Daily resting metabolic rate Daily physical activity = DCE

In a simple equation, caloric balance equation is: Daily Calorie Intake (from food consumption) – Daily Calorie Expenditure(see above) = Caloric Balance Put briefly, IN – OUT = Balance.

The 3 Balances

POSITIVE – WEIGHT GAIN When your IN is greater than your OUT, you are gaining weight. IN greater than OUT = Weight Gain That is, when your daily intake of energy (from food) is greater than your daily expense of energy (from resting metabolic rate and physical activity), your weight is going up.

NEGATIVE = WEIGHT LOSS In contrast, if your total daily calorie expenditure is greater than the amount of calories you consume, your body will use up calories stored in your body, which leads to weight loss. OUT greater than IN = weight loss Thus, a negative caloric balance will result in weight loss.

NEUTRAL – NO LOSS, NO GAIN When your IN and your OUT are equal, your weight is stable. IN OUT = NO LOSS, NO GAIN Your daily intake of energy (from food) is similar to your daily expense of energy (from resting metabolic rate and physical activity), so your weight stays the same.

The Effect of Exercise Now let’s see what happens when we add exercise to the equation…

Positive balance = Weight Gain, but Positive balance exercise = Weight Gain, but this gain is in MUSCLE MASS! Negative balance = Weight loss, but Negative balance exercise = Weight loss, but this is a loss of FAT MASS Neutral balance = No change in Weight, but Neutral balance exercise = No change in Weight, with some MUSCLE GAIN, AND some FAT LOSS.

Exercise increases the calories you burn up everyday, so if eat the same amount of calories but begin to exercise, your balance will become lower, since you are increasing your out but keeping your in the same.To maintain a neutral balance, you would have to eat a little more to make up for the extra calories you’re burning up, and this is natural, as lots of people have a larger appetite once they begin working out.

No exercise Just as there are many benefits to exercising, there are some consequences to not exercising. Positive balance = weight gain in FAT MASS Negative balance = weight loss IN MUSCLE MASS

This point needs to be underlined. Most fad diets that promote huge weight loss in a short period of time do so by severely restricting caloric intake, sometimes without having you exercise. That will actually make you lose mostly muscle as well as a bit of fat. Why is this bad? Because, in the long run, a loss of muscle mass means a lower resting metabolic rate, which in turn reduces your daily caloric expense. A few of these diets and you have substantially reduced your resting metabolic rate, which means that if you eat the same amount of food you did before the diet (same IN), you will actually gain weight because your lowered OUT (lower resting metabolic rate) leads to a more positive caloric balance. How do you reverse that situation? First, you stop following fad diets that severely restrict caloric intake. Second, you exercise, since exercise will increase your resting metabolic rate over time.

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