Today I’m going to help you achieve your first push-up!

Yep, I know that sounds super confident. But it’s because I have a push-up progression plan that’s helped loads of clients in our Online Coaching Program crush their first push-up. 

We help people get their first push-up and we're really good at it. Learn more:

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What’s the best push-up progression plan?
• 4 push-up variations (to progress to a full push-up).
• What is the proper form for a push-up?
• 2 “must-do” exercises for achieving a full push-up.
• The “Get Your First Push-up” Workout Plan.
• Getting your first push-up (Next Steps).

Follow our guide and you’ll be doing “Earth Downs” in no time:

Let’s get started.

So you’ve decided to build a home gym? That’s great! 

We’ve been helping people train from home for the past 12 years, and today we’ll share with you our top 16 ideas for building a gym in your garage (or apartment).

We’ve already covered how to stay in shape while staying inside, so today we’re tackling how to create your own home-gym space! 

Oh, and if you’re wondering what to do with all this home gym equipment, we have guides that will show you step by step.

Download our Free Home Workout Guides!

Here’s what we’ll cover in our guide, How to Build a Home Gym:

• Home Gym Level 1: Household Objects (Macgyver-style)
• Home Gym Level 2: A Pull-Up Bar, Kettlebell, and Yoga Mat
• Home Gym Level 3: Dumbbells and Gymnastic Rings
• Home Gym Level 4: Squat Racks, Benches, and Barbells
• Building a Home Gym Workout (Putting It All Together)

As you might be able to tell, we’re going to start with things you might have around your house. We’ll level up all the way to a legit home gym setup that you could charge a membership fee for. 

It’s time to learn about The CICO (“calories in, calories out”) Diet!

You probably have questions like: 

Steve, does CICO work? 

Will counting calories help me lose weight?

Okay, what the hell IS a calorie?

Well my friend, you’ve arrived at the right place!

I’ve been writing about this stuff for 12 years, and our team of coaches help their Online Coaching clients with all types of diets (including CICO). We are really flippin’ good at it!

Is CICO right for you? Maybe! Let our coaches help you decide.

Here’s what we’ll cover to answer the question: “What is CICO?”

• What is the CICO Diet plan?
• Is losing weight really about calories?
• Does calorie counting work? (CICO and weight loss)
• The problem with CICO (Humans are bad estimators)
• Tips for sustainable weight loss (Next steps)

It’s time to get started!

What Is the CICO Diet plan?

“CICO” stands for “Calories In, Calories Out.”

The CICO Diet is a weight-loss strategy where the participant tries to tip the balance of what they eat (calories in) against what they burn (calories out).

That’s pretty much it.

It doesn’t really matter what food you eat, because there are no restrictions on any specific food groups with CICO. 

It also doesn’t matter what exercise you do (if any).

As long as you get the equation right, and the calories you eat are lower than the calories you burn on a daily basis, you’re good to go.

The CICO Diet is really simple and has helped quite a few people lose weight. 

This is likely why the CICO Diet has grown in popularity in the subreddit r/loseit. 

Is Losing Weight Really About Calories?

Yes. Losing weight actually does come down to burning more calories than you consume.

It’s about as close to fact as we can get in nutrition science.^[1]

As we address in our guide How to Lose Weight (The 5 Rules of Weight Loss), our bodies obey the Laws of Conservation of Energy and Thermodynamics: 

To lose weight, we need to burn more calories than we consume regularly. 

With this knowledge, it makes sense to design a diet specifically around this principle: match the calories you eat (in), with the calories you expend (out).

No other food rules need to apply:

• Forget about Keto and low-carb.
• It doesn’t matter if a caveman ate it.
• Who knows what the Mediterraneans ate anyway?

As long as you meet your calorie goal, you can forget about the rules of any specific diet.

This appeals to me personally, because I’ve created my own guidelines for how to eat, and I don’t pledge allegiance to any particular dieting strategy.

Because I’m a mind-reader, I know your next question is likely…

Does Calorie Counting Work? (CICO and Weight Loss)

In principle, CICO works.

In practice, it becomes a little more complicated. 

Okay, fine, A LOT more complicated.

That’s because a lot of things influence “calories in.” 

Ditto for “calories out.”

Let’s break some of this down.

Here are some of the things that impact “Calories In:”

• Appetite: how hungry we are is going to drastically affect how many calories we consume. Hormones, our body composition, and tastes and preferences will all impact our appetite.^[2] 
• Calories absorbed: the preparation of food will affect the bioavailability of calories. For example, cooking starches (like potatoes) generally increases the calories available.^[3] Your own individual gut microbe can also influence the amount of energy extracted during digestion.^[4] So will the macronutrient content of the food you eat.
• Psychological considerations: your stress levels, sleep quality, and certain conditions like PCOS can all impact the regulation of hormones, which can influence your metabolism and appetite.^[5]

Oh, and all of the above assumes we’re actually tracking calories accurately. Which pretty much nobody does. Ever. But I’ll get to that shortly. 

And remember, this is only half of the equation.

Here are some of the things that impact “Calories Out:”

• Energy burned while resting: your Basal Metabolic Rate is a count of how many calories you burn at rest and will be controlled by your age, weight, height, biological sex, muscle composition, etc. 
• Energy burned through Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): do you fidget a lot? That increases your NEAT, or the energy you burn doing stuff other than exercising. Think tapping your feet, twirling your hair, using your hands when speaking, etc. Even just an hour of this kind of movement can accumulate an extra 300 calories burned.^[6]
• Exercise: of course, how much you intentionally exercise will impact your calories out, although perhaps not as much as most people think (more on this later).

This is only scratching the surface on what determines “calories in, calories out.”^[7]

The important thing to consider here is that none of the above invalidate the basic premise of an energy deficit being necessary for weight loss. 

These factors will just influence one end of the equation or the other. 

For example, let’s chat about protein and CICO:

• Eating plenty of protein has been shown to help keep people feeling full and satiated.^[8] So lots of protein can help folks lose weight, not because it changes the requirements for weight loss, but because it might allow them to get through the day less hungry (lowering their “calories in.”)
• Adequate dietary protein can help with building and maintaining muscle.^[9] The more muscle someone has, the more calories they’ll need to maintain it (raising their “calories out.”)^[10]

Read our guide “How much protein should I eat?” for more on this subject.

To recap this section: from a biological perspective, eating fewer calories than you burn is 100% necessary for weight loss. 

But all sorts of things impact the amount of calories we eat and the amount of calories we expend. 

This is going to lead us to….

The Problem With CICO (Humans Are Bad Estimators)

The majority of the problems people have with CICO is that it allows nutrient-deficient food to enter the diet, only limiting “how much.”

They’ll argue that people should be eating fruits and vegetables, lean protein, avoiding processed foods, and blah blah blah… 

We all know this. 

You don’t need someone else telling you to eat your veggies.

This isn’t the problem with CICO. 

The problem with CICO is it’s really hard to estimate “calories in” and “calories out.”

Like, REALLY hard. We humans are TERRIBLE at it. 

Take “calories in” or how much we eat: people generally UNDERestimate how many calories they consume by about 30-40%.^[11] Even dieticians, who are specifically trained in nutrition science, underestimated how much they eat.^[12]

“That may be true Steve, but don’t worry about me. I read the label on everything I buy so I know exactly how many calories I’m eating.”

Well, are you aware that the FDA allows a 20% leeway on total calories identified on packages?^[13] Meaning that 100 calorie drink of Orange Juice might actually be 120?

If you’re a food manufacturer, which way are you going to lean towards? Especially when you know people might scrutinize the calories of your nutrition label in an effort to lose weight.

This isn’t just paranoia: this study found that packaged snack food generally contains MORE calories in it than advertised.^[14]

Yeah…and remember, this is only half of the equation. 

It’s about to get even worse.

People are also really bad at estimating “calories out.” 

When folks self-assess how many calories they burned by exercising, they’re generally WAY OFF, by as much as 50%!^[15]

Oh, and those fitness trackers we wear? They’ve been shown to be inaccurate, some by up to 90%!^[16]

That’s why we made this infographic on tracking “calories out”:

This is the main problem with CICO: we’re stuck with educated guesses for “calories in” and “calories out.”

So we underestimate the calories we eat by 40%. And then we overestimate how many calories we burn by 50%.

No WONDER we think our metabolism is broken if we can’t lose weight!

The truth is we’re unknowingly eating too much, and/or moving too little.

Ugh.

Heck, even how many calories you need a day (your baseline or Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is an estimate, something we acknowledge in our calorie calculator, which you can play with right here:

THE NERD FITNESS CALORIE CALCULATOR

 

In summary: balancing “calories in against calories out” is really all quite messy when you get right down to it.

Does that make all this hopeless?

Not even remotely.

But it does give us some context if you can’t seem to lose weight.

Tips for Sustainable Weight Loss (Next Steps)

This post is not made to dissuade you from trying The CICO Diet.

I actually encourage everyone to track their food and calories for one week, because it’s often an eye-opening experience on how much they’re truly eating.

If possible, take a few days and use a cheap food scale instead of just eyeballing it. You’ll be shocked an actual portion sizes of some foods!

When it comes to sustainable weight loss, here at Nerd Fitness, we encourage two paths:

• Make small tiny changes towards “real food” (like the Nerd Fitness Healthy Plate above).
• Make small tiny changes towards a strength training practice.

Both of these strategies can dramatically – and positively – influence “calories in” and “calories out” respectively.  

In our Guide to Healthy Eating, we explain why every website tells you to eat vegetables (which we also tell you): vegetables are full of nutrients, contain lots of fiber to keep you full, and are generally low in calories.

Eating lots of vegetables, or “real food,” will help you naturally lower “calories in.”

How about another example to think about? Here are 200 calories of a blueberry muffin:

Compare it to 200 calories of broccoli (Thanks to wiseGEEK):

Which one do you think you’re likely to accidentally overeat for your calorie allotment?

Right.

For our other strategy, our Strength Training 101 series explains why growing strong is important for fat loss: 

Building muscle takes a lot of calories (and so does maintaining it).

In other words, a stronger version of yourself will require more calories:

This will naturally raises your “calories out.”

The trick with it all is the “make small tiny changes” bit.

We’ve seen over and over that small steps (eating one new vegetable a week, a simple bodyweight workout) create momentum. Over time, these small changes are the keys to permanently getting healthy.

The entire Nerd Fitness Coaching program is based on this premise.

So what should you do now? Pick a small change and get going!

Here are some options for a healthy new habit:

• Calculate an estimate of how many calories you need (knowledge is power, even if it’s an approximation)
• Learn proper portions for some of the food you eat
• Serve one new vegetable with dinner this week
• Start a walking practice (even just 5 minutes at first is great)
• Try a simple beginner strength training workout (here’s one you can do in your living room)

The most important thing you can do now: start!

The exact “small tiny change” doesn’t matter so much, just pick one you feel comfortable with and get going! Once that habit becomes sustainable, pick a new one! And so on and so on…

We’ve seen it time and time again here that this is the true path towards success.

Boom!

Still here? Want some more guidance? An exact plan to follow on where to go next?

Alright, you got it, but only because you’ve been nice this whole time.

#1) Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.

You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the image below for more details:

#2) If you want a roadmap for getting in shape, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app will help you exercise and eat better, all while you build your very own superhero.

Interested?

Try your free trial right here:

#3) Join The Rebellion! We have a free email newsletter that we send out twice per week, full of tips and tricks to help you get healthy, get strong, and have fun doing so. 

I’ll also send you tons of free guides that you can use to start leveling up your life too:

Alright, I think that about does it for this article.

Now, your turn:

What are your thoughts on The CICO Diet?

Do you have a strategy for balancing “calories in” and “calories out”?

Think I’ve got it all totally wrong? 

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: Make sure you read the rest of our content on sustainable weight loss:

• The 5 Rules of Weight Loss
• Why Can’t I Lose Weight?
• Which Diet is Right for Me?

###

GIF Source: Millhouse, Barney Thumbs Up, Joker, A Beautiful Mind, Leo “duh,”

Photo Source: A Surprise Performance Appraisal, Against the Current, There is always a bigger fish, Dim Sum Trike, miam miam, 

Let’s start training with resistance bands!

Whether you got exercise bands in the mail from Amazon during quarantine, or they’ve been sitting in your closet since the 80s, you’ve finally decided it’s time to learn how to use the darn things. 

Either way, you’re in the right place! 

That’s because we specialize in home workouts. Our Coaches build custom training programs for whatever equipment you might have available (or even “no equipment”).

Want a customized workout plan you’ll ACTUALLY do? Learn more:

If you have a set of resistance bands, today we’ll show you how to put them to good use.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this guide:

• The Nerd Fitness Resistance Band Workout (with video tutorial)
• The 10 best resistance band exercises
• What are the best resistance bands? (Types and product recommendation)
• How to use resistance bands (5 tips and tricks)
• How to do assisted exercises with a resistance band.
• Can you lose weight with resistance bands? (Weight Loss 101)
• When should I do a resistance band workout? (Next steps)

It’s time to join the Resistance…

Before you fork out some cash for a personal trainer, read this guide!

It’ll help you spot the difference between a bad personal trainer and an AMAZING trainer. 

And trust us, having the right trainer can make ALL the difference in the world.

There’s nothing worse than spending 6+ months in a gym (and thousands of dollars) with a trainer, only to step on the scale and realize that you haven’t made any progress.

It’s the worst.

I’ve worked with good trainers and bad trainers over the past 16 years, have worked with the same online personal trainer since 2014, and we have a team of 15 personal trainers on Team Nerd Fitness.

Long story short, we know our stuff, and we’ll give it to you straight.

Whether or not you want to check out our 1-on-1 Online Training Program, this guide is going to help you with all the details.

Learn how an online personal trainer can change your life :

In this guide we’ll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to personal trainers – both in-person and online:

• #1) What do you need from a personal trainer?
• #2) How to find a good personal trainer.
• #3) What are the signs of a bad personal trainer?
• #4) What certifications should a personal trainer have?
• #5) How much does a personal trainer cost?
• Pros and cons of hiring an online personal trainer.
• How to hire a personal trainer: next steps. 

Strength training will change your life.

If you want to lose weight, gain muscle, and/or just look and feel better, strength training will do just that.^[1]

In this comprehensive series, we’re going to cover EVERYTHING you need to know about getting strong.

By the way, hi. I’m Staci Ardison, Senior Coach for Team NF, with a 455 pound deadlift, and strength training has changed my life.

Here’s that deadlift by the way (at a bodyweight of 150 lbs): 

I help men and women get strong with our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, and in addition to this strength series, I’d love for our team to help you get strong too:

Start strength training safely with our Coaching Program! Learn more:

In this introduction to Strength and Resistance Training, we’ll cover:

• What are the benefits of strength training?
• What IS strength training?
• Can I strength train for weight loss?
• Am I too old for strength training?
• Will lifting weights make me bulky?
• I don’t like gyms, can I still strength train?
• How to start getting strong today (next steps).
• 5 Strength Training Workouts for Beginners
• 6 Gym Workouts For Beginners

This is also quite a lot to absorb, so we’ve combined this article along with the rest of our strength articles into a “Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know” guide.

Grab it free when you join the Rebellion by putting your email in the box below.

All of us have plenty of stress in our lives.

After the last year we’ve had, your stress level may have quadrupled.

If you find yourself responding by “stress eating,” know that you are not alone.

One of the top issues faced by clients in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program is emotional or stress eating. After 2020 being all 2020 like (and 2021 having its own challenges), these episodes have only increased.

You’re not alone in this. Learn how a Nerd Fitness Coach can help.

Today, we’re going to show you exactly how we address emotional eating with our clients, including when it’s – GASP – actually okay to stress eat. 

Here’s what we’ll cover in today’s guide:

• What is stress eating? (a video from NF Kitchen)
• What causes stress eating? (Lesson #1: Playing Detective)
• How do I stop mindless eating? (Lesson #2: The Stress Response Menu)
• How common is stress eating? (Lesson #3: Learning Self-Compassion)
• Is it ever okay to stress eat? (Next steps)

So you’re having trouble working out consistently?

I get it. 

Life is busy and hectic. You probably wear multiple hats in your life.

Hopefully, one of them is a pirate hat:

If you are having trouble exercising regularly, know that you aren’t alone. 

Not being able to work out consistently is one of the top issues facing our clients in Nerd Fitness Coaching. Luckily, there are some tips and tricks that help them, which we’ll share with you right now too. 

Want a customized workout plan you’ll ACTUALLY do? Learn more:

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

• Step 1: Why you miss workouts (and why it’s okay).
• Step 2: Building a (specific and realistic) workout plan. 
• Step 3: Why “all of nothing” hurts workout consistency.
• Step 4: The key to getting in regular exercise (make it fun).
• Step 5: How to build workout accountability.
• Step 6: Exercise and workout motivation (and the problems with it).
• Step 7: How to find time to work out.
• How to start working out consistently (next steps).

Let’s jump right in!

It’s time to learn how to portion control!

There are all sorts of “tips” and “tricks” out there, but today we’re going to show you the best method.

What makes me so confident?

For many of our Online Coaching clients, we create portion control strategies for weight loss that don’t suck. Today, we’ll share them with you too!

No shame, no judgement, just results! Learn more about NF Coaching.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What are 5 methods for portion control?
• How to learn portion control (the best method)
• What is the Correct Portion Size Part 1: Protein and Vegetables
• What is the Correct Portion Size Part 2: Carbs and Fats
• How to use portion control containers and plates
• How to control portion sizes when eating out
• How to portion control for weight loss (Next steps)

Let’s do this thang!

Continue reading →

So you’ve decided you want to get fit?

Great!

Now what? There is SOOO much out there, it can be overwhelming.

You end up collecting information for weeks…but take zero action.

If this sounds like you, we understand. It’s frustrating! 

No worries though, you’re in the right place to kick it into gear. We’ve helped thousands of beginners get started (and reach their goals!) as part of our online coaching program. 

Today, I’ll share with you 3 different ways to get things going, that have been tested by nerds just like you. 

Not sure how to take your first step? Click here to learn how we can help.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• How do beginners get fit? (3 ways our clients get started)
• “Get Fit” Strategy #1: Exercise
• “Get Fit” Strategy #2: Nutrition
• “Get Fit” Strategy #3: Mindset
• The key to getting in shape: consistency

Let’s jump right in.