When I retired from teaching preschool, I began to put on a few pounds. These pounds were hard to shed, even though my healthy eating habits had not changed. I began to research what had happened to my body to make me gain weight. I discovered that my energy balance was out of whack and that caused me to put on weight. I also figured out what to do to get it back into balance.

Energy balance is balancing our energy expenditure and our energy intake. Our weight is maintained when the amount of energy we consume through the food we eat is roughly equal to the amount of energy we expend. To elaborate, if energy expenditure is about equal to energy intake, then a person’s weight will be maintained. If energy expenditure is more than energy intake, weight will be lost, a negative energy balance. If energy expenditure is less than energy intake, weight will be gained, a positive energy balance. Restoring energy balance is essential to restoring good health.

Energy Expenditure

Energy expenditure matters! Total energy expenditure has three components, Basil Metabolic Rate (BMR), exercise, and Diet-Induced Thermogenesis (DIT).

• BMR is the first component to consider. It is the result of energy exchanges that happen in every cell in the body. It is responsible for 50% to 70% of a person’s total daily energy expenditure. The only modifiable component of BMR is muscle tissue, which is why weight training can help with weight loss.
• Exercise is the second component that affects daily energy expenditure. It is the easiest for a person to modify and can have a real impact on increasing the total energy expenditure. Factors that can influence this component are the individual’s body composition, the type of activity one engages in, the effectiveness of performing the activity, and any extra movement(s) it takes to accomplish the activity.
• The third component is Diet-Induced Thermogenesis (DIT). It involves how the body processes food to make energy. The body processes include digestion, absorption, transport, metabolism, and storage of energy. The more varied the diet, the higher the thermogenic effect is. Also, if the ratio of whole carbohydrates to fat was high, and there’s a varied diet, there can be an increase of DIT. Usually, the percentage used in calculations is 10% of the combination of physical activity and BMR totals.

BMI, exercise, and DIT calculations are added together to determine a person’s total energy expenditure. We are not going to go into calculating this here, but it is a worthwhile exercise for those who are interested.

Energy Intake

Energy intake is the next part of determining a person’s energy balance. Energy intake is finding out how many calories are consumed in a day.

• Complete a three-day food diary. Write down everything eaten and any beverages consumed each day, including meals and snacks.
• Calculate the total calories consumed by averaging the total calories for the three days and divide them by three to find a daily average.

You can use calorie calculators to help simplify the process. A free example is MyFitnessPal.com.

Energy Balance

Energy intake is counterbalanced by total energy expenditure.

• To lose weight, a negative energy balance is necessary so that more calories are expended than consumed. This means that the intake of calories must be less than the amount of energy expended.
• To gain weight, a positive energy balance is necessary so that more calories are available than one’s energy uses up. This means that the intake of calories must be more than the amount of energy expenditure a person uses.

The healthy rate of weight loss per week is one to two pound a week. To hit this goal, a person would have to expend or adjust eating an additional 500 to 1000 calories a day through regular exercise and/or a reduced-calorie diet.

Action Step

Energy balance is balancing our energy expenditure and our energy intake to maintain a healthy weight. If we need to lose or gain weight, we must either reduce the amount of food we eat and/or increase the amount of exercise we participate in. Restoring energy balance is essential to restoring good health because gaining and maintaining a healthy weight has many benefits. Plan to create energy balance in your life.

May God bless you on your wellness journey!

Joni

P.S. What experience do you have with balancing your energy balance?