You could lose 2 pounds a week eating nothing but Twinkies & MC. Donald's…
Yes, this is me eating a "Dan sized.." I mean "Family sized" calzone.
You are either losing fat, muscle, or bone (if you’re extremely unlucky). That is basically the only way humans lose weight. —Aside from water weight of course.
I will tell you about losing fat since most don’t want to lose muscle.
Fat loss is simple math.
If energy output exceeds the energy input, you will lose weight. — This is because fatty acids are oxidized to match the energy requirements of a cell.
When it comes to macros, there are no “good” or “bad” foods. The only difference is the quality of the food. Chicken and rice are better for us than chicken and a donut. But if the macros of the donut and rice are equivalent to one another, then it's fair game, and we can stay on track.
Example: If 1 cup of white rice is 50 grams of carbs and 1 donut is 50 grams of carbs, then the macronutrients are the same, and you can eat either or; because our bodies only respond to protein, fats, carbs, and calories. It doesn't know we replaced our rice for a donut of equal value.
Macronutrients are proteins, fats, and carbs. Every food has macronutrients, whether it be donuts, chicken, chocolate, potatoes, etc...
Macros is a number system:
1 gram of protein is 4 calories.
1 gram of carbs is 4 calories.
1 gram of fat is 9 calories.
Fat has four major roles:
Fatty acids are used as building blocks for “glycolipids” & “phospholipids” which are essential elements of biological membranes.
Fatty acids alter several proteins molecules by the “covalent adjunct,” which aims them to membrane areas.
Fatty acid derivatives work as hormones and intracellular carriers.
Fat stored as neutral fats known as “triglycerides,” which are uncharged esters of fatty acids with glycerol and are used as fuel.
So, if you want to lose weight you will have to lower your caloric intake each day, (unless you fast, then this happens naturally.)
Instead of counting calories, honestly, this can be achieved by cutting out fast acting carbs (sugars, pasta, rice, etc.) at night and having a side of veggies with each meal. Most vegetables are lower in calories, and fill you up.
If you do have fast acting carbs, have them after you workout to make the most efficient use of them. After a workout, your muscle glycogen is depleted. Fast acting carbs turn into glucose which is then broken down into glycogen. Either glycogen goes to the muscles and liver, or they go to fat stores.
Since working out depletes the muscles of glycogen, you can strategically time and ate fast acting carbs in the right quantity, so your muscles absorb all of the glycogen with no spill over, no glucose converts to fat.