Some people think that losing weight is simple math. If you eat fewer calories than you burn then weight loss is inevitable, right? Well, that’s the reasoning behind the CICO diet, but the truth behind weight loss is actually a lot more complex.
What is the CICO diet?
The CICO diet isn’t a book or an eating plan endorsed by a health expert or celebrity. It’s a more general approach that involves eating fewer calories than you burn. Basically, the CICO diet “plan” is not really a plan at all — it’s more like a rough outline.
CICO stands for “calories in, calories-out.” The logic behind CICO is simple. Since a pound is equivalent to eating about 3,500 calories, if you want to lose about a pound a week, you need to shave 500 calories from your daily routine — which equates to 3,500 calories in a week. In CICO, this calorie reduction is achieved either by eating less, exercising more or a combination of both.
This simple mathematical approach to losing weight sounds reasonable. But the truth is that people’s individual experiences vary considerably when it comes to weight loss, so it’s actually impossible to accurately predict how much weight you’ll lose based on this math.
How do you do the CICO diet?
The appeal of CICO is that there are basically no restrictions. As long as you stay within a calorie range that’s in line with your body’s needs, the theory is you can eat what you want and still lose weight — or maintain your current weight. To stay on track, people often use a calorie counter app when following a CICO diet. But managing weight with calorie restrictions isn’t as simple as it sounds.
Not all calories “count” the same way
When it comes to managing your weight, calories count — to some degree — but they don’t all count in the same way. There are three kinds of macronutrients that our bodies use to function:
- Fats
- Proteins
- Carbohydrates
Each macronutrient breaks down into a different amount of calories per gram. Fats have 9 calories in a gram,…
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