Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Says You! Eating Less than 1,200 Calories Per Day

Episode Date: October 1, 2021

I’ve written and recorded a lot of evidence-based content over the years on just about everything you can imagine related to building muscle, losing fat, and getting healthy. I’ve also worked with thousands of men and women of all ages and circumstances and helped them get into the best shape of their lives. That doesn’t mean you should blindly swallow everything I say, though, because let’s face it—nobody is always right about everything. And especially in fields like diet and exercise, which are constantly evolving thanks to the efforts of honest and hardworking researchers and thought leaders. This is why I’m always happy to hear from people who disagree with me, especially when they have good arguments and evidence to back up their assertions. Sometimes I can’t get on board with their positions, but sometimes I end up learning something, and either way, I always appreciate the discussion. That gave me the idea for this series of podcast episodes: publicly addressing things people disagree with me on and sharing my perspective. Think of it like a spicier version of a Q&A. So, here’s what I’m doing: Every couple of weeks, I’m asking my Instagram followers what they disagree with me on, and then picking the more common or interesting contentions to address here on the podcast. And in this episode, I’ll be tackling the following . . . You should never eat fewer than a certain number of calories per day (like 1,200, 1,500 or 1,800). Timestamps: 2:01 - What happens when you eat less than 1200 calories? 2:38 - Is there a universal calorie minimum? Is there a minimum amount of calories you should eat? 4:42 - How low should you drop calories while cutting? 6:28 - Can you develop nutritional deficiencies with a low-calorie diet? Mentioned on the Show: My Calorie Calculator: https://legionathletics.com/tools/ Books by Mike Matthews: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/

Hello, and welcome to Muscle for Life. I'm Mike Matthews, your host. Thank you for joining me today. And if you like Muscle for Life and Mike Matthews, go ahead and subscribe to the show in whatever app you are listening in, because one, it'll make sure you don't miss any new episodes. They will be automatically queued up for you to review and listen to as you like. And two, it will help me because it will boost the rankings of the show on the various charts. And that of course helps other people find Muscle for Life and Mike Matthews. Okay. So this episode is another installment in my Says You series where I address things that people disagree with me on, which I always like to hear. I am kind of an argumentative person by nature, and so I often reach out to

Instagram followers. That's usually where I do it. I'll put up a little Ask Me Anything story tag, sticker, whatever they call it, but I'll ask people to give me things they disagree with me on. So if you want to tell me something that you disagree with me on, you can email me, mikeatmusclefullife.com, or you can follow me on Instagram at Muscleful Life Fitness and look for those stories that I put up every so often to get more grist for the podcast. And so in this episode, I am going to be talking about something that I have heard many times over the years, but I realized I have not publicly and specifically addressed. And that is the claim that you should not ever eat fewer than a certain number of calories every day.

1,200 is a number that has been thrown around a lot, specifically for women. Sometimes it's 1,500 for women. And for men, sometimes it's a little bit higher, 1,600, 1,800, or even 2,000 calories per day. Now, if you do eat less than whatever the number is, the legend goes many misfortunes can befall you, including metabolic damage, extreme hunger, malnutrition, hormonal disruptions, muscle loss, mood disturbances, menstrual irregularities, the list jabbers on and on. And I often hear from people who are concerned by this theory because some evidence-based formula or calculator, usually one of my own, is telling them to eat

what they believe is a dangerously low number of calories every day. Now, fortunately, a true universal caloric minimum would be much lower than any of those numbers that I gave you because many people just don't burn as many calories as they think they do. And even when calories are inappropriately low, the purported consequences are often overblown. For example, a five foot five, 130 pound woman who exercises one to three hours per week burns about 1,700 calories per day. And if she wanted to lose about one pound of fat per week, and that would be moderate, reasonable weight loss, she would need to eat about 1,200 calories per day. Now, if we make her 5'10 and 160 pounds, her total daily energy expenditure rises to nearly

2,000 calories per day. And then if we increase her exercise to four to six hours per week, it reaches 2,300 calories per day. And finally, if we now calculate her new caloric target at 5'10", 160, 4-6 hours of exercise per week, and wepound guy exercising one to three hours per week will burn about 2,100 calories per day, whereas a 6'3", 200-pound dude exercising four to six hours per week, he'll burn almost 3,000 calories per day. So saying that nobody should ever eat less than some arbitrary amount of calories every day is like saying that they should never drive slower than 55 miles per hour on the highway. Well, what if they have engine trouble? What if there's traffic? What if it is raining pitchforks outside? Such advice is just too schematic. Now, how low should you go when you're cutting? Because there is a caloric threshold that

you shouldn't cross, right? Well, yes, there is. Because if you restrict your calories too heavily, you won't damage your metabolism. You won't detonate your hormones. You won't disintegrate your muscle. You won't otherwise derange your physiology, but you're not going to have a good time. Negative side effects often associated with semi-starvation dieting, very low calorie dieting, can and often do become more pronounced if calories are too low. So based on the findings of research on the effects of energy availability on athletic men and women, when you're cutting, I recommend a cutoff of eight to 10 calories per pound of body weight per day for both men and women, regardless of activity level. less than eight calories per pound of body weight per day. And that's probably most applicable to men. In women, I would say the cutoff is going to be a little bit higher around 10. But some women do find that, especially toward the end of a cut where they are trying to go from lean to very lean

and they are trying to lose the last bits of fat and they are exercising as much as they can within reason. They have to eat nine calories per pound of body weight per day or even eight calories per pound of body weight per day. But generally, the ideal cutoff for women is a bit higher than the ideal cutoff for men because of the extra energy demands of the more complex female reproductive system. Now, one other matter I want to quickly comment on is the nutritional component of dieting, because some people say that by eating significantly less food than usual, by eating 1200 calories per day or 14 or 1800 per day, you can develop irritating insufficiencies or even

debilitating deficiencies. And that's just not true. Not if you get most of the calories that you are eating from relatively unprocessed and wholesome foods like lean protein, fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, seeds, and the like. And if you really want to ensure that your body is adequately nourished when you are cutting, just include a high quality multivitamin like Legion's Triumph in your regimen. All right, well, that's it for this episode. I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and you don't mind doing me a favor, please do leave a quick review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to me from in whichever app you're listening to me in. Because that not only convinces people that they should check out the show, it also increases search visibility.

And thus, it helps more people find their way to me and learn how to get fitter, leaner, stronger, healthier, and happier as well. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then simply subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any new stuff. And if you didn't like something about the show, please do shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com, about the show, please do shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com, just muscle, F-O-R, life.com, and share your thoughts on how I can do this better. I read everything myself, and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, even if it is criticism. I'm open to it. And of course, you can email me if you have positive feedback as well, or if you have questions really relating to anything

that you think I could help you with, definitely send me an email. That is the best way to get ahold of me, mikeatmuscleforlife.com. And that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode. And I hope to hear from you soon.