A Calorie Deficit cannot EVER exist – here’s why!
Most people are told that “weight loss = calorie deficit.” But the truth is, a calorie
deficit is a myth. Your body is not a simple calculator where you just subtract
calories and lose fat. In this video, Dr. Jason Fung explains the science behind
why focusing only on calories fails, and why hormones, insulin, and fat
metabolism are the real keys to healthy and lasting weight loss.
When people try extreme dieting or drug-induced appetite suppression, they
often experience side effects like the dreaded “Ozempic face” — hollow cheeks,
sagging skin, and an unhealthy look. This happens because subcutaneous fat
(the fat under the skin) gets burned instead of visceral fat (the dangerous fat
around your organs). The result: you may lose weight, but you don’t look or feel
healthy.
Fasting works completely differently. Instead of just cutting calories, fasting
changes your hormones and metabolism:
�� Insulin drops, allowing fat burning to start
�� Growth hormone rises, protecting muscle and skin elasticity
�� Autophagy activates, repairing tissues and preventing loose skin
�� Visceral fat is targeted, which improves health and appearance
�� Brown fat (through beiging) is activated, boosting metabolism naturally
That’s why people who fast look healthier, stronger, and younger compared to
those who follow harsh calorie-restricted diets.
In this video you’ll discover:
✅ Why calorie restriction almost always fails
✅ The science of subcutaneous vs. visceral fat
✅ How fasting avoids the “Ozempic face” problem
✅ The role of hormones in fat burning and aging
✅ How fasting improves skin health, prevents sagging, and supports long-term
fat loss
�� If you’re serious about losing weight without losing your health or youthfu
look, this video is a must-watch.
�� Subscribe now for more science-backed videos on fasting, weight loss, an
metabolic health. And don’t forget to like ��, comment ��, and share this vid
with anyone who still believes in the calorie deficit myth!
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⏱️ Chapters / Timestamps
0:00 – Introduction: Why “calorie deficit” is a myth
1:10 – The calorie counting problem explained
2:30 – How calorie restriction affects your body
3:45 – Subcutaneous vs. visceral fat: which one really matters?
5:20 – Why fasting is different from dieting
6:40 – Hormonal impact: insulin, growth hormone & fat burning
8:00 – Fasting and skin health (no sagging, no hollow cheeks)
9:25 – Autophagy and natural skin tightening
10:45 – White fat vs. brown fat (the beiging effect)
11:50 – Key takeaway: Why calorie deficit cannot ever exist
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�� BOOKS:
�� The Obesity Code – Reviewing underlying physiology of weight loss an
how low carb diets and fasting can help.
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disease and dietary strategies. ?…
�� The Cancer Code – Scientific exploration of how cancer develops
?…
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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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#Fasting #FastingMimickingDiet #DrJasonFung #WeightLoss
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Thank you, Dr. Jason for this explanation.
Try telling a nutrition specialist that. They’ll assure you it’s all about calories in and calories out. They just will not budge AND that’s why the medical profession sucks these days. Very few doctors understand what you are explaining nor do they care. I have been listening to you for a few years and have also found that this is true and that as you lose weight you also don’t end up with that awful sagging skin. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
It’s been two years and three months since I lost 51 pounds. I have not regained 1 pound of that weight. I eat low-carb most of the time. Which means I don’t eat more than 30 total grams of carbs per day. At each one of my meals, I eat until I am fulland don’t eat again until I’m hungry. I lost 51 pounds and have not regained any of it in two years and three months.
So true!!
@@sherwinl899 I know isn’t it great? I didn’t have to lose as much but I started over 4 years ago and managed to lose 20 plus pounds eating low card/keto/carnivore. I do OMAD most days or restricted time eating. Same as you I eat till I am “comfortably stuffed” and call it quits. I also don’t listen to my GP’s advice. 😂😂😂I’m 73 in excellent health and refuse to let a doctor tell me that I need all kinds of intrusive tests.
This is so true 👍 I’m 56lbs down in 7 months & I was told to use Jason’s methods by my dermatologists as I had terrible Psoriasis over 60% of my lower body & life was miserable. 7 months on my Psoriasis has disappeared completely & I feel amazing. You can 100% eat yourself healthy & Jason was my key to a new life 👍
@@Cocora22 IF and fasting are great, but they’re not the be all end all of health. I’m pretty sure you should still do health check after a certain age. and even if fasting/IF decreases risks of a panoply of health disease, lower risk doesn’t mean impossible.
At the end of the day, I still think that’s a personal decision, just letting you know, take care!
As the proud owner of The Obesity Code and my favorite The Complete Guide To Fasting, I just want to say thank you Dr Fung for your dedication to our health.
Jason Fung for a Nobel prize!
And Dr. Jonathan Baylor I believe he wrote the book before Fung did called the calorie myth
I agreed 100%.
If tried all sorts of diets over the past 30 years. After fasting, no calorie counting, I am the slimmest/healthiest I have been.
How long do you fast? IF worked for me the first time but now I’m plateaued
@@VirgosGroove3Hi I’ve been doing this 7 months & have lost 56LBS but like you my weight loss slowed. Fast for 16hrs daily but eat pretty much all my carbs at 12 noon but they are all complex carbs as i don’t eat bread, pasta & potatoes are a once a week treat. In the evening I eat a good amount of protein & lots of low carb vegetables to keepme full up. This kick started my weight loss again as in the evening I’ve used all my carbs up from 12 noon by 5.30pm when I eat again & my evening meal is super low carb so my window to burn fat is much longer. Hope this help
@@Creative884_ that does help! I actually did something similar last night, I stopped eating at 5pm and my last meal was low carb. Then I went for a walk then fasted till 10am the next day, I felt good this morning.
You lost weight because you cut your calories by reducing your eating window, just because you didn’t count the calories doesn’t mean they were not reduced. There have been studies showing that when people intermittent fast, they cut calories, even if they are not trying to.
@@robertbrown6531disagree as i am 100% not on a calorie deficit as for the first 4 months i was counting.
I lost 50 pounds this year, 250 to 200, after reading your book. Thank you!!!!
I never knew reading burned that many calories. I’m gonna start reading full time! lol
@@dusan78😂😂😂
From Tanzania🇹🇿
Dr. Fung, you’re my favorite Dr in obesity prevention. I’ll never count calories, instead, I quit sugar and refined carbs
A couple years ago I walked into the office and an obese woman, who I hadn’t seen in a while, said “wow, what happened to you?” I said “I lowered the area under my insulin vs time curve.” Dr. Fung set up the foundation for my understanding by reading The Obesity Code. There are too many anecdotal examples to say the hormonal theory isn’t true. Thanks Dr. Fung.
I went from 230 to 140. Then went back to 240 over 2 year of depression and grief over loss of loved ones and long job insecurity that resulted in a layoff of my whole department. Now 223 and try to lose weight again. The emotional connection to food is a significant factor for me apparently.
💞 so many of us can relate to carb addiction. I hope you keep trying and I wish you all the best 💞
I can relate to your scenario. I lost 90lbs about 8 yrs ago and gained it back plus 30lbs when I turned back to binging with the grieving process. I’m presently 35lbs down. I know the grip of food addiction. I encourage you to set an intermittent fasting routine like, 16/8. Even if you have trouble getting certain foods out of your diet right now, the intermittent fasting will still work. It’s working for me!
So sorry for your loss. Low carb is the easiest way. Mostly meat and eggs without the filler fake “food”.
@@rithawarren2802 Great advice. We don’t have to do things ‘perfectly’ right off the bat, just take a first healthy step like IF. 💞
I agree with @rithawarren2802. Start fasting. Do whatever you can, and don’t even try to change what you’re eating… yet. BUT do stop snacking, and include whatever junk you eat as part of your meals, preferably with the carbs being last. Once you’re comfortable fasting, then shorten your eating window, and maybe eat fewer meals. If you started with three meals, move down to two, again without changing what you eat, but still no snacking and focus on protein intake.
What will eventually happen is you eat the protein, fat, and veggies first, and you get less and less hungry for the carbs at the end. Also, you will start to see and feel results, so it’s more motivation to not eat the junk. Then, instead of trying to stick to restrictive food rules you didn’t really want to do, the junk falls away easily (or more easily).
Also, try to be patient and not make this about the end result. Make it about enJOYing the process.
I have lost over 300 pounds following Dr. Fung’s among others advice. You help saved at least 3 people in my family.
A testament to how much of a RIP OFF traditional medicine is. Going to the Doctor without some first aid need is wasting your money and time.
and know this from a person with10 cats…VETS are WORSE. In fact the FDA does not even review what they are doing because nobody cares. These clowns make their money off the public THINKING they are similar to a Hospital for people. Not even remotely the same beyond the drapes they make sure look like a docs office. With the resources online you have no excuse not to be a total caretaker for your animals.
@stephenrblv Veterinarians are bought and paid for by giant pet food companies. Full stop.
❤
@stephenrblvthis is probably true in USA. In Finland, and most other European countries, we have universal healthcare. It’s not about making profits but treating people effectively. The driver is complete opposite. So our healthcare is focused on curing people, not about making money. There are of course private health centers which you can choose to use and pay or you get it through your employer but for general public it’s through tax funded universal healthcare.
You..Dr Fung have stopped me from thinking about buying mounjaro as a last resort! I found your YT videos & bought both of your books and have lost 56lbs,it’s not simple, sometimes not easy BUT it works and I will do this to maintain my weight from now on and will always continue to IF when I need it! Thank you from a life long yo-yo 57( past low fat) dieter
Not eating fat as energy source instead of carbs is huge mistake, keto diet means low carb but HIGH FAT diet. Weight loss is nothing else than storage fat burning by your body. So teach your body burn fat again. Funny fact is that more animal fat you will eat, more your own fat you will burn. More weight you lose.
Love JF’s tone of always sounding so frustrated like, “How many different ways do you want me to tell you that CICO doesn’t work?!” 😂😂😂
Keep going, JF! Getting the message out slowly but surely.
I’ve seen some people report that even though they dropped to 1,000 calories a day they still didn’t lose weight. Not sure if they are telling the truth. It could be that their bodies are damaged in some way and metabolism is compromised. Fung’s hypothesis may not apply to healthy people. I am currently counting calories while on a 99% animal based diet. Packed a small amount of weight on putting progressively more full cream in my coffee. Now I plan a 500 calorie deficit a day for 60 days, either through reduced consumption or increased exercise. Plan is to lose 4kg and maintain muscle.
Every single time without exception when they test people in an environment where they can’t cheat and things are measured accurately, it works 100% of the time. So hmmm…
@@Ryan_DeWitt I suspect you are right although if one was to go on a calorie restricted diet it would make sense to eat nutritious and healthy food.
That is by far the best and most simplest explanation of why calories in / calories out isn’t the correct solution. Excellent!
I lost 54 lbs. in 5 months following your advise on 16-8 fasting, quitting sugar and white bread.
When i started on a low carb diet I began to lose weight. Just doing intermittent fasting and regular exercise did not do it for me. All three together was the answer, but most important was the low carb diet. Low carb levels = low blood glucose -> low insulin released -> body burns body fat. This is the key to weight loss, and how to keep it off.
True, but in people with chronic stress, the high cortisol levels will triger the production of glucose from other sources even with zero carbs intake.
So eliminating stress is also important.
@@LeteNoffOn a low carb diet the body doesn’t hold onto sodium in the body. Low sodium levels can increase cortisol. People should increase salt intake.
You know what happens when you cut carbs? You tend to eat less calories. shocking.
You know that feeling when something just makes too much sense to ignore? That was me halfway through The Forbidden Code of Herbs. I’ve done the diets, the supplements, the workouts…but none of it felt connected. This book tied it all together. For once, my health doesn’t feel like a battle. It feels like something I finally understand
This sounds like a bot. Look at the number of likes on the comment.
People still need to see this! Change and understanding is slow. thank you
This 9 min video is the GOAT of Fat loss wisdom
Dr Jason needs to be protected at all costs. All this invaluable knowledge for free. We have already seen weird things happen such as his YouTube account being hacked. God bless.
I’ve intermittent fasted for about 25 years. It kept my weight in check, but in my 40s, I started gaining weight. This January, I started eating one meal a day. I’ve lost eight pounds and my periods are better, sleep better, feel better. My family and some friends think I am insane. They just cannot fathom that someone can only eat one meal a day. I am working hard to sell them on intermittent fasting because most of them are overweight and inflamed. Dr. Fung has been influential in educating me on what is happening internally when we fast and when we constantly eat or eat the wrong foods. I’m so thankful for you.