More than Just Calories

Now that we understand that weight change is a matter of Calories in vs. Calories out, let's take a little bit deeper look into this concept. While this level helps us understand the idea of the number we get when we step on the scale, there is a bit more to things than just that number.

As a Personal Trainer, the most common answer I get to the question of what someone's goals are in hiring me is that they want to "lose weight." If that is all a person wants, please simply refer to my previous article and that will tell you everything you need to know to lose weight. No training required. No expensive gym membership. No complicated workout schedule.

However, it has been my experience that most people do not merely want to "lose weight." What they really want to do, though they may lack the necessary understanding of the terms, is change their body composition. What they typically want is to reduce their body fat and often increase lean muscle mass. This is very different from just losing weight, especially when it comes to nutrition.

While the Calories in vs. Calories out will determine any changes to our overall weight, if we want to alter our body composition and ensure that the weight we lose is from body fat, we need to understand how those Calories break down into macro-nutrients, more commonly known as "macros." That is, within our Calorie intake, how many of those Calories are from carbohydrates, how much are from protein and how much are from dietary fat?

A very over-simplified way to view these macro-nutrients would be that carbohydrates provide "active energy" or energy we use when performing physical activity. Usually, this is for exercising or any sort of heavy exertion. Protein is typically used for building bodily tissues, most notably muscle. Fat is, among other things, used for "slow burn" energy and provides the energy we need for such things as a relaxing stroll, breathing and other non-exertion activities.

We will get more into the specifics of each macro-nutrient. For now, it should be understood that the ideal is to make sure you get Calories from all three macro-nutrients. If you are working on losing fat, it is beneficial to increase the amount of protein you eat and, for most people, decrease the amount of dietary fat. Carbohydrate intake is often a matter of "whatever Calories you have left" though some people may reduce carbs on less active days and increase them on days with higher levels of activity.