“Understanding Weight Management: Principles to Stay on the Right Track”
Healthy weight control and striving to achieve the body you want can be a stressful journey. Especially now with so many diets and products on the market that seem to cause more trouble than to fix the problem. There is a lot of confusion in this industry because it is a highly profitable market, and weight management can be quite a puzzle to solve.
Personally, it took me a lot of time to figure this out. But it was a matter of understanding a few basic principles. Logical scientific principles, nothing out of this world.
Understanding the science behind weight loss is definitely an asset for healthy living. So let's get started.
🌮 Explaining food power and macros
Food is made up of smaller particles, sub-units known as macronutrients, also called macros. Each macro has units of energy per gram defined as calories. Everything you eat has a specific number of calories. For example:
Chicken has around 239 calories per 100g.
Bananas have around 89 calories per 100g.
Avocados have around 160 calories per 100g.
But... how come you get a different amount of energy if you are eating the same amount of food, which is 100g?
This is because macros have different calories of energy per gram depending on their type.
🥩 Protein - 4 calories/gram
🥯 Carbohydrates - 4 calories/gram
🥑 Fat - 9 calories/gram
Food is made out of a mixture of protein, carbs, and fat. If we take 100g of a chicken thigh as an example, it contains:
24.8g of protein
8.2g of fat
It should have around 173 calories because:
(24.8g of protein) x (4 calories/gram in protein) = 99.2 calories
(8.2g of fat) x (9 calories/gram in fat) = 73.8 calories
Therefore: 99.2 + 73.8 = 173 calories
🥳 Congrats! Now you know what calories and macronutrients are and how to calculate them in your food.
🏃♂️ Calories in, calories out
Energy in food (calories) fuels your daily activities. Cells convert food into ATP through respiration. This process is happening throughout the day and keeps you energized! The calories you consume are used to support the functioning of your body.
We eat calories, and calories give us energy. Through non-exercise or exercise activities, we burn those calories. But think, what if we consume a lot of calories and don't move at all? Well, that is how weight gain happens.
Every person requires consuming a specific number of calories to meet their needs. For example, an adult male could require 2500 calories daily to sustain his life. When it comes to managing weight, it is crucial to recognize that consistently consuming calories beyond this range puts you in the zone of weight gain unless you effectively burn off those excess calories through non-exercise or exercise activities.
The only way to gain weight is by taking in more calories than we expend through all of our activities, including metabolism. If we take in more food energy into our bodies than we use to power cellular reactions, physical movement, and generate heat, the excess is stored as fat. In other words, our waistlines obey the principle of conservation of energy: energy is neither created nor destroyed but merely converted from one form into another.
Scientifically, the problem is not in the macronutrients we are eating, but the quantity of calories that we consume and do not burn out. Hence, the ultimate key to understanding weight management is: calories in, calories out.
⭐️ NEAT is underrated
We are experiencing a population-wide positive energy balance: more calories in than calories out. Nowadays, it is pretty common to be sitting in the office from 9-5, and foods high in calories are relatively easy to find.
This issue makes physical movement more important than ever, especially non-exercise activities known as NEAT.
NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) refers to the energy expended through everyday activities that are not structured exercises, such as walking, fidgeting, doing household chores, or taking the stairs. These activities contribute to the total energy expenditure of an individual. NEAT activities are important for several preventive health measures as they:
Impact the overall calorie burn throughout the day, helping to create an energy deficit for weight loss or weight maintenance.
Promote movement and physical activity in daily life, crucial for reducing sedentary behaviour.
Improve cardiovascular fitness, enhance metabolic rate, and increase overall energy levels.
By making conscious efforts to engage in NEAT activities, individuals can improve their overall physical activity levels and contribute to a healthier lifestyle.
🥗 The diet we choose
Carbs are not the enemy. Well, technically not. Carbohydrates are made up of smaller units of sugars, such as glucose.
The reason why we love carbs so much is that the conversion of glucose into ATP (energy) is the easiest for cells, and cells are lazy.
🥱 Cells are lazy.
One suggestion for dieting is combining carbs with a decent amount of protein. This slows down digestion since the breakdown of amino-acids is harder and requires more energy and effort from your cells.
Don't forget that our bodies need fat macronutrients too! Fat isn't going to kill you, but try finding the right sources and consume them in moderation.
It's all about following balanced living advice. I mostly eat single-ingredient foods and balance my daily intake of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. It works for me.
Some people go even further and track the daily macronutrients and calories they consume through fitness apps. This helped me gain knowledge about the calories certain foods have, and it's a great learning tool. However, as soon as I developed an understanding of what I was eating, I stopped using them. That's how I did it.
⚙️ Tools and Resources
Here are some tools and nutrition tips that helped me in my journey. Feel free to check them out and start exploring these health and wellness insights. Be mindful that accomplishing your fitness goals will take time. Make mistakes and learn from them. Good luck!