THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ENERGY BALANCE

In this first episode of Season 2, we discuss the fundamentals of Energy Balance and the importance of understanding them. We take you through evolutionary adaptations our body has gone through to understand how that ties in with Energy Balance today and why most diets fail. The Energy Balance equation is basically Calories in VS Calories out (CICO). This explains weight gain, loss and maintenance and how our body strives always for homeostasis. We go into detail what calories really are, what ATP is and fuel sources our body prefers, what metabolism actually means and how it is affected. We discuss how the calories out side of the balance is more complicated. We take you through: TDEE= BMR + NEAT+EA+TEF No matter what diet you are on, be it KETO, paleo , vegan etc the principle of energy balance apply. We then get into what happens when you enter a calorie deficit and how your body's self defense system is activated. We explain Metabolic adaption and how to negate this. We emphasise how the body always strives for homeostasis and thus being in an lengthy deficit or surplus is not ideal; maintenance should be our long term goal. Finally we talk about how you can calculate your calories, but always to remember these are just guidelines and you need to take the time to understand concepts like energy balance, to find your maintenance calories through trial and error and to make notes of the entire process. We hope you enjoy this episode!