Put in its very simplest form; if you wish to maintain the same weight, you must be eating the same amount of calories (energy) than you are expending. I.e. Energy in (calories in) must be the same as energy out (calories out.) Below are examples and explanations of how the body puts ‘Energy In’ and puts ‘Energy Out:’
Energy in: This refers to any food or drink which contains calories/energy.
Energy Out: This refers to ways in which energy is expended in the body, this occurs in 3 ways:
(1) Through the movement of your body. Any movement produced by your body requires energy, a general rule of thumb is the more muscle fibres used to move the more calories you will be using or ‘burning’. E.g. Running on a treadmill burns more calories than cycling on a gym bike since the gym bike only requires the leg muscles to move, whereas running requires muscles throughout the entire body to work.
(2) Through the digesting of your food. Few people know the actual eating and digestion of food will result in ‘energy out’ i.e. you expending energy and burning calories when eating.
(3) Through simply keeping alive. Your body burns calories even when you are doing nothing, this is known as your Basal Metabolic rate, and is the number of calories you expend merely keeping the body functioning at rest.
Consuming the same amount of calories as you expend is known as ‘Energy Equilibrium.’ This can be explained through the equation below:
Energy Equilibrium = Energy expended (exercise, metabolism, thermic effect of feeding) = (equal too) Energy taken in (Food + Drink)
