Energy Balance
Energy Balance = Calories In Equals Calories Out
When you consume too much energy and burn too little, your body stores that as excess weight and fat.
To avoid this we need to create an energy balance between calories in and calories out.
So how can we maintained our energy balance?
We maintain an energy balance by regulating our energy intake (Diet) and energy expenditure (Physical Activity).
Any diet that causes you to lose fat did so because it created a calories (energy) deficit.
Calories that are consumed that are equal to the calories burned is known as Maintenance (maintain weight)
Calories consumed that are more than the calories burned is known as a Surplus (weight gain)
Calories consumed that are less than calories burned is known as a Deficit (weight loss)
Daily Calories Requirements
The total calories burned in a day is summed up as our Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). TDEE is the measure of how we burn energy throughout the day.
TDEE Components
BMR Basel Metabolic Rate - 60 % of daily energy (heart beat, blood circulating, general functioning)
NEAT Non Exercising Activity - 15% of daily energy (light housework, walking around, blinking, tapping your foot to music)
EA Exercise Activity - 15% of daily energy (resistance exercise, sports, running, exercise)
TEF Thermal Effect of Food - 10% of daily energy (eating & digestion)
BMR is based on your age, height and weight, if you are larger you will require more calories, if you lose a lot of bodyweight you will need less calories.
From the chart you can see that Exercise Activity only equates to 15% of daily energy and is only one part of the equation when trying to gain or lose weight.
NEAT is also 15% of your daily energy so try to be more active day to day by walking and moving around as much as possible.
TEF equates to 10% of your daily energy spent, so just by eating and digesting food, burns 10% of your daily calories.
Side note: The majority of people under consume protein. Protein requires more energy to digest, so by increasing your protein levels you will be supporting muscle repair and increasing your TEF output.
“You cannot outwork a bad diet”
“Calories Out” through exercise simply isn’t enough. We can increase our protein intake, we can move more during the day and exercise regularly, however if our calorie intake is too high (surplus or at maintenance) we will gain or maintain weight. Therefore we need to tick all the boxes for calories out and then focus on the calories in.
Making a Plan
By using a macro calculator we can find a rough estimate and starting point by finding our Total Daily Energy Expenditure (Our Daily Calorie Requirements)
Tracking calories is the easiest and quickest method of finding out whether you are eating the correct macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) and finding the total calories that are being consumed. There are a number of apps available to download which makes this process as simple as possible. (Eg. MyFitnessPal)
Once we have the macronutrient breakdown and a rough estimate of how many calories should be consumed each day, it would now be best practise to consume a maintenance level amount of calories for a period of time. We do this for a few reasons, firstly we need to now whether this is your actual maintenance level. (the macro calculator gives a rough estimate), so eating at this level whilst monitoring weight for a period of time is good practise.
Secondly, depending on your current eating habits, we may need to reset and improve our metabolism. We are looking to build a sustainable physique that is healthy and strong, and to achieve the best results (Eg. weight loss) we need to put our bodies in the best possible place before attempting to go into a calorie deficit or surplus.
Side notes:
We should preferably plan to stay at maintenance levels for a large portion of the year.
Moving into a calorie deficit to lose weight should be restricted successfully for about 8-16 weeks. As we move into a more restricted diet our metabolism will be stressed and eventually the body will start to fight back and try to hold on to weight. By doing shorter deficits and then slowly returning to maintenance level will ensure continued success.
Its important to remember that when you have lost weight through a deficit, you will be lighter and therefore your new maintenance will be a lower calorie amount.
Being in maintenance for the majority of the year will improve your physique, as focus can be put on building strength and muscle which will assist in burning more calories in the long term, and improving body composition.
So What Now?
Trying to set up a sustainable diet plan is difficult and takes time. We are all busy individuals so trying to commit 100% to a diet from day one is going to take some work.
The main areas to focus in are:
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency - consistency with everything is the secret to success
Try to improve one area at a time - it can be overwhelming to tick all the boxes from day one.
After you find out your calorie requirements you’ll probably find your protein is too low, so attack this first and devise a plan on how you can increase this without causing too much change to your diet
Next, look at your vegetable and fruit consumption, and try and add one to two vegetable options preferably to each meal
Then start looking at your carbohydrate and fat choices, if you think you could find a healthier option, try swapping them in, or find a healthier way to prepare the food you like.
Following the correct guidance and consistency will enable you to create a successful long-term diet approach. You can make small sacrifices for a small amount of time, but generally you need to design a plan that allows you to eat foods you like and allow you to perform and feel great.
Can I Help?
I’d like to help, I can set up your macros and calorie requirements to best suit you and whether you are looking to get strong and build muscle but also mindful you’d like to lose some weight or better balance your life, I can help. If you haven’t already, fill in the macronutrient form linked here and lets start.