Calories In, Calories Out

If you've ever tried losing or gaining weight, you've probably heard someone say "calories in, calories out."

What's this actually mean? Well, this is a super simplified way of describing energy balance.

Energy balance refers to how your body's expenditure does or doesn't match your consumption. And, Calories are units of energy, thus the energy balance.

So, how does this relate to weight loss or gain (aka your body composition)?

Generally speaking, your energy balance determines your rate of weight loss / gain. So, if one is in a caloric deficit (or an energy deficit), that is when they can expect weight loss to occur. And the opposite with a caloric surplus.

This is all pretty simple to understand but there are a A LOT of assumptions here that can make this relatively simple theory, well, more complex.

And this is where food quality and diversity comes into play.

You see, the food and supplements we consume have a direct impact on how our bodies function and how well they function. Foods with high micronutrient contents and diversity of those foods help promote hundreds of processes and reactions in our bodies to work as they should and those can have a huge impact on the result of our body composition and goals. If our bodies aren't functioning well, the simplicity of "calories in, calories out" no longer remains and the process can become much more frustrating.

So the next time you endeavor towards any body composition goals, keep your food quality and micronutrient diversity in mind as well. Think whole food items, colorful foods, various sources, and 80/20.