‘Eat Fewer Calories’ is the WORST diet plan, ever!
Your body has complex biological systems that influence hunger, metabolism, insulin, fat storage, and energy use. Understanding these systems may help explain why losing weight can sometimes feel difficult—and why sustainable weight management may require looking beyond calories alone.
In this video, we explore the science and ideas behind Automatic Weight Loss and how the body's metabolic state can influence whether it stores energy or uses stored body fat for fuel. 🔬
🧠 In This Video, You'll Learn:
🔹 What does “Automatic Weight Loss” really mean?
🔹 How your metabolism influences body weight
🔹 The connection between insulin and fat storage
🔹 Why hunger and appetite matter when trying to lose weight
🔹 How fasting can influence the body's metabolic state
🔹 Why simply “eating less” may not explain everything about weight loss
🔹 How the body decides whether to store or use energy
🔹 The biological factors that can affect sustainable weight loss
🔔 Subscribe to the channel for more science-backed health insights:
⏱️ Video Chapters (Timestamps):
00:00 — Why Do Some People Struggle With Weight Loss?
00:16 — The Power of Your Default Status
00:27 — What Organ Donation Teaches Us About Defaults
01:30 — Is Your Default to Gain Weight or Lose Weight?
02:34 — How Eating Habits Changed From the 1970s to Today
03:47 — Why Food Is Now Everywhere
04:32 — Eating Anywhere, Anytime
05:56 — What We Eat: Natural vs. Ultra-Processed Foods
06:24 — Why Are We Eating? Hunger vs. Reward
07:03 — How the Default Changed From Not Eating to Eating
07:47 — The Cookie Example: Willpower vs. Environment
09:08 — Is It Really About Willpower?
09:40 — The Second Key: Structure & Guardrails
10:18 — Why “Eat Fewer Calories” Isn't a Complete Plan
11:45 — Creating Structure for Automatic Weight Loss
12:02 — What to Eat, When to Eat & How to Eat
13:29 — The Third Key: Fasting
13:53 — Insulin, Food Energy & Fat Storage
15:14 — The Keys to Successful Weight Loss
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📌 YouTube Medical Lectures (for specialist physicians):
▶️ The Roots of the Obesity Epidemic: https: // • The Obesity Epidemic, Explained
▶️ Therapeutic Fasting – The Two Compartment Problem:https: // • Fasting and Weight Loss – Solving the…
▶️ Does Calorie Counting work?: • Why Calorie Counting rarely leads to …
▶️ Two Big Lies of Type 2 Diabetes: • Two Big Lies about Type 2 Diabetes
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Cameron Long
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We need a time machine to take us back to the 70s.
Miss those times so much.
I know the feeling.
I hear you but I would miss all the tech and I hate commercials so being able to subscribe to add free experiences is wonderful, as well as selecting what I watch, instead of having just a few channels to choose from. I’d also miss all the great health advice I’ve gotten over the last 6 years from YouTube. But I’d love to go as a vacation!!!!😉
My sign is Libra too.
You have a mind of discernment and the freedom of your own choices. There are ways to have those 70s times, if not totally, obviously ❤
i think by the early 70’s there were already tons of garbage foods being produced: chips, oreo cookies etc. in the early 60’s, ‘TV dinners’ came on the market and mom would get them on occasion when her job prevented cooking and as a ‘special’ thing to have! (they were pretty awful but the tray was cool!) By the late 60’s the first burger king came within bicycle riding distance, which was also a ‘special occasion’! So i think saying we were atill eating more healthily might be slightly later than what we experienced. Excellent explanations and advice, Dr. Fung! You are helping so many and most definitely me: a 60 year emotional eater, anxiety eater, grazer, binge and volume eater until 18 months ago, gradually down 75lbs, 10-15 left to go and Never going back, despite grappling with occasional mild transgressions! off blood pressure meds, arthritic pain almost completely gone, feeling pretty happy and sharp! Cheers! it can be done!
I found that if I eat more than 100 grams of protein a day, I’m not hungry and feel very good. In the morning, I will eat some ground beef and a tin of sardines. The rest of the day, I don’t feel hungry. It’s amazing and so simple. SMH 💯 Jason Fung Rocks!!!
Thank you for sharing. I struggle with constant hunger, although I fast 18-6. I’ll try your method.
@AlanWil2 I agree. I’ve tried it and it works. The only snag is that I stupidly eat biscuits and cakes from time to time and I soon fall back to the carbohydrate diet that I know does not work. Don’t ask me why. It’s more a hollowness, a craving, it’s not hunger, I eat sweet carbs even when I’m not hungry. Don’t tell me I’m stupid – I already know that. It’s my stomach that wants the sugars, definitely not I.
@davidparkins1808struggle is real
My issue is at night I get a sweet tooth lol
@Jacquie_Kirk_111 eat TONS of vegetables too. Fill your stomach with VEGGIES alongside lean proteins.
Dr fung…i read your obseity code and diabetes code..i am currently 120kg 6ft person…
Doing 16:8 fasting from 3 days… feeling good…more to go….i am obsese 2 and pre diabetic now…
Thank you i finally understand science behind the body.. and importance of hormones like insulin especially…
As someone who has also had success with the information in obesity code, I suggest doing it 80% of the time. I was 210 lbs, at 6 ft. Now I’ve maintained 6 ft 175 for years and intermittent fasting is just how I live. Once you do it a while your body goes with it because it’s a much more natural state. Good luck, you’ve got this!💪🤘
@joetrolo7076thanks man.. appreciate your reply…it will define motivate people like me
How did you get so heavy? I’m 6 ft and 76 kg. Your insulin levels have nothing to do with why you gain or lose weight. People who are overweight may happen to have higher insulin levels and may happen to see those levels fall, as they lose weight. That doesn’t mean that lower insulin levels were responsible for the weight loss. Insulin is the effect and not the cause. Jason doesn’t understand the science or does understand the science and has been presenting a false narrative to be able to sell more books.
This is extremely important to help the world to get healthier!❤❤❤
longest ive gone on water fast is 72 hours but next week i’ll try longer
My longest was ten days. Made it easier as it was right after a hurricane, I had no power, no cooler, no stove, too hot to exercise, that made it convenient. Have not been able to go that long since then.
I’ve done the 72 as well and plan on doing it again soon
Good job!
You probably have a lot of fat to lose, then. How big is your waist?
@dan-qe1tbwhat does a 72-hour fast have to do with their weight? I have a 32 inch waist and I’ve done 72 hour fasts
It’s tough. There’s so much crap food out there and constantly available.
True. Willpower and discipline will help you achieve your goal. Same as getting a university degree or whatever other accomplishments you’ve had in your life.
And it’s addictive
It’s just like when everyone smoked. It becomes normalized, even though many know it makes no sense
Eat TONS of vegetables. Replace your high calory dense foods, with green veggies. Raw, steamed, whatever. So long as your meal is half veggies, you will lose weight
@Stealth55555be careful with that too many oxalates are not good for you and very easy to accumulate when eating lots of greens. I disagree with overuse of greens. Grass-fed cheddar cheese like kerrygold are great things to add to your diet that don’t taste like rabbit food and have huge benefits
Most of us grew up in an era where all the advice which purported to come from the medical community was actually bought and paid for by the food industry. That’s why we were told that if we want energy throughout the day, we needed to eat more frequently. Of course, they made it sound somewhat scientific with ideas like “eat 5-6 smaller meals per day instead of 3 larger meals”. The logic sounded good – the same number of calories distributed more evenly throughout the day. What’s to dispute. Little did we know that they were grooming us for their efforts to create highly addictive foods – they knew we wouldn’t be able to eat smaller meals more frequently. So we ended up eating 5-6 times a day, with no checks on the calories. We bought it, they sold it. That’s why this message needs to be hammered home wherever possible. We need a total re-education on what eating means.
No zoom meetings. Phone call meetings: Eat the cookie from your brown bag lunch 😊
This falls in line with Dr. Fung’s video around 6 years ago, on How to Lose Weight Automatically. One of my favorites and I have a card printed out, from his white-board presentation, that I carry. And yes, as a kid in the 50,s and 60’s, he is spot on……you should have eaten more at dinner or whatever…..if you wanted a snack……I can still “hear” my Mom saying that!
do you have a link to the specific clip please?
@nunki1118 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A33eMFcud04
Great vid, doc! Thank you! 😊
My ex gained a lot of weight during covid and read your book the Obesity code. I looked okay by regular standards that I was 6′ 210 lbs. I’m sure I was insulin resistant, probably pre-diabetic. She went from almost 300 down to 150 and maintained for years. Within 3 months of intermittent fasting, I was down to 165. After adjusting and adding more protein and exercise I’ve maintained 6 ft 175 for a few years now. Same as when I was in high school and I’m 62. My A1C is 5.0 I take no medications and do not wear glasses. Intermittent fasting is a natural way to go. 5 years into it I do it about 80% of the time. If I’m in a position with friends and it’s outside my window, but they’re eating, I will join them. There’s no need to be rigid. And it’s amazing when you are metabolically sound you can still have a Reese’s Sundae every night. I thank you so much for indirectly turning me on to intermittent fasting, it changed my life and now it is just how I live my life.
Schools in the 70s did NOT have “snack time” in the schedule. Now they do, it’s criminal, kids bring junk food for 10 snack time and junk for 1 snack time, the schools schedule this, it’s criminal.
The food they have at many school lunches is ultra processed
Hi Jason, I grew up in the 1970’s so in fact I never snacked in my whole life : 3 meals only, and always whole foods (here in France we use a lot less ultra processed foods). Unfortunately at 50 I had gained the 30kg overweight like so many do, too….. Then I decided to go omad low carb and I lost all my overweight in 2 years :))) Thank you for the video !
I seen a guy eating McDonalds in the Dentist office waiting for an appointment, I thought what da?!
as someone who competes semi pro in strong man, using this in my losing phases has skyrocketed my strength and general progress(bones snd tendons included).
its given me a genuine edge on my competition as its so easy and fast now for me to get back to weight.
please listen to this man and read his books!
I recommend your content to everyone Dr. Fung.
Dear Dr. Fung, back in 2022 I read your book and started doing OMAD (23:1). I lost 15 kg in just 2 months, and the only cardio I did was two 20-minute walks each day. Unfortunately, my family was not supportive and kept telling me things like, “Aren’t you eating breakfast?” and “What are you doing to your body by not eating?” Eventually I fell off the wagon and gained the weight back. Now, in July 2026, I started OMAD again (focusing on low GI food just like in 2022) and lost 5 kg in the first month, even without cardio because of plantar fasciitis (which is now healing). I’m still doing OMAD and this time I’m sticking with it no matter what anyone says. I feel great, and the fat is finally coming off again. Thank you from the bottom of my heart — your work has truly changed my life ❤.
Dr. Fung, thankyou for attempting to be a positive for for humanity. I really mean that dude.
This is why I NEVER buy anything that demands a subscription, EVER. I absolutely hate companies that do that and they don’t get 1 red cent from me.
All people should start cultivating the skill of fasting. Once you’re trained, it gives you a better health, a better body and more freedom. Everybody who experienced the absence of food noise will never go back.