Ep. 54: Calories In vs. Calories Out…and Hormones?

Is losing weight, losing fat, or losing inches really as simple as “calories in vs. calories out”? If you burn more calories than you eat, you will always lose fat or inches? It depends on who you talk to. The reason for that is because it SHOULD be that simple, but the reality is, we live in a world with more and more no-totally-healthy people, so there are often many other factors that need to be considered.

The fact that these other factors do exist, I personally, say it’s too broad of a statement to be accurate, therefore, I don’t think it’s correct to say “well, if you have fewer calories in, or if you burn more calories than you eat, you should never gain weight.” In theory, it should be that simple. And it could be if you had a room full of people who had matching DNA. They were all relatively young. No one had encountered any disease. They had no food sensitivities. They ate perfectly nutrient-dense whole foods for every meal. They were all moderately physically active. They had no stress and their appetites never waver. And if they didn’t have any genetic predispositions to things like MTHFR, PCOS, candida, different types of insulin sensitivities or metabolic syndromes. But the chances of that are pretty non-existent.

Highlights in this episode:
• What does “calories in vs. calories out” mean?
• What if you’re predisposed to genetic, insulin, or metabolic factors?
• Thyroid hormones and metabolism
• How different types of hormones affect energy balance
• How nutrient absorption affects overall energy balance
• Are you affected by sub-optimal nutrient absorption?
• How medications can play a role
• Not making excuses even if you carry extra weight due to metabolic or hypothyroidism
• Cautions of caloric readouts on fitness equipment, apps, and on nutrition facts labels
• How problems with energy balance are figuroutable