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Here's something most people don't know: when people say that 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories, that's not actually true. Or rather, it's not the whole truth.

You see, 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories only in an oven. That's how we determine how many calories are in a given food: we burn that food and measure how much heat is produced as a result. We can't do that in a human, so we have to do it in an oven.

So counting calories most of the time is of limited use to people. Why? Because you can have 2 people who are identical in weight, age, sex, exercise levels, stress levels, etc.. But feed those 2 people the exact same number of calories and I can guarantee that those 2 people will NOT gain the same amount of weight. One may gain nothing and the other may gain 3 pounds. Or one may lose 3 pounds and the other doesn't gain anything.

We all know someone who can eat whatever they like and not put on an ounce of fat, and then there are most people who actually have to watch what they eat to remain at a certain body fat percentage.

Body fat and weight are much more strictly controlled by hormones than by calories (a YouTube video by FitnessSolutionsPlus explains it pretty well).

Also, by doing excessive and exclusive cardio, yes, you may be burning calories during the workout, but due to a process called "adaptation", you burn fewer and fewer calories each time you exercise. You learn to become "fuel efficient." Doing excessive and exclusive cardio has a double whammy of also burning muscle. Muscle burns fat, so if you have less of the "machinery" that burns fat, you burn less fat.

What can happen over time is that your weight is "normal" yet your body fat is extremely high because you've burned a lot of muscle.

Here's something most people don't know: when people say that 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories, that's not actually true. Or rather, it's not the whole truth.

You see, 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories only in an oven. That's how we determine how many calories are in a given food: we burn that food and measure how much heat is produced as a result. We can't do that in a human, so we have to do it in an oven.

So counting calories most of the time is of limited use to people. Why? Because you can have 2 people who are identical in weight, age, sex, exercise levels, stress levels, etc.. But feed those 2 people the exact same number of calories and I can guarantee that those 2 people will NOT gain the same amount of weight. One may gain nothing and the other may gain 3 pounds. Or one may lose 3 pounds and the other doesn't gain anything.

We all know someone who can eat whatever they like and not put on an ounce of fat, and then there are most people who actually have to watch what they eat to remain at a certain body fat percentage.

Body fat and weight are much more strictly controlled by hormones than by calories. There is a YouTube video of mine that explains it pretty well.

Also, by doing excessive and exclusive cardio, yes, you may be burning calories during the workout, but due to a process called "adaptation", you burn fewer and fewer calories each time you exercise. You learn to become "fuel efficient." Doing excessive and exclusive cardio has a double whammy of also burning muscle. Muscle burns fat, so if you have less of the "machinery" that burns fat, you burn less fat.

What can happen over time is that your weight is "normal" yet your body fat is extremely high because you've burned a lot of muscle.

Here's something most people don't know: when people say that 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories, that's not actually true. Or rather, it's not the whole truth.

You see, 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories only in an oven. That's how we determine how many calories are in a given food: we burn that food and measure how much heat is produced as a result. We can't do that in a human, so we have to do it in an oven.

So counting calories most of the time is of limited use to people. Why? Because you can have 2 people who are identical in weight, age, sex, exercise levels, stress levels, etc.. But feed those 2 people the exact same number of calories and I can guarantee that those 2 people will NOT gain the same amount of weight. One may gain nothing and the other may gain 3 pounds. Or one may lose 3 pounds and the other doesn't gain anything.

We all know someone who can eat whatever they like and not put on an ounce of fat, and then there are most people who actually have to watch what they eat to remain at a certain body fat percentage.

Body fat and weight are much more strictly controlled by hormones than by calories (this video explains it pretty well).

Also, by doing excessive and exclusive cardio, yes, you may be burning calories during the workout, but due to a process called "adaptation", you burn fewer and fewer calories each time you exercise. You learn to become "fuel efficient." Doing excessive and exclusive cardio has a double whammy of also burning muscle. Muscle burns fat, so if you have less of the "machinery" that burns fat, you burn less fat.

What can happen over time is that your weight is "normal" yet your body fat is extremely high because you've burned a lot of muscle.

Here's something most people don't know: when people say that 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories, that's not actually true. Or rather, it's not the whole truth.

You see, 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories only in an oven. That's how we determine how many calories are in a given food: we burn that food and measure how much heat is produced as a result. We can't do that in a human, so we have to do it in an oven.

So counting calories most of the time is of limited use to people. Why? Because you can have 2 people who are identical in weight, age, sex, exercise levels, stress levels, etc.. But feed those 2 people the exact same number of calories and I can guarantee that those 2 people will NOT gain the same amount of weight. One may gain nothing and the other may gain 3 pounds. Or one may lose 3 pounds and the other doesn't gain anything.

We all know someone who can eat whatever they like and not put on an ounce of fat, and then there are most people who actually have to watch what they eat to remain at a certain body fat percentage.

Body fat and weight are much more strictly controlled by hormones than by calories (a YouTube video by FitnessSolutionsPlus explains it pretty well).

Also, by doing excessive and exclusive cardio, yes, you may be burning calories during the workout, but due to a process called "adaptation", you burn fewer and fewer calories each time you exercise. You learn to become "fuel efficient." Doing excessive and exclusive cardio has a double whammy of also burning muscle. Muscle burns fat, so if you have less of the "machinery" that burns fat, you burn less fat.

What can happen over time is that your weight is "normal" yet your body fat is extremely high because you've burned a lot of muscle.

Here's something most people don't know: when people say that 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories, that's not actually true. Or rather, it's not the whole truth.

You see, 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories only in an oven. That's how we determine how many calories are in a given food: we burn that food and measure how much heat is produced as a result. We can't do that in a human, so we have to do it in an oven.

So counting calories most of the time is of limited use to people. Why? Because you can have 2 people who are identical in weight, age, sex, exercise levels, stress levels, etc.. But feed those 2 people the exact same number of calories and I can guarantee that those 2 people will NOT gain the same amount of weight. One may gain nothing and the other may gain 3 pounds. Or one may lose 3 pounds and the other doesn't gain anything.

We all know someone who can eat whatever they like and not put on an ounce of fat, and then there are most people who actually have to watch what they eat to remain at a certain body fat percentage.

Body fat and weight are much more strictly controlled by hormones than by calories (this video explains it pretty well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92wUegHpsU).

Also, by doing excessive and exclusive cardio, yes, you may be burning calories during the workout, but due to a process called "adaptation", you burn fewer and fewer calories each time you exercise. You learn to become "fuel efficient." Doing excessive and exclusive cardio has a double whammy of also burning muscle. Muscle burns fat, so if you have less of the "machinery" that burns fat, you burn less fat.

What can happen over time is that your weight is "normal" yet your body fat is extremely high because you've burned a lot of muscle.

Here's something most people don't know: when people say that 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories, that's not actually true. Or rather, it's not the whole truth.

You see, 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories only in an oven. That's how we determine how many calories are in a given food: we burn that food and measure how much heat is produced as a result. We can't do that in a human, so we have to do it in an oven.

So counting calories most of the time is of limited use to people. Why? Because you can have 2 people who are identical in weight, age, sex, exercise levels, stress levels, etc.. But feed those 2 people the exact same number of calories and I can guarantee that those 2 people will NOT gain the same amount of weight. One may gain nothing and the other may gain 3 pounds. Or one may lose 3 pounds and the other doesn't gain anything.

We all know someone who can eat whatever they like and not put on an ounce of fat, and then there are most people who actually have to watch what they eat to remain at a certain body fat percentage.

Body fat and weight are much more strictly controlled by hormones than by calories (this video explains it pretty well).

Also, by doing excessive and exclusive cardio, yes, you may be burning calories during the workout, but due to a process called "adaptation", you burn fewer and fewer calories each time you exercise. You learn to become "fuel efficient." Doing excessive and exclusive cardio has a double whammy of also burning muscle. Muscle burns fat, so if you have less of the "machinery" that burns fat, you burn less fat.

What can happen over time is that your weight is "normal" yet your body fat is extremely high because you've burned a lot of muscle.