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Understanding Energy Balance: Calories in & Calories Out
Understand how calories and energy balance can help you fitness journey.
Author: Ciara Nolan (RNutr)
Ciara is our in-house nutritionist at FITT Meals & has a MSc Human Nutrition.
Weight loss and management are concepts have many variables that many of us struggle to grasp and manage. Weight management is fundamentally, a balance between the amount of food (energy) consumed and the amount expended. Understanding calories and energy balance is something many people struggle with. Whether you are on a mission to lose weight, gain muscle or remain a constant healthy weight – the terms “Calorie Deficit”, “Energy Balance” and “Calorie Surplus” have probably been brought to your attention.
When it comes to Nutrition and Weight Loss/Weight Gain – education is key. So let’s start with the basics before we delve into the deeper stuff.
What is a calorie?
A calorie is a unit of energy. Calories are a measurement of the amount of energy that food and drink provide.
This energy is essential for life and allows our bodies to function.
The amount of calories that we need is totally person dependent. Calorie requirements will vary widely from person to person. These values are based on numerous factors such as age, gender, height, weight, exercise, daily activity level and even medical history.
Energy Balance
To determine how to reach your specific goals you need to understand energy balance.
Energy Balance is the balance of calories consumed compared to calories expended.
I.e. calories in (via food & drink) and calories out (via daily activity & exercise).
This balance determines whether you lose weight, gain weight or maintain your weight.
To maintain weight: the calories in versus calories out must be the same.
To lose weight: the calories in must be less than the calories we use throughout the day. Remember, this isn’t just through exercise, it is total daily activity (e.g. general daily tasks, normal bodily functions such as breathing, thinking, etc). This is called a calorie deficit.
To gain weight: the amount of energy/calories we consume is than the energy/calories we expend.
Understanding energy balance can be tricky and confusing. If you would like more help or a better understanding of how to figure out your correct calorie recommendation, get your nutrition consultation to understand how you can manage your weight better.
