time for people. Some people takes less time. It kind of depends on how much are you undereating, how much are you. I don't know, like almost committed, but how focused are you on reaching this goal? If it's gonna take you five weeks to get up to 120 grams of protein, okay, it's probably gonna take you a little bit longer, but it's all gonna be worth it in the long run. And just think about what would you, a year from now, thank yourself for doing this, or would you rather be in the same place you are now and continue just feel like crap. So.

Brianna:

Yeah. I ask him that. Yeah, I ask him that all the time. I'm like, how many years have you been dieting?

Baylee:

Mm-hmm.

Brianna:

30 years. What is six to 12 months? Really in that grand scheme of things.

Baylee:

Yeah. It goes by really quick and kid ears.

Brianna:

I know, yeah. Literally, right? I, and if you are reverse dieting, I really definitely recommend working with somebody that can help you through it.'cause it's not easy and you're gonna be very tempted to be like, okay, I'm ready. Or I did it, or, this isn't working. I think that's a good time to really work with somebody. Yeah.

Baylee:

Yeah, absolutely. Alright, everyone, that was your episode on Undereating versus a strategic Calorie deficit. We hope you found this helpful. As always, if you have other questions about it, feel free to send us a DM and we'll be back next week for a brand new episode. Bye.

People on this episode

Contributor

Baylee

Host
Contributor

Brianna

Host