No matter what you’ve read or been told about your body weight the truth is, your body weight will always be determined for the most part by…”energy in versus energy out.”
Although certain factors can influence the type of weight gained, bottom line is your calorie intake and expenditure dictates the direction the weight scale goes.
However, and this is important, you are not just after reducing that scale weight what you are really after is loss of fat. Losing fat means you are moving in the right direction…losing muscle mass means you are not.
This is an important distinction to make…to know that weight is not determined by just your calories in versus calories out…you also need to consider food choices beyond your energy intake.
Your weight may increase a bit because of lean muscle mass…and that’s a good thing.
The body can only build so much muscle per day so if you are not training properly or you’re simply eating too much food over and beyond what you are expending in energy per day then you will gain body fat.
Many different things influence energy intake which means they can also influence your body weight.
Some of these are:
Feeling anxious and stressed: How often do your “bad days” drive you straight toward a tub of ice-cream? Eating when stressed is especially bad because it also means your cortisol levels are high at the point and cortisol is a hormone that encourages fat gain in the stomach region…not a good situation if you are seeking a lean body.
Our Happiness: Happiness can also be the cause of over-eating. When we are celebrating or in the company of others we often times eat and drink beyond what we would do normally. The problem with this is that you begin associating certain feelings with food and whenever you experience similar feelings you carve unhealthy foods or just food in general. Another thing that works against maintaining a lean body composition.
How much sleep we get: Most people don’t put enough emphasis on getting the right amount of sleep nightly because they do not realize that this is another factor that can play into how much food you eat and therefor how much weight you gain. If you are not sleeping well, you will wake craving carbohydrates far more than if you had slept well. This happens because the body is seeking energy and knows the fastest form of energy it can take in is in the form of carbohydrates…in other words…sugar.
All forms of foods you should not be eating such as cake, cookies and crackers (to say nothing of those morning donuts) are what you end up turning to.
Lack of sleep also effects your cortisol causing it to surge. This too is incredibly harmful to maintaining a lean body composition and it also reduces your insulin sensitivity. When you finally give in and feed your body those sugar carbs it is craving you’ll be more likely to convert them straight into body fat stores.
If your goal is to maintain a lean body in good health then you must get your beauty sleep…8 hours per night minimum. This is a non-negotiable factor.
How much exercise we get: Exercise habits influence energy intake. The more you work out the more fuel you require. If you are exercising as you should be, your total energy burn goes up and therefore your food intake goes up as well.
What foods we eat: Certain foods help control hunger making it easier to sustain reduced calorie intake. Processed carbohydrates when eaten by themselves will just cause you to want to eat more and more food. Protein and fat combined can actually blunt hunger considerably which helps you to push food away.
How active we are: Beyond your exercise routine, daily activity also influence your energy intake in a couple of ways. Sitting around without doing much actually prompts hunger and the desire for food while getting out and about tends to decrease the desire for food over the short term.
However, over the long–term, if your job or activities for the day demand that you are up and moving about all day long you will want to eat more food because of the energy you are burning.
Becoming consciously aware of the factors that influence hunger is the first step towards controlling it.
Choosing the right foods at the right time of day allows your hunger and food intake to naturally take care of itself which in turn allows the body to stabilize as it should.
When you adopt the right structure for your diet and learn to listen to your body your calories intake will naturally fall into place and you won’t need to worry about the time spent counting calories every day. You’ll start losing weight naturally almost without trying.
“Stop Weight Loss Resistance” is a program I created that will help you move past the hurdle of weight-loss resistance. You can take off those stubborn pounds…you just need the right information and there is not time like now to start.
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