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I am sure that you have heard about the energy balance: calories in = calories out. This stems from the First Law of Thermodynamics, which states Accumulation = Energy In - Energy Out. From this, people extrapolate that in order to lose weight, we should decrease the energy in (i.e. eat less) and increase the energy out (i.e. exercise more). [...] * Read The Full Article To Discover If The Energy Balance For Weight Loss Make sens !
While this may sound reasonable, we have to ask ourselves: is this realistic? Can we actually control our calories in and our calories out? For anyone who has tried dieting, you probably already know the answer: NO!
Let's look at it objectively. How much awareness do you really have over your calories in? With what accuracy can you pinpoint how many calories you consume in one day (and then again for several years)? Maybe to the nearest 100 calories, assuming you accurately measure all your food and you have a reliable calorimeter nearby. What about food labeling, you may ask. In case you were not aware, the calorie count listed on food labels can understate the actual caloric content of the food by as much as 50%! Plus, most of the healthy foods do not have convenient food labeling (although you can certainly get an estimate from online).
So how accurate do you need to be? According to the traditional notion, if you consume just 10 calories more each day, then after 30 years you will have gained 60 lbs! 10 calories? Are they joking? 10 calories is less than a tortilla chip! Who has that much control over their daily food consumption? Maybe if you just drink water all day, then you can estimate your daily calorie consumption. But how long can you keep that up?
Furthermore, how accurately can you measure your caloric expenditure? With a heart rate monitor and a good pedometer, you can estimate the calories you burn from walking to within 10%. For higher accuracy, you will need to monitor the amount of carbon dioxide you exhale (from which you can calculate your cellular aerobic metabolism). This may prove challenging to those of us without access to expensive scientific equipment.
What does this mean for you? You can forget the whole calories in minus calories out dogma. Being aware of the food you eat and the exercises you do is one thing. Diets work because they introduce you to healthier habits. But if you are hoping to measure your total caloric consumption like some kind of quantitative chemistry experiment, then you are sorely mistaken. Instead of dieting per se, you should focus on healthy eating and general fitness. Knowing the science behind weight loss can mean the difference between endless frustration and rapid success.
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