Question of the Week: Calories In vs Calories Out?

Question:  Darryl, recently found your blog and love it. Over the last year I have been reading a lot and reading more and more about how weight loss is so much more than calories in vs calories out. That it is the type of calories. I have been eating primal for the last four months and love it, but have been stuck somewhat the last two or three weeks. 

I am currently studying for my NSCA-CTP cert and in the book it drills over and over and over that weight loss is 100% calories in vs calories out. But I don't exactly believe this is true.

Where do you come down on this and why?

Thanks

Dean Ouellette

Answer:

Dean, like most questions in life the answer is not that straightforward.  

Let's get the obvious out of the way.  If one restricts calories and/or increases activity exceeding your daily energy requirements you can (and usually will) lose weight.  This is the conventional route but let's face it most people eat too much - even when consuming healthy foods.  

But there are some who don't eat too much (or indeed too little) and yet they still have issues with managing a healthy body composition.

There are also those who exercise excessively and they too can have issues with maintaining a healthy body fat percentage.  

Calorie intake vs calorie expenditure is definitely not the only factor (and is usually not the most important area) for most people to consider when looking at this equation.

Well there are a few other main considerations in my opinion:

• The role of insulin;
• Fat-loss vs Weight-Loss;
• Thermic effect of food;
• Satiety;

I will post a reply to each point above over the next few days.  As each item is worth discussing in its own right.

300 calories in 20 minutes!

A study earlier this year in ACE (American Council on Exercise) FitnessMatters reports that a 20 minute workout using Kettlebells can expend up to 300 calories. To put this into perspective this is twice the amount of calories burnt during a spinning or boot camp session.

The key is to utilise quick whole-body movements such as a kettlebell snatch and to maximise calorie expenditure using intervals.