WHAT ARE CALORIES So, in simple words calories are energy and we all know that to survive and function our body ...
WHAT ARE CALORIES
So, in simple words calories are energy and we all know that to survive and function our body we need energy, and the unit to measure this energy is called calories
so every function in our body need energy that means it needs calories
so when talking about calories there are three things
1. Calories IN
2. Calories OUT
3. Energy Balance
Calories In vs. Calories Out
The calorie in vs. calorie out equation is based on your food intake and your daily metabolic needs. The food you consume supplies calories. Those calories are used to support your daily metabolic needs, including the energy needed for basic physiological functions and for physical activity.
If you consume more food than you need (calories in), the excess calories could turn into extra weight. But if you burn more calories than you consume (calories out), you burn stored body fat for energy and you may lose weight.
‘BMR’ is Basal Metabolic Rate. This denotes the calories you burn at rest every day, Your BMR supports the daily functions your body must do simply to exist - brain and heart function for example. If you were to lay down all day, not move, eat or drink - you are still burning energy just to keep you alive.
‘NEAT’ is Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Notice the words ‘non-exercise - it means the calories we burn through movement outside of planned exercise. A ny movement that is unplanned is NEAT - getting out of bed, walking to the kitchen to have breakfast, running for the bus, walking to the lift at work, shifting around in your seat, walking to grab lunch, and everything in between.
‘EAT’ is Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. If you choose to head out for a walk, run or do a weights workout, this counts as EAT. It’s simply an exercise that you have planned.
‘TEF’ is the Thermic Effect of Food. These are the calories we burn through digesting food and absorbing the nutrients from food. Some foods require more energy to digest which is why you’ll often see articles about ‘foods that help boost your metabolism’ - they don’t boost it, they just take a little more energy to break down. Protein is one of these food groups - your body uses more energy to break protein down. It’s one of the reasons why everyone recommends eating protein when you are attempting to lose weight.
‘TDEE’ is Total Daily Energy Expenditure. The sum of these 4 processes equates to TDEE. The amount of energy your body requires to run successfully. TDEE is often used in order to calculate calorie intake for people looking to lose or gain weight. If you want to lose weight you have to consume fewer calories than your TDEE, this creates a calorie deficit. If you want to gain weight you have to consume more calories than your TDEE, this creates a calorie surplus. Obviously, if you eat the same amount, you will be in calorie maintenance and your body weight will remain the same.
The 4 variants of energy expenditure are broken down like this, this is an average;
BMR = 70% of TDEE
NEAT = 15% of TDEE
EAT = 5% of TDEE
TEF = 10% of TDEE
We cannot do much to change our BMR, it is influenced by our sex, height, weight, and body composition. As we know diets rarely work in the long term.
People are often surprised that our EAT or planned activity doesn’t make up a larger portion of our expenditure. It’s only 5%! Bear in mind that most gym-goers may spend around an hour a day in the gym - whereas our time out of the gym takes up so much more of our time! This is why there is such a large push on ‘getting our steps up’, it is the easiest and fastest way to engage in more physical activity.
Aside from weight loss, getting our NEAT up will help with our stamina, our endurance, our strength, and our cardiovascular fitness.
Please note that this is a very basic formula for weight loss and gain - there are many other factors that feed into this. My hope in giving you this information is not to help you manipulate your body to change size but instead to give you a better understanding of the terms the diet industry uses. Information is power, fully understanding these terms will help you to cut through the diet culture BS that is being sold to us every day.
I hope this information helps you realize how unsustainable a long-term calorie deficit is - especially if you are limiting your calories well below your BMR. Your body will simply not be able to sustain you - have you ever craved food when you are on a diet? That is your body crying out for nourishment. When I started actually feeding my body properly, I was amazed that I wasn’t obsessed with the idea of eating chocolate all the time!
One last point - have you ever worried about burning what you’ve eaten? Made the promise that you will do an extra hard workout in exchange for a burger? Well, I hope you realize now that you don’t need to do that. The food we consume is not solely burned off through exercise and activity.
Energy Balance
Thanks for Your Time
Team Califit India
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