In this episode, we delve into:
Tune in for insights on navigating the complexities of weight management and making effective, lasting changes.
And if you want to try out the calorie calculator I built, just send me a DM on Instagram with 'CALC3' all one word.
Are you ready to lose weight for the LAST time with my direct support and guidance?
CLICK HERE to find out more about working with me inside The Munro Method
In this episode, we delve into:
Tune in for insights on navigating the complexities of weight management and making effective, lasting changes.
And if you want to try out the calorie calculator I built, just send me a DM on Instagram with 'CALC3' all one word.
Are you ready to lose weight for the LAST time with my direct support and guidance?
CLICK HERE to find out more about working with me inside The Munro Method
hello and welcome to the Munro Method Clan cast
I am Jason Munro and this is episode 73
now
it's been a few weeks since I've recorded an episode
I have been a combination of things have been unwell
still not quite right um
and I've been very busy
building things and creating things
and I wrote and created a brand new program
um I wrote
and created a calorie calculator
that calculates people's calories
over my Instagram DMS
for me so been extremely busy
as well as feeling a bit shitty and under the weather
anyway today
I felt inspired to record an episode
because I've just had three consecutive conversations
with clients of mine who were all of a similar weight
and I had the same conversation with each of them
um
I've no idea what today's podcast
episode is going to be titled
I'm gonna wait till I get to the end
and then I'll decide what it's going to be
but I know what it's about so
for someone let
let's let's focus on the 19 stone side of things here
for someone to achieve a body weight of 19 stones
they would have to over consume a lot right
that's a lot of overeating and it's not just you know
you know one day on a Saturday
one thing year one thing there
it's daily
so I'm I'm gonna throw some numbers at you
just to paint a picture um
this is these are fictitious
numbers um
I've just kept the kinda weight side of things
around the same level
so picture a 40 year old female who is 5 foot 6
and she weighs 19 stones
and she's doing around 5,000 steps per day
no heart calorie button
would be somewhere around 2,400 calories per day
now remember that 2,400 calories
that is the number of calories required
for that person to maintain their weight of 19 stone
that's not a weight that they want to be obviously
cause they're working with me
and they want to change that
but that's the number of calories required
for them to maintain their current weight
I don't think
it's very hard to get this point across to people
because people just
people want to know what the calorie burn is
and it's like oh cool
I'm burning that amount of calories that's great
it's not necessarily great
because it's reflective of the size of your body
it's reflective of the amount of body fat
you are carrying in case you don't know
every pound of body fat that we carry
burns 2 to 3 calories per day
now your body fat is a living tissue
it is comprised of energy that you once consumed
and didn't use the thing I always think about like
if you were I was later in my teens than I am no
um I was very athletic very outdoorsy uh
I joined the Navy
Extreme ridiculously athletic when I was in the Navy um
so I was very I was much later
I was I don't know
probably 10 stone back then
I haven't been 10 stone since back then
I fuck knows I don't know where I said just now
between 11 and 12 probably
but my heaviest I was 14 and a half
approaching 15 stone
so the way that I like to think of this is
right in my teens
I could have a slice of toast stuck to my bum
that I ate when I was 19
and when I left the Navy got a job in a call centre
started my career
not quite um I got sacked from that job actually
worked at Thomas Cook call centre for 3 years
got sacked for not making sales eventually
um a long time ago now
so I could have a slice of toast stuck to my bum
right now because when I was in the Navy
I was 10 stone when I left the Navy
I went up to 11 stone 12 stone so that 11 and 12 stone
I think the latest I've been down to is
11:11 exactly maybe just under 11
I've never went back to 10 stone and I never will
fucking too big now to be ridiculous
trying to get there
I would be that would be me
going down to seriously low levels of body fat
I'm not a teenager anymore of course anyway
the point is
I could have a slice of toast
stuck to my bum that I ate when I was 19 years old
and I have never gone back to that
and and it was an extra it contributed to
becoming a piece of body fat on my body
and I added more weight on top of that
more weight on top of that
that piece of toast the calories
the energy from that piece of toast
is still stuck to my bum
because I have never dropped my body fat
low enough to tap back into that fat
that's fucking that's wild to me
so point there was when you
the body fat you are carrying
it is food that you ate last week
last month last year 10 years ago you know
if if you consistently and if for example
these people who I'm gonna speak about
who are 19 stone you know
if
the latest they've managed to get down to is 16 stone
and once upon a time there were eight
nine 10 stone then they've got 6
7 eight stones of weight of food
things that they've eaten over years
still on and around their bodies
because they've never went back to use them up
so hopefully
that helps get the point across
about what the body fat you are carrying is
it is food specifically it's energy
it's the energy from the food that you consumed
which was surplus to requirements
because you were consuming more calories in your body
needed and it had to get stored somewhere
on and around your body as body fat
no it's a backup
fuel source for you to tap into
at a time when you need it
so if you go into a calorie deficit
and start consuming less than you need
you will take so much from food
and when the food cook for calories run out
you will start to take from your body fat
that's how a calorie deficit works
but the point is
for someone to achieve a weight of 19 stone
that is a significant amount of consistent
over consumption you can't gain that overnight
that's years of accumulated weight
and the reason this is important is
it's because that's who you are
that's what your lifestyle is
you know your weight doesn't go anywhere by itself
right your weight is not something that happens to you
it is something that you unintentionally
but still directly do to yourself
through your consumption habits eating
drinking and everything in between
and if you have reached a point
where your weight is 19 stone
and you have been there for a long time
it's because you have
a lifestyle a series of habits
a series of thoughts behaviours mindset
everything
creates this diet that far exceeds your body's needs
so coming back again to that example right
40 year old female 5 foot 6
weighing 19 stone doing around 5,000 steps a day
her calorie burn would be around 2,400 calories
per day so like I said
that is the number of calories required
to keep that person at 19 stone right
that's what maintenance is by definition
the maintenance of one's current body weight
and that's what I was getting to right when
when I went off in the Tangent
people look at their calorie burn
and they just measure it by size and think oh
that's great you know
I'll be able to die on high calories
and this they often overlook
overlook the fact that the calorie burn is where it is
because of the amount of body fat they're carrying
so like I started to touch on
a pound of body fat burns 2 to 3 calories per day
because your body needs to use energy
to keep that body fat alive
as a living tissue as a backup fuel source
it can't die
it has to stay alive because someday in the future
your body might need that
so your body has to keep it alive
and that costs energy so a pound of body fat
around 2 to 3 calories per day is the estimate
so if you are
if you are carrying 100 pounds of extra body fat
and you lose it
like quite a few of my clients have done over time
your BMR first of all
so there's two parts to this part one is your BMR
and this is where that extra
2 to 3 calories per pound of body fat
comes in it adds to your BMR your basal metabolic rate
the number of calories your body would expand
just performing basic functions
like keeping body fat alive
but many other things so um
if your BMR
this person's BMR I think was somewhere around 18
between 18 and 19 if they lost 100 pounds
their BMR would come down by 200 to 300 calories right
that's part 1 part 2 of the equation is
life gets easier as you get lighter so for example
let's see you exercise or let's see you go for a walk
um or you go for a run or whatever
try doing it
wearing a backpack full of bricks as an example um
I often say that's about weighted vests
when people lose like 10 kilos
20 kilos especially runners and like
you know imagine putting a weighted vest on
and going about your day now how would you feel
so imagine in fact not even exercise
imagine you woke up in the morning
and you had to put on a backpack full of bricks
and you had to go about your entire day
you had to get up
come down the stair get sorted do housework
get ready for work go to work
move around an office
all the things that you do in a day
but you have to wear this backpack full of bricks
weighing 20 odd kilos
24 7 right
how how many extra calories would you burn
how much more difficult would life be
how much more challenging
would a walk around the supermarket be
how out of breath would you get
walking up a set of stairs
having to carry that on your back
would make life more difficult
and if life is more difficult
your body is having to work harder
if your body is having to work harder
you are burning more calories
so that's part two of the equation
if someone loses 100 pounds yes
their BMR comes down
but also their overall calorie burn comes down
because life has gotten easier
you're no longer taking 100 pounds with you
everywhere you go
you're no longer taking the backpack of bricks with you
everywhere you go
going up and down the stairs is easier
it requires less energy less effort
so it burns less calories
so that's part two
so and this is why this is important
because if you are someone
who has achieved quite a high level of body fat
you're carrying quite a high level of extra weight
it is because you have a lot of things going on
that all add up together to contribute to a lifestyle
that is far in excess of your bodies needs
so and this is the thing I want you to focus on today
and this is such an important thing to understand
it's such an important lesson
coming back to this example
forty year old 5 foot 6
put them through a BMI calculator
and I go with what the high end of a BMI you know
what a healthy weight range might be
so someone who is 40 years old and 5 foot 6
the top end of the BMI
skill of what a healthy weight might be for them
would be 11 stones 70 something kilos
so and here's this is the tough part
so remember at 19 stones
their maintenance calories were 2,400
if that person manages to lose nine stones
completely transform their life
lose the weight they want to lose
their maintenance calories will come down from 2,400
to 18
and this is this is the important part right
anyone can lose weight
when you have a significant amount of weight like that
to lose 9 stone
if someone if someone is able to take the weight to to
to 19 stones
it's going to require drastic lifestyle overholes
to get to a healthier weight
you know it's not just someone trying to lose 10 pounds
or lose a stone you've
they've only got a couple of things to tweak
to bring their weight down again
to reach a high level of body fat
you have numerous things going on
that all need to be addressed
perhaps you're eating takeaways
multiple times per week perhaps you emotionally eat
perhaps you have the all or nothing mindset
where you eat one thing and a Friday
and you carry on until a Sunday night
maybe you binge drink every weekend
all
these little bits and pieces that add up to your diet
being X amount of calories over what your body needs
and your
your body has had to continue to get bigger and bigger
to try and match the level you're consuming at
so that's a great example right
let's let's put it at the opposite end of the scale
let's focus on this 11 stone person
their maintenance calories are 18
if they ate 2,400 calories every single day
those are the maintenance calories of a 19 stone person
their body would get bigger and bigger and bigger
until they are
until they had added enough weight onto the body
to make 2,400 the maintenance calories
does that make sense
so the reason this is important is
and this is the conversation I just had
with these three consecutive people
who were all of a similar weight
um
who had had looked through the things
and they've gone through periods of
gaining a few pounds again
over very short periods of time
and it's because they revert back to those
that old way of doing things
you know what one one occasion was Christmas
someone went through Christmas
and regained 5 or 6 pounds over the Christmas period
5 or 6 pounds over a couple
and it was body fat because
you know the weight was higher
but it came down and where it settled
it showed that was body fat
you have to over consume by a considerable
considerable amount every day
to gain 5 or 6 pounds over a 10 to 14 day period
and it it
it shows you how that person has gained that weight
in the first place because on
you know on occasions like Christmas
it's not just a few extras
it's thousands extra it's big days of eating or
and or drinking
and it's really important to get that message across
that you know for
you know
people come to me cause they want help losing weight
but they don't just want to lose weight
they want to lose weight and stop dieting
they want to lose weight for life
they want to bring yoyo dieting to an end
and you know I
I don't just do check ins with people and say yep
great job keep going
like I seem fucking countless other places do
people do coaches quote unquote
coaches do great job
keep going
it's not as simple as that
if you want to help someone for life
you have to transform them
you can't just transform the body
you can't just transform their weight
you can't just celebrate
going from one number on a scale
to another number on a scale
because that's meaningless
if the person doesn't change
so these three people that I'm working with
who are all of a similar weight
the thing that I'm going to focus on
very hard with them as I go through their check ins
is continually addressing and understanding
where what happens on these excessive consumption days
you know what what's the series of events
what is it that makes you want to consume at this level
so when when it's your birthday weekend
or when it's an anniversary or when it's a holiday
why do you have to come back three
four 5 pounds heavier
why do you have to consume thousands
and thousands of extra calories
over and above
what you need to be able to enjoy yourself
those are the things that we need to really focus on
cause we need to scale those down
and then that just comes from going
you know
it just comes from educating them for a start and
and then it will be very specific to the person
based on the purpose based on the reason behind it
like it will very wellly from person to person oh
it's my birthday
I just want to enjoy myself so the question then is
well why does it take four
or five thousand calories for you to enjoy yourself
remember
you only need to at the moment at your current weight
you only need 2,400 and a day you know
what's why do you need to have double that
what what is it you're eating
what is it you're drinking
what do you need to to reach that level for
and the thing is if that's what someone wants to do
then we have to have a very different conversation
where I have to say well
you know if that's how you want to live
if that's how you want to treat your body
then you're going to have to accept that
you're not going to get to the weight that you want to
be you know
imagine someone did get to 11 stones
and the calorie burn was 18 calories per day
I spoke about this in another podcast episode
you may have heard or not
but I work with a lot of people who want
and these are just the numbers I pick out this guy
cause I've used them multiple times now
but
I work with a lot of people who want the 9 stone body
but they want the 12 stone lifestyle basically
meaning
that they want to physically be a nine stone person
because that's the number that they've picked
that they want to see on the scale
but simultaneously they want to eat and drink
and act and behave and have the lifestyle of someone
whose weight should be 12 stone
and that's where the that's where things get difficult
right
cause those things do not compute you can't you know
you listening to this right now
you probably have weight that you want to lose
or maybe you're trying to maintain your weight
and you also have a bunch
of things that you like to do
that are related to food or drink
and it's not necessarily pecking one or the other
like it is never about pecking one or the other
it's never about stopping doing things
it's never about giving things up
it's about addressing the skill that you do things at
right everything's about the skill
it's not
it's not about restriction and never doing this again
and stopping that and changing that habit
so you never do it again it's never about that
that doesn't help
it is all about the scale that you want to do things at
and then deciding like
what kind of scale you want to live at
so me for example
right now
I maintain a body weight between 11 and 12 stones
I think all year round right
it fluctuates up and down throughout the year
and probably setting towards a higher end of that
just now
and it fluctuates up and down throughout the year
um
and that's because of where I live
I could live probably a stone less
you know I could make changes to the way that I live
but I don't want to like
why would I want to not do some of the things I do
why would I want to
try and scale back on some of the things I eat
why would I want to make adjustments to that
I'm already a healthy weight
so I don't need to scale things back any farther
if I really desperately wanted to be Lena
then I would have to look at some of my habits and say
right where can I start to make some adjustments
not remove things not stop eating things
not cancel things out but
I would have to scale my lifestyle down a bit
to match the size of body that I want to be
once I've used this thing quite a lot
talking to people and check ins
like once upon a time
having visible ABS was important to me
like it is to most guys at some point in life
um sadly I do not have the genetics to have visible ABS
for me to do that
I have to go down to the lower end of a living stone
and I have done it a few times
over the last five or six years
but I can't I can't stay there
for me to stay there
I have to make significant lifestyle changes
and it requires effort
and it has to be done intentionally
and if I don't continually enforce
the things that help me stay at that weight
then it comes back up to this kind of typical level um
when I stop drinking alcohol
my weight dropped very sharply
so I do set later than I have done in the past
because alcohol is no longer a part of my life
um but I still drink non alcohol options
much less of them um
but they still add calories in
but that's an example of scaling back
I mean I did kinda remove that
I replaced that
I suppose like alcohol versions for alcohol free
which reduced the scale of my alcohol consumption
and that had an impact on my weight
I could instead of having one take away every week
which we usually do on a Friday or Saturday
once gusto runs out
I could go to having one everyone once a month
and that could be something that
skills my diet down a bit
and skills my weight down a bit more
but
the conversations that I need to have with my clients
is that you know
especially as I'm getting close to a weight
you know like a target weight or a goal weight
or a number that they had in their head
someone might want to be nine stone
and they've been hovering around nine and a/2
and they start questioning their body
and questioning this and questioning that
and it's like you've you've reached the point
where you're going to have to go to extra length now
to get to that last half stone
is it really worth it you know
how much more are you willing to change to get there
do you want to have to make a change to this
do you want to have to reduce your
scale back your social life
scale back your alcohol consumption
scale back your snacking habits
scale back your chocolate fix every day
you know how much farther are you willing to go
with the reductions you've made to your lifestyle
to get to that point and then you just make
it's a it's a case of making the value judgment
for some people
losing that half stone will be more important
so they will make those changes
and they will scale things back
for other people
they'll have gone as far as they're willing to go
with their lifestyle so they'll give up
they'll give up on the 9 stone thing and say
do you know what nine and a half stone it is
because I would much rather be able to do X
y and Z
than have to focus so heavily in what I'm eating
to make sure my weight stays at nine and a half stones
and and
and that comes back to the whole 5,000 calorie thing
on a birthday
for these people
who are carrying higher levels of body fat
that's normal for them that's natural for them
that's where um
it's where they've been used to consuming you know
they don't buy an island yeah
it's a birthday course it's gonna be 5,000 calories
because I'm gonna have cake
and I'm gonna go for breakfast
and I'm gonna get taken out for lunch
and I'm gonna go for dinner
and lunch and dinner are gonna be three courses
plus sides plus drinks
you know and that's if I
5,000 calories might sound shocking to some people
but it's just
because that's not where your lifestyle is
that sounds like a lot to you
but there are many people who 5,000 a normal day
you know I've spoken about this in the past and people
they can't add those numbers up in their head
it sounds ridiculous you know
they think it's a massive amount of food
and it's not necessarily you know
at one Domino's Pizza and a bottle of wine
and you're already there
like if you got the kind of added this one day
it was like a double I checked to see
what
the highest calorie thing on the Domino's menu was
for this post I did one day
and it was a double I know it was a double decadence
but I can't remember what double decadence means
I think it meant
it meant stuffed crust and something else was
like cheese in the base or something
whatever it was and it was
3,800 or 3,900 I don't think it quite broke the 4,000
but that's a single pizza
that's a dinner a big
a big pizza at that but if you were able to eat all
like
it's not completely unrealistic to hit these kind of
levels of calories so yeah
when
we're talking about these higher levels of body fat
people who are carrying who are at 17
18 19 and above stone
they have much you know
they have much more to go through
than just creating a calorie deficit
and losing weight they have to identify and understand
and pick apart their excessive behaviors
the behaviors that took them to 19 stone
in the first place the behaviors weigh
5,000 calories on a Celebration or a night out
or a meal out is just the norm
it can't be the norm anymore
because if that continues to remain the norm
living at 19 Stone will continue to remain the norm
I I wrote an email a daily post today
where I said that
you can't just address your eating habits
it's not enough to eat more protein and eat more fibre
and make sure you're not hungry
you know
that might take you 10% of the way towards your goal
but there are going to be a bunch of other things
holding you back let's let's say addressing you
let's stick with the 19 stone example
let's say you you
you start have you improve the balance of your diet
right you you eat more vegetables more fruits
you bring more protein into it
that helps you reduce some of the other stuff
and let's say
that helps you get 10% of the way they are
and it helps you lose your first stone
but then after that you can't get any farther
so let's say you've got an unhelpful habit
where you eat when you're tired
but you create the tiredness
because you stay up past midnight
watching fucking TikTok videos
and you know find well
you've got to get up at 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning
so we start to work on sleep and we maybe say right
let's let's stop taking your phone to bed
set an alarm on your Apple Watch or your Fitbit
or whatever you've got
and leave your phone in another room
and we make sure you're in bed for ten PM right
and we start getting them
two or three extra hours of sleep
per night
now we've addressed the tiredness eating habit
cause I'm not as tired the next day
and it's helped them avoid reaching for food
that might take them the next 10% of the weight
and lose the next stone
but then they can't get any farther
so we've done the diet we've done the sleeping
what's next alcohol habits
they might be binge drinking
three nights every weekend
which horrifies me
cause of the amount of calories involved in everything
that goes whether it's not just the alcohol calories
it's the snacks the crisps you open
the takeaways you order the McDonald's
you get for breakfast the next day
to cope with your hangover
the takeaways
you get the next day to cope with your hangover
the lying about
doing nothing all day to cope with the hangover
let's say that instead of binge drinking
let's call it two nights three successive
let's say
instead of binge drinking two nights every weekend
they bring that down to one night every second weekend
now that could have a massive impact
that could take them the next 20% of the way they are
and help them lose the next
two stone so
it's just about addressing and identifying
each of these sorry
identifying and addressing
each of these areas
that contribute to your overall weight
because like
these people who I'm helping at the moment
whose weight is at 19 stone
they they a calorie deficit isn't enough like
you know
people always bang on about how it's all calories
it's calories as calorie
that just create a calorie deficit
just eat less and move more
it's not as simple as that
for most people
that will take you part of the way they are
but you get to a point
where you can't stick to the deficit anymore
so you then have to start addressing everything else
and that this is why people drop off and disappear
like people that I work with
they'll do great for a while
and then it will get to that point
where the skills are starting to slow down
and then you have the I'm having
I'll have this conversation that I'm having with you
where it's like right
here's the next thing that's going to have to change
your eating habits are great
we've got that along track
but for you specifically because you have farther to go
we're going to have to start looking at other things
can we look at increasing your activity
can we look at you know
improving your sleep your hydration your alcohol habits
your takeaway habits
can we take a look at why every time
it's a birthday or a holiday or whatever
you have to have four and 5 thousand calories a day
you know and we need to take that next step
to get to the next point and throughout each
each phase of that uh that can uh
cycle each phase of that cycle
each phase of that process
the person is changing so like if we
if we change the sleep habits
that's great that that knocks that off
that was one thing that took their weight and two
and kept at 19 stone
if we can change the alcohol habit
that's one of the things it took the weight to
and kept them at 19 stone and etcetera
etcetera so yeah
and and the the other thing to mention is like I said
take away from the 19 stone example
like
it doesn't matter how much weight you have to lose
if your activity level stays the same
it doesn't often like when someone's
when someone's around 19 stone
they're often not doing very many steps a day
cause it's quite difficult to be active
while carrying that much body fat
something that I often see that helps is that
as people start to lose weight
so let's say someone's 19 stone
and they're doing 3,000 steps a day
and we get weight down to 17 stone right
that's 28 pounds less they're carrying around
they feel a bit lighter
they feel like life's a bit easier
they're not out of breath as much
and as a result of that
it may look to sit down less often
so you know
at 19 stone they were doing 3,000 steps
but now at 17 stone they're doing 5,000 steps
and we often get this cross over
which kind of cancels out
yes you've lost two stone
and your calorie burn has reduced a bit
but you've increased by 2,000 steps a day
so your calorie burns increased a bit
and we often get this crossover where weight comes down
activity level goes up
and any kind of reduction in calories
gets replaced by an increase in calories
but in people whose activity level doesn't change
their calorie burn just comes down and down and down
no in that example
I did with the 2,400 calories and 18 calories
if someone's on 2,400 calories
I would have their fat loss calories set at 18
and a really good conversation to have
in those instances is to explain that
one day when you
you know when you reach a healthy weight
when you reach the weight that you want to be
the calories that you're on just now to lose weight
are going to become your maintenance calories
this will be the number of calories
you maintain your weight at
so these things that you're doing at the weekends
these four and 5 thousand calorie days
will need to get to a point where
that's not you anymore that's not what you do
anymore otherwise
you're not going to get to to where you want to be
and that can be quite hard hitting for a lot of people
you know that explanation
that once you've lost a significant amount of weight
you know you're not gonna
you're not gonna get to the weight that you want to be
and then add 5 or 600 calories back onto your fat loss
calories cause that won't be your maintenance anymore
your maintenance isn't going to be 2,400 anymore
cause you won't be that size anymore
you you won't be burning that much energy
you won't be carrying that much fat
it's gonna be much less
so it's it's really important if if that is you
and if any of this kinda resonates with you
and you're in that position
where you feel like you have a lot of weight to lose
something that
something that you have to acknowledge very early on
if you want to be successful
is that tracking calories won't be enough
eating more fruit and veg won't be enough
you know your
your weight isn't just where it is
because you don't eat enough fruit and veg
or you don't eat enough protein
you've got a lot of other things going on
they have contributed to it
so it's important to know very early on in the process
that a calorie deficit won't be enough
it will get you started and it will take you so far
but you'll get to a point where that's it
like you still need the calorie deficit
but it's not gonna get you any farther
cause you have to start changing some other things
anyway
hope that's been helpful for my first episode back
after not feeling particularly great
and I will see you back here again next week
until next time