Calories & Kilojoules
These are both measures of energy. That's it, different measures for the same thing. Kind of like how kilometres and miles are both measurements of distance. Calories and kilojoules simply represent an amount on energy. Whilst kilojoules are the official standard of measure in Australia, we find calories much easier as the numbers are smaller, so, we'll use calories as our measurement in this book.
1 Calorie = 4.184 Kilojoules
We can make things easier by rounding that to 1 Calorie = 4 Kilojoules
Energy Balance
We consume calories through food and drinks and we burn calories through a combination of general movement, exercise, digestion and functions of the body.
When our weight is stable - energy in and energy out is basically the same - this is known as maintenance.
When we are gaining weight, we are consuming a surplus of energy.
When we are losing weight, we are in an energy deficit.
In simple terms, if we have fat we want to lose from our bodies - it is stored energy.
So if our goal is fat loss, we need to use that stored energy and not replace it. This doesn't mean that we need to do hours of exercise to burn more, we actually burn plenty of energy just staying alive.
‘Calories in’ refers to the energy we consume from food and drinks.
‘Calories out’ refers to the energy we burn in a day.
Macronutrients (macros)
Macronutrients are groups of foods that we need is large amounts.
There are 3 macronutrients, plus a category that we added to make things a little more simple.
We need macronutrients in large amounts, hence the prefix - macro
Protein
Carbohydrates
Fats
NDF (Nutrient Dense Foods - the one we added)
As we said earlier, a calorie is a form of measurement for energy. Each macronutrient has energy:
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories
1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories (yeah sort of another macronutrient but unfortunately, not necessary)
Calories In
The amount of calories we need to consume for maintenance (staying the same weight) will depend on our size, age, activity, genetics and health.
You don’t need to count the calorie content of everything you consume, however it is important to understand the concept and realise the difference between high calorie options and lower calorie options.
If you are reasonably consistent with your food and drink intake and are measuring your progress, you should be able to determine after a couple of weeks if you are in a calorie deficit, surplus or at maintenance:
Deficit - losing weight
Surplus - gaining weight
Maintenance - generally stable weight
Early on with resistance training (strength training), it is possible to gain muscle whilst losing fat, so the scale weight may stay stable whilst your body composition changes. This is why it’s great to check more than one measure of progress, scale weight, hip and waist measurements and progress photos.
Some things we consume won’t have calories, or basically none:
water
zero / extremely low calorie drinks like sugar free soft drinks, sugar free cordial
tea and coffee (until you add milk, sugar, syrups etc)
There are different types of fibre but in general we do not absorb much energy from fibre. It's great for keeping us full without having a big impact on ‘calories in’.
Non-starchy vegetables, salads and berries (NDF) are extremely low in calorie content, generally high in fibre, and are a great option for adding volume (size) to a meal, without increasing calories much.
Added carbs and fats, especially in more processed foods, can quickly turn a low calorie meal into a high calorie meal.
Calories Out
The “calories out” side of the energy balance equation is more complicated. We've simplified it here but you can see a more 'sciency' explanation right at the bottom.
“Calories out” consists of 4 basic components:
Energy needed to keep you alive
Day to day movement
Planned exercise
Digestion and absorption of food and drinks
When we talk about our metabolism, we are really talking about the amount of energy your body requires to run basic processes and “keep the lights on,” so to speak. A more simple name might be “existence calories.” The body just keeping itself running is about 70% of your calories burned each day.
Day to day movement is the amount of energy you burn doing unconscious little movements throughout the day that aren’t planned exercise. These include typing on the keyboard, talking, fidgeting, wiggling your toes, walking, standing. These movements account for about 15% of your calories burned each day.
Day to day movement is an area that can be manipulated through extra movement like walking home instead of driving, moving around the house in between Netflix episodes. This is also an area that can drop when dieting, often without you noticing. Your day to day movement can reduce when you diet, therefore reducing your total calories burned each day. Activity trackers can be great ways of noting how many steps you normally walk in a day, then trying to be consistent with that number whilst dieting.
Exercise - Yep, this is exactly what it sounds like. When you exercise, you burn calories. How many you burn depends on the duration and intensity of the exercise, however this generally accounts for about 5-10% of your total calories burned each day. Much less than most people predict. Exercise does add to the calories burned but thinking of exercise in terms of the benefits on overall health including mood, well-being, stress reduction etc is a better idea than trying to make weight loss all about increasing calories burned through exercise.
Digestion and absorption of food and drinks — as weird as it sounds, the body burns calories in order to digest food and absorb nutrients. Different macronutrients require varying amounts of energy to be processed and digested. Calories burned through digestion and absorption accounts for about 10% of your total Calories burned each day.
Protein - we burn about 20-30% of the calorie content of protein we eat just through digestion and absorption
Carbs - about 5-15%
Fats - about 0-5%
You might have heard about calories before and have even been told that weight loss is simply about calories in versus calories out. However now you know there is a bit more to it than that. Just because something is lower calorie, doesn’t necessarily make it better. We also need to factor in protein, plants, fibre, overall health and what’s going to keep us fuller for longer.
As promised, here is the version of "Calories Out" with the standard scientific terms.
The “calories out” side of the energy balance equation is more complicated.
“Calories out” is also known as your “Total Daily Energy Expenditure” (TDEE) and consists of 4 basic components:
Basal Metabolic Rate
Non Exercise Adaptive Thermogenesis (NEAT) and Non Exercise Physical Activity (NEPA)
Exercise activity (EA)
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) — The amount of energy your body requires to run basic processes and “keep the lights on,” so to speak. A more simple name might be “existence calories”. The major component of your TDEE is your BMR. Your BMR accounts for approximately 70% of your TDEE
Non exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) and Non exercise physical activity (NEPA) — NEAT is the amount of energy you spend doing unconscious little movements throughout the day that aren’t actually exercise. These include typing on the keyboard, talking, fidgeting, wiggling your toes, etc. NEPA refers to walking, standing, and any voluntary, non-exercise activity.Most commonly, NEAT and NEPA are referred to under the NEAT umbrella. NEAT/NEPA accounts for about 15% of your TDEE but is an area which can be manipulated.
Exercise Activity (EA) - This is exactly what it sounds like. When you exercise, you burn calories. How many you expend depends on the duration and intensity of the exercise performed.EA accounts for about 5% of your TDEE, much less than most people predict.
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) — As weird as it sounds, there is also a thermic effect of food, meaning that it costs you energy to digest food and absorb nutrients. Different foods require varying amounts of energy to be processed and digested. Foods higher in fibre and protein have a higher TEF. TEF accounts for about 10% of your TDEE
Protein - we burn about 20-30% of the calorie content of consumed protein just through digestion
Carbs - about 5-15%
Fats - about 0-5%
So when we get to the point where it’s time to calculate these equations, you have to take all of these into account. If all this looked like an equation, it would be:
TDEE = BMR + NEAT + TEF +EA