Energy Balance - Calories In vs. Calories Out

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “diet?” 

I’d bet the cash in my pocket that you’re imagining miserable days sprinkled with tiny portions of bland foods and an occasional smoothie as your “treat.”

Or maybe I lost that bet and I owe you six dollars and eighty-eight cents. Perhaps you think of popular diet plans like Paleo, Whole 30, and Weight Watchers that promise you’ll lose a certain amount of weight as long as you eat within the boundaries of that particular plan.

Now I’m not saying the girl who pretends to enjoy the kale smoothie every morning at work is completely wrong. You can lose or gain weight following ANY eating plan, depending on your energy balance, but the thing that devastates New Year's Resolutions is that you might not see any difference at all. Even worse, you could invest any amount of money, effort, and faith into one of the many diet options out there only to end up farther from your goal.

So what makes the same exact diet plan work for some people and fail miserably for others?

Look at it this way. When planning out a budget, which I hope you do, you most likely follow some type of pre-established formula. Although the formula is the same, someone with a seven figure yearly income will have a budget with much larger numbers than a person with a five figure income.

What does this have to do with your nutrition?

Well, our metabolism is actually much more similar to a budget than most of us realize.

Energy Balance

Your body requires a certain amount of energy (calories) each day just to facilitate and sustain life and nothing more. That number of calories is called your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR. In addition, you use energy to perform daily tasks like walking, exercising, and even metabolizing food. Together, these factors make up your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE. 

In other words, this is the number of calories you have to “spend” on any given day. Regardless of what you spend it on, eating in a surplus of your TDEE will result in weight gain - even if it's "healthy calories" - and eating in a deficit will undoubtedly cause your body to tap into its fat storage for energy causing a net loss in weight for that day.

The bottom line is that fat loss is a numbers game just like budgeting. If you can burn more than you take in, you will lose weight. The way you spend your calories is far less important than the number itself in terms of weight loss, so start tracking and make a habit of it!

If you're concerned about body composition, check out my article on Macronutrients.

To estimate your BMR and TDEE, check out the Katch-Mcardle BMR Calculator. You'll need an idea of your body fat percentage to calculate your lean body mass. This chart is a decent way to get a rough estimate of where you stand.

I'm sure you have some experience, opinions, or questions about this! It’s your turn to let me know what you think!

What are your goals?

What’s holding you back?

What questions do you have?

Whatever is on your mind, connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, or email informedfit@gmail.com.