Calorie balance is the relationship between calories consumed and the calories burned by your body through exercise and other activity. This is a very important relationship to understand. Your ability to meet your weight goal or exercise and nutrition goals will heavily depend on how you manage this relationship. Think of calorie balance as an equation with calories consumed on one side and calories burned on the other side
Equation : Calories Consumed = Calories Burned
– To maintain your weight the calories you consume must equal the calories you burn. Calories Consumed = Calories Burned (Balance)
– To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. Calories Consumed < Calories Burned (Deficit)
– To gain weight, you must consume more calories that you burn. Calories Consumes > Calories Burned (Surplus)
During my transformation I paid close attention to the energy balance equation. Since my goal was weight loss, it was important that I maintained a steady calorie deficit each week. There is approximately 3500 calories in one pound of stored fat. In order to lose one pound of body fat, you need to burn 3500 calories either through diet, exercise or a combination of both. For safe weight loss, you should aim to lose 1-2 pounds per week which means you should have a deficit of 3500 to 7000 calories per week. If you try to lose more than 2 pounds per week, you are at risk of burning muscle mass and decreasing your metabolism.
Until the next time my friends!
Be more, Do more! Let’s Go!