Caloric balance refers to the balance between the calories you consume through food and the calories you burn through physical activity and basic body functions. If you consume more calories than your body needs, you will gain weight. But if you consume fewer calories than your body needs, you will lose weight. So,
caloric balance is all about finding the right balance between the calories you eat and the calories you burn.
Full definition
You are
in caloric balance when, over time, the number of calories you take in matches the number of calories you burn through metabolism and physical activity.
That would bring your
net caloric balance to 1,300, which is from the 500 calories spent from taking the 10,000 steps.
When examining nutrition and stress response, we must look at a couple of different factors:
total caloric balance and exercise nutrition.
When the number of calories you consume matches up with the calories you burn through your metabolism and physical activity such as exercise, you'll be able to maintain the
proper caloric balance.
The principle of
caloric balance matters to your overall health and fitness, because it determines whether you maintain weight, gain weight or lose weight over time.
The method of increasing dietary pulse intake while maintaining
caloric balance between the study arms differed across protocols: 15 trials replaced non — dietary pulse carbohydrates (e.g., bread products, canned spaghetti, oat bran), 5 trials replaced animal protein, 3 trials emphasized dietary pulse intake to achieve a low - glycemic diet, and 3 did not specify the method.
You can also read the Calories Explained article to learn more
about caloric balance and how it is the ultimate determinant of your weight.
In order to do that, you need to expend more calories than you have consumed, otherwise known as being in a
negative caloric balance.
Caloric balance doesn't take into account whether calories come from proteins, carbohydrates or fats; it involves only total calories in and total calories out.
The reason is that cow's milk has a
different caloric balance as well as more minerals than human milk, according to Frank Greer, professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin and a co-author of the academy's new guidelines on calcium, which will be released Monday.
Understand
Caloric Balance Stop Drinking Soft Drinks Watch What You Put In Your Coffee Don't Eat Cheese, Butter, Cream, Margarine, Oils, or Mayonnaise Eat Fruit Instead of Drinking Fruit Juice Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Buy Smaller Plates Eat Slowly Eat A Big Breakfast
Just to remind ourselves —
caloric balance dictates whether we lose or gain weight and macronutrient composition affects if we lose (gain) more fat or... Read more
The principle behind weight gain has to do
with caloric balance — in other words, consuming more calories than are expended.
They are not calories that can be counted toward weight loss in your
overall caloric balance, because they were already being burned before you started your weight loss program (remember, calories are always being burned to support your RMR, no matter what you are doing) and were and are balanced out by your unmodified calorie consumption.
«Women will stop losing or begin to regain weight as soon as
their caloric balance — a function of the amount of milk produced, how much they eat and how much energy they spend moving around — tips toward the positive,» said Cornell University nutrition professor Kathleen Rasmussen, an author of the Danish study.
There are lots of sources on the Internet about what the basal metabolic rate is and how calculating it can help you get into
a caloric balance, but here are some quick instructions on how to do it yourself:
Instead of attempting a modification of your metabolism to achieve a desired weight gain or weight loss goal, the recommended and more effective approach is to adapt your caloric intake and / or your level of physical activity to attain
the caloric balance that will allow you to achieve your goal (you can read more about this topic here: Slow metabolism - Is it to blame for weight gain?).
Given that your weight is ultimately dependent on
your caloric balance (read more about caloric balance in our Calories Explained article), increasing your meal sizes will ultimately result in an overall greater calorie consumption despite the slight increase in calories burned through the thermic effect of food.
By 1889, Rubner had built a remarkably accurate bomb calorimeter which lead to many of his findings, most notably: the thermic effect of protein, the energy laws of physics applying to
caloric balance, and his most fundamental finding that a calorie is a calorie.
A combination of healthy diet and exercise, to control
your caloric balance, is always the best approach to losing and / or maintaining a healthy weight.
Any attempt at weight loss, whether it involves surgery, a change in diet, more exercise, or anything else, must alter
your caloric balance and ultimately yield a net negative caloric balance within your body to be successful.
Ultimately, your body weight is dependent only on the difference between the amount of calories that you consume versus the amount of calories that you burn (this is known as
your caloric balance).
In a future post I will discuss a little more detail on bioenergetics and
the caloric balance between diet and exercise.
The argument goes something like this: depending on
your caloric balance your body is either in a net state of anabolism (building new tissue) or catabolism (breaking down tissue)
Now I will concede that I use slightly different styles of training whether the goal is fat loss or muscle building (notice I said different «styles», not necessarily different exercises), but the bigger factor is actually
your caloric balance...
As a result, you have
a caloric balance deficit of 220 calories per day, instead of your originally anticipated 250 calories per day, and you should expect to lose roughly 8.8 pounds over the course of 20 weeks, instead of the 10 pounds that you were hoping for.
This article explains the difference between net and gross calorie burn, and why it is important to understand these concepts if you are tracking
your caloric balance.
Either type of estimate, net or gross, is okay to use so long as you know which one it is and what the numbers mean with respect to your overall
caloric balance (read the Calories Explained article learn more about caloric balance).
Your basal metabolic rate — the baseline caloric needs of your body's physiological functions — also impacts
your caloric balance.
For overall fitness and well - being,
caloric balance, nutritional status and body composition all matter.
The caloric balance of your diet is one factor in determining your overall health.
The current emphasis on cutting carbohydrates and eliminating sugars only obscures the significance of
the caloric balance message.