Natural Energy Balance

Hi friends,

Today I'm going to talk breifly about nutrition, and how your body's requirements change according to how much additional exercise you WILL be doing. I've had the opportunity to take a few university level nutrition courses, and one of the most important (and basic) concepts that they teach is about natural energy balance.

Now what is natural energy balance? In truth, it's exactly as it sounds. It is all about intake (calories you eat) and output (calories you burn).

If Intake = Output, weight is maintained;
if Intake > Output, weight is gained;
if Intake < Output, weight is lost.

Simple, right? If your goal is to lose weight, all you need to do is make sure that your natural energy balance is negative. That is, your intake of calories is less than the calories you burn.

However, it is very important to understand that for healthy weight loss, you don't always need to change both sides of the natural energy balance equation. If your intake remains the same, but you increase your calorie burning activity, you're still in a negative energy balance, which means that you'll be losing weight.

If you want an extreme example, think of the Michael Phelps (Olympic swimmer) diet. He consumes 12 000 calories a day! (If you don't believe me check out this link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403803,00.html

To put it into perspective, the average adult male should consume no more than 2500 calories a day. How is Phelps still so fit? He spends a stupid amount of time in the pool and gym. His calorie expenditure in the gym, plus his basal metabolic rate (BMR; to be discussed in a future post) is equal to or greater than 12 000 each day. Now think of that next time you stop the treadmill early!

At first, try to make moderate changes to both sides of your natural energy balance. For example, switch out one soft drink a day, and take the stairs, and you're already on your way to losing a few pounds and getting healthier!

Until next time,

Ben
Complete Nutrition Canada

p.s. Feel free to comment on posts or ask questions!