5 Common Energy Balance Dilemma
Problem 1: "I've been eating the same way for a long time, but recentlyI've put on weight."
Can you guess what happened?
More than likely, “energy in” or “energy out” did change, but in a way that felt out of control or unnoticeable. The culprit could be:
-Slight increases in food intake, due to changes in mood, hunger, or stress.
-An increase in the amount of energy absorbed—caused by new medication, an unknown medical condition, or a history of chronic dieting.
-Physiological changes that resulted in fewer calories burned during exercise and at rest.
-The onset of chronic pain, provoking a dramatic decrease in non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).
-Significant changes to sleep quality and/or quantity, impacting metabolic output and/or food consumed.
In all of these cases, CICO is still valid. Energy balance just shifted in subtle ways, due to lifestyle and health status changes, making it hard to recognize.
Problem 2 : "My hormones are wreaking havoc on my metabolism, and I can't stop gainingweight. Help!” When discussing causes of weight gain or loss, hormones are often
When discussing causes of weight gain or loss, hormones are often blamed because they are convenient scapegoats. Hormones are entangled with energy balance, and while they may not be to blame as often as people think, they certainly play a role.
However, their operation is still dependent on the conservation of energy. In other words, people don’t gain weight because “hormones.” They gain weight because their hormones are impacting their energy balance. This often happens during menopause or when thyroid hormone levels decline.
Take, for example, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), two thyroid hormones that are incredibly important for metabolic function. If levels of these hormones diminish, weight gain may occur.
But this doesn’t negate CICO: Your hormones are simply influencing “energy out.”
This may seem a bit like splitting hairs, but it’s an important connection to make, whether we’re talking about menopause or thyroid problems or insulin resistance or other hormonal issues.
By understanding CICO is the true determinant of weight loss, you’ll have many more tools for
achieving the outcome you want.
Suppose you’re working from the false premise hormones are the only thing that matters. This can lead to increasingly unhelpful decisions, like spending a large sum of money on unnecessary supplements, or adhering to an overly restrictive diet that backfires in the long run.
Instead, you know results are dependent on the fact that “energy in” or “energy out” has changed.
Now, this change can be due to hormones, and if so, you’ll have to make adjustments to your eating, exercise, and/or lifestyle habits to account for it. (This could include taking medication prescribed by your doctor, if appropriate.)
Research suggests people with mild (10-15% of the population) to moderate hypothyroidism (2-3%) may experience a metabolic slow down of 140 to 360 calories a day. That may be sufficient to cause weight gain or to make weight loss more challenging. (With one caveat,
however: many people with mild hypothyroidism don't notice any noticeable change in metabolic
activity, so this may be overstating the problem.)
In addition, hormonal changes may disturb energy balance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS; 5- 10% of all cases) and in women going through menopause.
Knowing your own health status (or that of a client) is crucial, as it can shed light on the specific
difficulties at hand and the best way to tackle them.
Problem 3: "I'm only eating 1,000 calories a day and I'm still not losing weight!"
Most people automatically assume that their metabolism must be malfunctioning. The
broken ones. Also, CICO doesn't work. However, here's the deal: metabolic damage does not exist. Despite what you might be led to believe. As we've established, a hormonal imbalance may be to blame for their energy imbalance. When someone is consuming 1,000 calories per day but not losing weight, it is typically due to one of the two reasons below
Reason #1:
People often underestimate their calorie intake.
It's common to accidentally overeat because it's not your intention to do so. These are the most common methods:
In other words, they eat much less than they should. (Without knowing the exact amount, "one tablespoon of peanut butter" could actually be two, adding an extra 90 calories to your daily intake.)
Consumption of high-calorie foods is not recorded. (The 100 calories added by your child's leftover mac and cheese are just one example.)
They forget to log things they should have recorded because they don't do so at the time. They essentially "forget" to tally the number of times they ate something they later regretted
Don't think this could be a major problem? People frequently under-estimate how much they eat in a day, sometimes by more than 1,000 calories, according to a landmark study and repeated follow-up studies.
We don't bring up this study to argue that it's impossible to practice portion control in the real world. But underestimation may be the
problem if you (or your clients) aren't seeing results on a low-calorie diet.
Reason #2:
People overeat on the weekends.
When Friday night finally arrives at the end of a long, stressful week, people tend to let their guard down and have a good time.
Let's say someone eats 1,500 calories per day during the week; that's a deficit of about 500 calories. The weekend, however, is when they stray slightly from their routine. Happy hour drinks and late night pizza with the gang on a Friday.
A Saturday workout followed by a hearty meal. Having breakfast and lunch together on a Sunday ("Hey, it's breakfast and lunch, so I can eat double!") is known as "brunch."
At long last, the tally is in: Over the weekend, I went over my calorie limit by four thousand. They have eliminated their calorie deficit and raised their daily calorie intake to 2,071.
Problem 4: "This diet is better than all the others because I can eat as much as I want and still lose weight."
That's probably the main reason why some people aren't on board with CICO. Let's pretend someone makes the transition from a diet high in processed foods to one high in
whole, plant-based foods. There's a chance they'll find they can eat as much as they want
without gaining any weight. A common explanation given is that this is because of the "power of plants."
Of course plants are wonderful, but that doesn't mean energy balance is false. The low energy density of plant foods makes it possible to consume a large quantity while still losing weight. Especially if your diet has previously consisted largely of "indulgent foods" that
have been processed to the point where they are artificially enhanced in their appeal. You may actually be consuming more food than ever before, but it feels like you're eating more than ever.
The high volume, fibre, and water content of plants may also contribute to a greater sense of fullness. Which is fantastic. Truly. However, CICO remains unaffected. Or consider the ketogenic diet.
In this context, "eating as much as you want" and still losing weight is possible, but animal products like meat, cheese, and eggs are substituted for the typical plant-based fare. Both the
calorie and fiber content of those foods are quite high.
Many proponents of low-carb diets therefore state that keto has a "metabolic advantage" over
other eating plans.
In all likelihood, this is occurring:
-Gaining satiety from eating more protein causes eating less.
-Due to the lack of variety, they have avoided consuming many unnecessary processed calories (Pasta! Chips! Cookies!).
When food options are limited, you may experience "sensory-specific satiety." That is, if you eat the same things on a regular basis, eventually they might lose some of their appeal, and you might not feel quite as compelled to eat as much of them. The elimination of liquid sources of caloric intake (such as soda, juice, and even milk) encourages the consumption of more densely packed, satiating whole foods.
Ketones, which increase when carbohydrates are limited, are thought to reduce hunger. Because of these factors, individuals consume fewer calories and experience less
hunger. The ketogenic diet promotes weight loss by controlling "energy in" in a number of ways, which may seem magical at first.
One might reasonably wonder why the origin of the success of the plant-based and ketogenic diets (to name two) should matter. Many diets, including the plant-based and ketogenic ones, aren't sustainable in the long run because of factors unique to each individual. And this is especially true of the more limiting strategies.
You may feel defeated if you are unable to achieve success on the "best diet" you have been led to believe exists. It's possible that you'll feel like a failure and conclude that you just don't have the self-control to get in shape. Perhaps you've even
considered giving up entirely.
Your results aren’t diet dependent. They’re behavior dependent. Consistent, long-term daily habits that positively affect "energy in" and "energy out" are the key to maintaining a healthy body (including a healthy body weight).
You can do this without giving up your favorite foods by:
-Reaching satiety at the 80-percent mark.
-Mindful and deliberate eating
-Consuming a diet consisting of mainly whole, minimally processed foods improving one's sleep quality
-Actions taken to lessen stress and strengthen resistance
Taking a bird's-eye view of CICO will help you determine which strategy seems reasonable and within your reach. That could mean adopting a vegetarian or ketogenic diet, but it could also mean something completely different. You know what else? You can achieve excellent outcomes either way.
Problem 5: "I want to gain weight, but no matter how much I eat, I can't seem to."
Weight loss isn't always the topic of discussion at CICO meetings.
Weight loss isn't always the topic of discussion at CICO meetings.
Weight gain is difficult for some people. Most notably, younger athletes and those whose jobs require a great deal of physical exertion. (Consider jobs where physical exertion is required.)
Those recovering from an illness often experience the same problem when trying to put on weight.
It's easy to discount CICO when someone tries to gain weight by eating more but still doesn't gain any. (Surprise.) They may think things like, "I'm eating everything in sight!" when they realize their
efforts to eat less aren't producing the desired results. However, our coaches have discovered:
People tend to remember extremes.
It's possible that someone ate as much as they could handle over the course of six meals in a single day.
The next day, however, they were still so full that they only had two meals. Perhaps they were too preoccupied with other things to give it much thought.
The first day, when they overate, would probably stick out more than the second day, when they ate more sensibly. It's in our nature to do that.
This has clear ties to CICO. Inconsistency with the input of energy is to blame. Instead of eating 3,000 calories in one day and only 1,500 the next, you can try to maintain a calorie intake just above the middle and gradually increase it if necessary.
People often increase activity when they increase calories.
Some people are more likely to engage in activities that increase their energy expenditure after they suddenly have more available energy (due to eating more food). As in, they do things like walk up and down the stairs, pace while talking on the phone, and shift around in their seats.
It's possible that they'll give an extra effort in the gym than they usually would. It may be hard to recognize these actions in oneself. In addition, our coaches have recognized this as a real issue for "hardgainers," however strange that may sound.
It is your duty to keep track of everything you do. You may have to compensate by eating more food if you are unable to reduce it. If you're struggling to eat because of a lack of appetite, try nut butters, whole grains, and oils because they're high in both nutrients and calories.
Here are 3 ways to beat the system.
- Maximize protein & fiber
- Make a mental shift.
- Instead of cutting calories, try increasing physical activity
Eating more protein makes you feel fuller for longer after eating it, reducing your hunger pangs in the time between meals. In addition, eating more fibre makes you feel fuller for longer after meals.
Both of these have been shown in studies and real-world applications to make it easier to lose weight by reducing hunger while cutting back on caloric intake. In fact, "eat more protein and fibre" will likely be the first thing that future robot nutrition coaches say. Although it may seem obvious, most dieters still aren't paying enough attention to ensuring they get enough of these two nutrients while cutting calories. You know what else? They are innocent of blame.
Almost everyone has heard that when it comes to dieting, less is more. Get rid of the "bad" stuff and fill up on the "good" stuff instead. A different strategy is to simply begin the process by adding.Increasing your protein (especially lean protein) and fibre (especially from vegetables) intake will help you feel fuller for longer. The foods you believe you should avoid will hold less allure for you. In a sense, this serves to "crowd out" (make less available) highly processed foods.
Another major perk is that when you eat more whole foods and fewer processed ones, your brain is retrained to want less of the latter. When this occurs, rather than restricting calories because you know you have to, you naturally begin eating less. Because of that, losing weight is less of a struggle.
There's no complicated setup required:
One palm of lean protein (chicken, fish, tempeh) should be added to one meal per day. You're getting more value here than from any other source. You could also consume a Super Shake in place of a meal or snack. Increase your daily fibre intake by eating one extra serving of a high-fibre food, such as vegetables, fruit, lentils, or beans.
Eating an apple as a snack, serving a fistful of roasted carrots at dinner, or blending a handful of spinach into a Super Shake are all examples of how this can be done. After two weeks, you can increase your protein intake by one palmful and your fibre intake by one serving. We still have one more benefit to mention in addition to all the others.
Instead of coming to the table with a feeling of deprivation and anxiety, try approaching it with a sense of abundance. That's why it's better to say, "Hey, look at all this delicious, healthy food I can feed my body!"than "Ugh, I really don't think I can give up my nightly wine and chocolate habit." (And, no, you don't have to give up your wine and chocolate addiction just yet.
Visualize yourself on a relaxing vacation. You skipped the morning meal because you were too lazy to get up. Naturally, you don't care because you're chill and enjoying yourself. There's no need to freak out, either; lunch will be served.
Since you are no longer eating one of your three meals per day, you will have a caloric deficit of several hundred calories. If you're in a peaceful and pleasant setting, you probably don't even notice. Now, let's say you're trying to lose weight and you wake up on a typical day. (In anticipation of a holiday!) You might be thinking, "I only get to have my 400-calorie breakfast, and it's not enough food. To put it bluntly, this is terrible. It's going to be a long day of hunger for me. So, you go to work anxiously anticipating your next meal or snack and end up spending the day eating.It's possible you'll start feeling deprived and miserable.
Here's the thing, though: although you experienced a calorie deficit on both days, they felt very different to you.Suppose you could change your way of thinking so that it more closely resembles the first case than the second. And no, I don't think you should skip breakfast every day (unless that's your thing).If you can convince yourself that cutting back on food is more of a choice than a necessity, you may find that it has less of an adverse effect on your mood.
Do you not wish to reduce your caloric intake, but would welcome the opportunity to increase your physical activity? If that's the case, you may benefit from my invention, which I call GFlux. Energy flux, or G-Flux, is the net amount of energy entering or leaving a system. Say, for argument's sake, that you want to cut your caloric intake by 500 per day.
A possible example of this is:
Energy in: 2,000 calories
Energy out: 2,500 calories
Deficit: 500 calories
But it could also look like this:
Energy in: 3,000 calories
Energy out: 3,500 calories
Deficit: 500 calories
Both scenarios result in a calorie deficit of 500, but the second one gives you much more leeway in terms of what kinds of foods you can eat.This is one advantage of having a higher G-Flux. But there's more: studies show that eating more calories can actually help you carry more lean mass and less fat as long as you get those extra calories from healthy food and a mix of workouts (including strength training, conditioning, and recovery work).
That's because doing more physical activity has benefits beyond simply increasing your "energy out." It also alters how your body distributes calories, diverting more toward muscle growth and fewer to fat storage.
About the Author
HABITUAL PRACTICE believe that a healthy diet is the key to a happy and full life. Our goal is to make healthy food easy and fun for everyone to eat.
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