Calories......... Schmalories

1 pound = 3500 calories

We've all heard this before. If this mathematical equation is true, then you could run an "energy deficit" of 500 calories a day for 7 days and lose one pound (500 x 7 = 3500). It makes logical sense, huh? Then why doesn't this work in application?

There are several reasons.

for clarification--Energy Deficit meaning that the calories you consume below your equilibrium and calories you burn through "exercise." Ex. If your body needed 2000 calories a day to remain in it's current state, Eating 1800 calories and burning 300 during exercise in one day would create an energy deficit of 500 calories-- Do this for 7 days in a row, and you would have had 3500 calories fewer of "energy" this week than you did over the week before. If the equation at the beginning held true, you would weigh 1 pound less than you did at the start of the week.

First, you really aren't wanting to lose "weight" per say, because that would assume that you don't care about preserving Lean Body Mass (Muscle). What you want to do is change your body composition (Lose excess Body Fat, and Build Lean Body Mass) This includes losing flab and fitting into smaller clothes. So weighing on a scale should not be your only way of tracking progress. Getting a body composition test is best, but using a measuring tape is the easiest. Take measurements and write them down. You'll be surprised later when you look back at these numbers.

Back to calories, those nasty report cards on the back side of labels. What does that number really mean? Here is an academic website that details the collection of nutrition information in a laboratory.

http://seplessons.ucsf.edu/node/349
"A calorie is the amount of energy, or heat, it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). "

So the numbers on the back of our food labels refer to how much heat is put off by a set quantity of food when it is incinerated in a controlled "closed" system.

I've been told that I had a "fire in my belly" before, but they were talking about spirited debate. And unless you are drastically different than I am, you don't have a calorimeter incinerating food in your stomach either.

Rather, we "digest" food. And there are LOTS of factors that influence what we absorb from the food we consume. Not to be graphic, but have you ever thought about how many calories might be in the bottom of the bowl when you "do a little paperwork"?

We've already talked about how insulin tells your body to store excess calories as fat cells, do you suppose there would be a hormonal environment in your body that would tell it to NOT store extra energy (calories).

Another problem with the energy equation above is that it doesn't account for calories that "escape" the body. I am specifically talking about ketone bodies that can be expelled in your breath and urine. (I'll do a post in greater detail on this at a later time)

Now, I'm not saying to ignore the calories in the food you eat, but open your eyes and recognize that our current definition of a "calorie" as it relates to our bodies is flawed and can be influenced by a number of factors. Trying to equate a calorimiter that literally burns up every ounce of food with no waste and your stomach that breaks down a comparable piece of food with digestive juices is like comparing apples to spatulas.

As a rule of thumb, I pay more attention to the number of carbohydrates in the food. While I agree this has NO factor in the Energy Deficit equation above, it gives me a better indication of the signals this food will give my body when eaten (namely whether to store it or burn it).

The first step to getting out of a hole is to "stop digging." So before we are able to lose this excess body fat, we have to stop telling our body to store it. This is why a low carbohydrate diet is SO effective at shedding body fat.

Insulin is the hormone that tells our body to store food as fat.

Carbohydrates are the primary macro nutrient that force our body to release insulin.

So if you reduce/remove the bad carbohydrates from your diet, you have "Stopped digging" (Storing fat) and can begin focusing on burning your current stores of fat.

-I will touch on this more at a later time, but be sure not to shy away from ALL carbs. I personally eat leafy green vegetables on a daily basis and have never eaten as many vegetables in my life as when I made these lifetime dietary changes. So don't think I'm telling you to only eat meat, cheese, and eggs at every meal-