There's More To It Than Calories In vs Calories Out

Calories in vs calories out isn’t as simple as just eating more / less or exercising more / less.

Your body has several mechanisms to counteract the calorie changes you make in your diet or exercise routine.

Base metabolic rate (BMR) is how many calories your body’s cells would burn if you were to lay completely still for an entire day.

Your Body Will Always Adjust

If you create a caloric surplus for yourself (consuming more calories than you burn) your body will try to fight this surplus by increasing base metabolic rate meaning that your body will burn more calories at rest counteracting your weight gain.

If you create a calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume) your body will decrease base metabolic rates in order to preserve energy reduce your weight loss.

It is important to understand, however, that whenever the body tries to counteract changes you make (a phenomenon known as negative feedback) the change will only be reduced and never reversed i.e the changes in your BMR can never cause weight GAIN in a caloric deficit or weight LOSS in a caloric surplus.

So if you want to increase BMR you can do so by eating more calories, but that will not help you lose weight.

The purpose of this article is to make you aware of how the body “fights back” when you try to lose weight.

So what can you do about this? To quote the study authors:

“a stepwise, incremental fashion, utilizing small energy deficits to ensure a slow rate of weight loss. Participation in structured resistance training program and adequate protein intake are also imperative. More research is needed to verify the efficacy of periodic refeeding and reverse dieting, in supporting prolonged weight reduction and attenuating post-diet fat accretion.”

Conclusion:

When embarking on a weight loss journey, understand that it is a process and take it slow, the slower and more sustainable the journey the less risk of having to deal with your body fighting back, using strategic refeed days or diet breaks are tools to have at your disposal during a dieting phase.

Source:

Eric T Trexter. Metabolic adaptation to weight loss: implications for the athlete. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014; 11: 7.

Chris

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