Not Fair - Part 3

To summarize my previous two blogs, we know as a matter of chemistry and physics the following:

1. You gain weight by eating more calories than you burn, and vice versa.

2. The body stores energy in two places, one quick access (glycogen) and one slow access (fat).

3. You need about 12 calories per day to support a pound of body weight with no exercise.

4. A pound of fat has 3500 calories of energy in it.

From a strictly chemical standpoint, maintaining a certain desired weight is just a matter of mathematics:

1. Figure out your base calorie expenditure at your desired weight (12 x desired body weight). Add to that your exercise calorie burn. Eat that many calories.

2. Try to match calorie ingestion to calorie expenditure throughout the day. Do this by eating small meals six times per day and eating before, during and after exercise.

3. Do slow cardio work outs such as walking to burn fat.

4. Do strength training to build muscle mass which increases your calorie burn even when you are at rest.

But as we all know eating is much more than a matter of mathematics. Our bodies are hard coded to desire fats and sweets. A recent book, Supernormal Stimuli by Deidre Barrett, talks about how, even though we understand the concept of weight management from a intellectual standpoint, our bodies still make us eat more than we need. We see examples of how behavior is controlled by more than just the rational conscious part of the brain. Think politicians’ peccadilloes here.

This brings us back to the blog series, “Train Yourself.” We can’t get there through intellectualizing and will power. Our native instincts are too strong. We must train ourselves to eat differently if we are going to lose weight.

KeepRunning!