Calories are like sleep, saving money & smiling more. We know they're simple to master & yet most of us don't want to admit that they're part of the reason we aren't where we want to be. Whether that's our mental health, physical health or financial health, they're all pretty simple at their core, but we like to convince ourselves they complicated, as it makes us feel better about how inconsistent & ill-discliplined we are.
Calories are the only reason you will gain or lose weight consistentantly, over time. Small fluctuations may happen as a result of what you eat, how you sleep, water intake, menstrual cycles, if you've had a sh*t this morning... But none of this will have a lasting impact like calories do. In simple terms, they are the bodies energy intake & if you eat more than the body needs, it will store it as fat (unless you are weight training in which case it will be used to build more muscle). Therefore to lose this fat, you need to eat less than the body needs, which encourages it to find the energy from elsewhere (fat or muscle stores usually).
To lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit (burning more than you consume) between 100 & 500 calories under your maintenance (calories you need to stay at the same weight). To gain weight, you need to be in a calorie surplus (consuming more than you burn) between 100 & 500 calories over your maintenance (nearer the higher end for building muscle which is a very calorie costly process).
It's important not to run with this & start eating 1000 calories under maintenance for fast results because although, yes it will work initially, it's is not sustainable. This means your body will start to panic-store all the calories as fat when you start eating properly, in case you do it again. This is the most common way people end up yo-yo dieting which, as well as being inefficient, is a very unenjoyable way to achieve your fat-loss goals.
Factors that affect how many calories you need daily are summed up as "Total Daily Energy Expenditure" (TDEE). This includes calories burned from EAT (exercise), NEAT (daily movement), BMR (calories burnt at rest) & TEF (calories burnt in digestion). Your NEAT can change with your job, your travel, taking the stairs etc. This is, in my opinion, the easiest way to burn more calories & help reach a calorie deficiet.
If you want to have a play around with calories & get an idea of where you are at, download the 'MyFitnessPal' app for free. I could go on forever about how fundamental calories are in your fitness journey, but I'll leave that for another Sunday... Have a great week!
Elliot Hutchinson // 12.05.2024
© The Coaching Collective
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