It is an undisputable fact that when it comes to weight management there is nothing more important than tracking your calories in against your calories out. Body fat is simply the bodies’ stored energy, comprised of excess calories. The more fat your carry, the more stored energy you have, therefor requiring a calorie deficit (ingesting less calories than you burn) over time to reduce the amount you carry.
Some people try to dispute this theory, but it has been
shown to be the case many times over that it’s quite difficult to dispute out
of existence.
A calorie is a calorie. And body fat is excess calories
stored.
However.
A calorie to me is likely different to a calorie for you.
And it’s rather difficult to track calories in and out accurately that it’s
almost pointless even trying.
But does that mean you shouldn’t track? No, it’s good to get
an idea of how YOUR body works. However it’s pointless stressing over the singular
calories on individual days. Especially in situations where you may be out of
your comfort zone such as dinner out with friends or presented with new food
when out shopping.
Making a plan is important to try and combat these
situations if you are trying to reach a goal, but one day is unlikely to make
much of a difference no matter how hard you try to control it.
So what do I mean when I say a calorie is different to me
than you?
Have you heard of the saying that 1lb of fat is equivalent
to 3500 calories? It’s used as a bench mark to predict weight loss and gain
when working out calorie goals. If you set yourself a calorie deficit of 500
calories below maintenance every day, you can assume to lose 1lb of fat a week.
It’s a very useful metric, but it’s also very flawed.
Human beings are not robots, as much as we may be able to
predict some outcomes. And each of us metabolise our calories differently. We
may have individual medical conditions or traits, or be going through growth spurts
or declines. Our bodies have such individual needs that even if we weighed the
same, were the same height and sex, we would still metabolise the same meals
individually. If we both ate 2000 calories we may or may not get the same use
out of those calories. What you eat plays a part. Our digestive systems
themselves are so individual that we may not be able to even digest the same
foods the same ways. 100 calories in bread may only yield 50 calories in energy
to me, and even less to you.
So, even if we both reduced our calories by 500 a day and
tracked meticulously, it may well be that we burn off 0.7lbs of fat. Or 0.8lbs.
Or 1.1lbs. Who knows? Bodyfat loss is not linear due to the many flawed and individual processes that are involved.
Further to that nutrition labels, by law, can be 20% inaccurate.
So even the foods that we are consuming may not be what they say they are on
the label. Your lunch from the supermarket may say on the label that it’s 500
calories. But it may be 400. Or even worse, 600.
It’s impossible to know for sure.
What does this mean for me?
Tracking your calories may be a flawed system. But CICO is
still the key to fat loss. You just need to know how calories work for you and
figure out a system that benefits your individual goals. And when you find
yourself in a situation that makes tracking difficult against your goals, understand
that even if you had all the control in the world over that situation, that you
your body is so unique that it might not yield the results you expect anyway.
And it may well just be better to give yourself a break for a day and pick up
your tracking when you’re back at home.
Don’t get too hung up on hitting on your targets to the individual
calorie.
Weight loss is not a linear process anyway. So one day is
not going to make much of a difference in the long run.
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