Habits and Hustle
Episode 418: Dr. Jason Fung: Why Calories Are Not the Key to Weight Loss
24 Jan 2025
Listen to the full episode here: https://youtu.be/nncEWmQFiSo?si=GanDDq9g0w1qDtE4 There's a common belief that weight loss is simply about "calories in, calories out" - but according to Dr. Jason Fung, this is actually false and misleading information. In this bonus episode of the Habits and Hustle podcast, I talk with the author of The Obesity Code, a renowned expert on obesity and intermittent fasting, who explains that there is much more to gaining or losing weight than just the number of calories consumed. It's not only about the energy in the food, but critically, it's about what your body does with that energy. We dive into the complex role of hormones and common myths around calories to make a compelling case for why we need to look beyond overly-simplistic "eat less, move more" advice to understand obesity and weight loss. Dr. Jason Fung is a New York Times-bestselling author of many books including The Obesity Code and The Diabetes Code. He completed medical school at the University of Toronto and a fellowship in nephrology at UCLA. He is the co-founder of The Fasting Method, a program to help people lose weight and reverse type 2 diabetes naturally with intermittent fasting. What We Discuss: "Calories in, calories out" overly simplistic Body stores or burns calories based on hormones Different foods have different hormonal effects Insulin drives fat storage; spiked by certain foods Protein: insulin and satiety effects Processed carbs especially fattening Foods' hormonal impacts key, not just calories …and more! Thank you to our sponsors: AquaTru: Get 20% off any purifier at aquatru.com with code HUSTLE Therasage: Head over to therasage.com and use code Be Bold for 15% off TruNiagen: Head over to truniagen.com and use code HUSTLE20 to get $20 off any purchase over $100. Magic Mind: Head over to www.magicmind.com/jen and use code Jen at checkout. BiOptimizers: Want to try Magnesium Breakthrough? Go to https://bioptimizers.com/jennifercohen and use promo code JC10 at checkout to save 10% off your purchase. Timeline Nutrition: Get 10% off your first order at timeline.com/cohen Air Doctor: Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code HUSTLE for up to $300 off and a 3-year warranty on air purifiers. Find more from Jen: Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagement Find more from Jason Fung: Website: https://www.doctorjasonfung.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjasonfung/
Full Episode
Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits & Hustle. Crush it! Hey friends, you're listening to Fitness Friday on the Habits & Hustle podcast, where myself and my friends share quick and very actionable advice for you becoming your healthiest self. So stay tuned and let me know how you leveled up. Before we dive into today's episode, I first want to thank our sponsor, Therasage.
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This code will work site-wide. Again, head over to therasage.com and use code BEBOLD for 15% off any of their products. We've always heard, and me coming from the background of health and fitness, that really it's about the calories you bring in versus calories out. And you're saying if you want to lose weight, that's actually not correct information. It doesn't work as simplistic as that.
Can you just kind of talk about that a little bit more?
Yeah, absolutely. So the whole idea with calories in, calories out is that it makes a few false assumptions, first of all. People look at it and they say, you know, calories represents one part of the food to treat. That is the energy that's contained within that food.
But when you're trying to gain or lose weight, there's actually much more to it than simply the energy that's contained in that food. Yeah. So it's not just the energy, it's what your body does with that energy, right?
So if you take 100 calories of cookies, for example, or brownies versus 100 calories of, you know, salad or broccoli or, you know, salmon or whatever, the body can choose what to do with that energy, right? So you can either store it as fat or you can burn it and use it for energy. You can generate body heat, for example.
So simply taking in that energy doesn't mean that you're gonna store more fat because if your body simply uses it, then you're not gonna store fat. However, on the other side, if you take in 100 calories of cookies and your body immediately shuttles it into body fat, which is simply the storage form of calories, well, you don't have any energy.
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