Calories in food are always a best-guess estimate.
Maybe even without the “best”. I’d put more stress on the “guess” part.
Same goes for the calories used up by your body in a 24 hour window.
All of those numbers are estimates. What your body actually takes up as energy, compared to the best-guess estimates on food labels, is an open question.
These are two reasons why the debate around Calories In vs. Calories Out is even a debate.
The “against” people are right about one thing. Counting the calories in food and the calories used by a body isn’t so easy as pretending we’re in a bomb calorimeter in a laboratory.
That said, gains of mass require more energy in than energy out. Reverse that formula for loss of mass.
That’s true at the highest level and, really, beyond reasonable doubt.
Where we do find reasonable doubts is with real people living real lives. We aren’t considering the highest level. Actual living beings eating actual food and using actual energy do not map to our best-guess estimates.
That’s a fine problem ain’t it?
Calorie balance is the right answer, but we don’t have any easy way to know if we’re in a surplus or deficit of calories.
What can you do?
Here’s what I do.
Figure out a baseline for how much you eat each day. Then adjust.
You can’t get precise number values for your calories, in or out.
But you can spend three days weighing and counting everything that goes in your mouth…
…EVERYTHING…
…and tallying up the calories.
Are you getting heavier? Lighter? Staying the same?
Add, remove, or keep foods until the number moves in the direction you want it to go.
You can’t ever dial in exact calorie numbers.
But you can create a calorie delta.
That’s the Greek letter Δ which is often used as a symbol for change.
I’ve never met a person who couldn’t out-diet the flab on their body.
They may not like it. They may not enjoy it. They may have unhealthy relationships with food, or be unable to stand the pangs of hunger that come from restricted food intake.
But not a single one who honestly put in the work ever broke the formula of energy in vs. energy out.
It’s that “honestly” part that can nail you. If you’ve ever worked with clients on nutrition, you know all about the “except”.
As in, “I tracked everything EXCEPT the cake and three drinks I had at the girl’s night out.”
“I did the exact workout you told me EXCEPT I skipped the cardio because I didn’t feel like it.”
The human being’s powers of self-deception are unmatched.
If I hadn’t seen different with my own eyes, I’d almost believe that fitness and nutrition advice is useless.
It isn’t useless.
But the hard reality is that the fraction of people who will use it for positive change, with or without a coach, is tiny.
Y’all have no doubt heard of the GLP-1. We’re in such a situation that people have to put themselves on the Big Pharma subscription plan just to hang on to an allegedly healthy weight and BMI.
Put a bandage on the symptoms of the problem and leave the underlying cause unaddressed. That’s going to end well in the long run. Jot that down, that’s an official prediction.
The point is that the problems of “stubborn weight” are much less to do with all those “value bombs” about physiology or physical laws.
These problems are a lot more to do with unaddressed emotions, conflicting desires, and lack of genuine will to change.
For example:
I am mystified by people who let hunger drive their eating. I do understand. I get cravings like anyone, and my cravings are for the baddest of the bad foods. But when I have a goal, such as I do right now, the suffering takes a back seat to the greater purpose.
Plus, there are things you can do to mitigate hunger pangs.
People I speak with seem to think that any sign of hunger is call to stuff their faces with whatever cheap carbs and fats are ready to hand.
“I’m feeling hungry” means I must eat.
You know what I always say about feelings.
How you feel is a lie.
Does anyone have any interest in actually fixing their own inner demons? Heck no. Give me drugs.
Combine that with the amount of calories that the average sedentary Westerner actually needs, vs. how many calories are easily available in our surroundings, and obesity and all of its health complications are almost inevitable.
The situation isn’t hopeless. You can, contrary to fads and fashion trends on the fake news and even faker AI social media, do the inner work to address your own disordered patterns of feeling, wanting, and acting.
By even putting it that way, I’ve lost 98% of “fitness groupies” who just want to work out.
That doesn’t make it less true.
Workouts and diets don’t work for people that don’t want them to work.
Anyhow, I work with people > 40 who are struggling with weight gain, belly fat, and all the metabolic dysfunctions that come along for the ride.
If you want my help with that, I take a few new clients each month. But you’ll need to be on my waitlist if you want a space.
If you’re interested in taking that step, use this link:
Matt Perryman