The biggest lie in the weight loss business, is that if you decrease your calories by 500 calories a day, you will
lose one pound a week. There are 3500 calories in a pound, but there are no data to suggest that this is true. In
fact, when calorie restriction of caloric excess has been studied, all calories are not alike. It makes a great deal of
difference if you are eating carbohydrates or not. The magic number seems to be about 8 grams of carbohydrate
per feeding. If you eat less than 8 grams of carbohydrate at a meal, your body stores fat less efficiently. In fact
it’s possible to gain weight cutting out 500 calories a day, if you are eating too many carbohydrate calories. The
issue is fat storage, not caloric excess or deprivation. There’s no science that suggests if you decrease your
intake by 500 calories a day, you’ll lose weight. It’s just not true. It depends on how much carbohydrate you are
eating.