How To Own Calories Like a Pro

Hey there, 

Has muscle gain or fat loss been a constant struggle?

I’d like to share something useful about calories and why they’re so important for losing and gaining weight. Shredding fat or gaining muscle

It’s called  Energy Balance:

Energy

Just like our homes and cars use gas and electricity for energy, our bodies use calories for energy⚡.  We get those calories from our food.

Balance

Since we’re not constantly eating, our bodies have evolved a system that keeps us alive even when we’re not chowing down or sipping on calories. Behind the microscopic scenes we’re always moving nutrients/energy through the blood, in and out of cells and tissue. This includes our fat cells. This whole process gives us balance and a steady stream of energy while we’re sleeping and awake🧨  

Calorie Surplus

When we eat more calories on average over the course of days, weeks, months we have an over abundance of energy called a calorie surplus. As to prevent future starvation, our bodies pack away that extra energy in our reserve tanks🚴. Fat cells! Yes, our bellies, thighs, extra chins and love handles. It really is that simple as much as I wish I could tell you differently. If you don’t burn the calories from 6 beers, 5 slices of pizza your body will store those calories as fat. Keep in mind…one high calorie meal isn’t so much the problem. A steady flow of high calorie processed food, snacks and drinks is the real smoking gun when it comes to fat storage.

Calorie Deficit

So eat the “right” number of calories and your weight stays the same. Eat “too many” calories and they’ll be stored as fat for later. So what about getting rid of some of that stored fat that we already have? I mean, is there some kind of “locks of love” donation for fat? Sadly no, but there’s still a way to get rid of that unwanted fat. You need to deprive your body of energy so that it’ll go attack that fat for energy. Remember, fat is reserve energy. So how do we do it? We eat less calories on average over the course of days, weeks and months than we’re burning. We call this being in a calorie deficit. Just like one heavy meal doesn’t “make you fat”, one low calorie salad probably won’t give you the fat loss results you’re looking for. You’ve got to be in a calorie deficit for an extended period of time to really start burning fat. 

With that being said,

How many calories do we need to increase for muscle gain?💪

For a safe calorie Surplus I suggest a 300–500 calorie increase

How many calories do we need to decrease for fat loss?🏃‍♂️

For safe fat loss, cut 500 calories a day from your typical diet, you should lose about 1 pound (0.5 kilogram) a week.

It’s guaranteed that you can benefit from all this info and much more, used appropriately and effectively! Lack of inspiration, no organisation and the feeling of not knowing where to start….If you want to overcome those constant health-goal struggles, DM me the word “Balance” or click here to find out more about balancing a healthy lifestyle.

To your Success,

Christian Poulos