Are all calories created equal? Food for thought to improve your weight loss and weight gain goals.

For those of you who are currently on a weight loss (or gaining) diet and tend to find yourself doing all the right things and still for some odd reason cannot seem to reap any results, this tid bit of information may be just what you need to know to make all the difference in the world.  Many of us believe or have been told that all we have to do is take in less calories than we expend to lose weight, and likewise take in more [calories] than we expend in a day to gain weight– and that’s all we have to do to be on our way to achieving those expected results.  Theoretically speaking, this is true. So if this is the case, then why aren’t we seeing the results of this scientific fact, if we are indeed doing just that? What I have came to discovery about this scientific fact is that it works to a point of weight loss or gain– until your body gets to a certain weight and becomes much more efficient at either economizing your dietary intake amount (where it will hold on for dear life to fat calories) or (for weight gainers) simply get rid of excess caloric intake to minimize further weight gains.  So what’s the answer once we’ve reached a certain point?  Glad you tuned in for the answer.  Remember, “all calories are not created equal.”  Our bodies, in fact, are much more sophisticated than we give it credit for.  It breaks the food down that we consume into three separate energy sources for the body to use as energy– or to store for matter: Fat, Carbohydrate, and Protein.  What this ultimately means, is that even though we may be taking in less (or more) calories than what we expend in a day, our body will “categorize” our intake not according to how many total calories we consume each day, but instead by what percentage each nutrient represents separately.  In other words, one could consume a mere 900 total calories per day and go to the gym 5 times a week and still reap zero results because their percentage of fat calories exceeds an amount that’s proportionate to the 900 total calories consumed!  “So Shane, your saying the previously mentioned scientific fact becomes null and void and that I won’t lose any more weight if 450 of those 900 calories just so happens to be fat calories?”  If this is a question that many of you might ask, then yes, my answer to the latter part of this question is, “no way Hosea!” The answer: yes, caloric intake must be substantially less than what we expend in a day through our body’s daily metabolic processes plus what we expend through exercise, but more importantly, a healthy balance (percentage) of what we are eating will make all the difference in the world. If you are trying lose that last 10 to 15 pounds that you just can’t seem to get rid of, then I would recommend a 15-25%(Fat):55-60%(Carb.): 20-25%(Prot.) ratio diet. For you weight gainers, on the other hand, I would recomend a 25-30%(Fat):60-65%(Carb):10-15%(Prot) ratio diet. There are several dietary apps or dietary calculators online that can figure this for you just by keeping track of dietary intake on any given day, hence a break down of your nutrient percentages.  If your one of these people mentioned above, I urge you to calculate your dietary intake percentages for one day, and I bet you’ll will be surprised of how unbalanced your weight loss or gain diet is, and hopefully be the answer to the classic question of “why can’t I lose (or gain) weight?”