Energy In, Energy Out?

Wow, I get to eat ALL of those "calories" I burned? Sweet, 2700kcal of food here I come!

But wait, remember in my previous post, I mentioned your body works hard to keep your metabolic rate WITHIN A NARROW RANGE (similar to your body temperature, pH, etc.)?

This means (are you ready for it?) that no matter how much exercise or movement you get, your body is burning roughly the same amount of energy (calories). Your "metabolism," the process of transferring food into energy (LIFE), does not undulate in huge leaps and bounds daily, as your #activity tracker would have you believe.

Does it increase slightly and decrease slightly between a huge active day and a restful day? Of course, but not as much as you think.

So wait a minute, if I am burning 2700kcal in one day, but my daily energy expenditure (#BMR + activity level) is around 1500kcal, then how does my body cover the deficit?

Cutting edge research from scientists such as Dr. Herman Pontzer (Duke University and author of the recent book "Burn"), has proven that our metabolism indeed remains in a narrow range (for me about 1500kcal on a rest day), and when we create a deficit we are not exactly "burning" more #energy, but our cells are re-allocating energy from other systems in the body (like the immune system, reproductive system, etc.).

This means, my body's cells (or to be super geeky, the #mitochondria in my cells) are allocating less energy to my immune system? Isn't that bad? Actually, NO! This means the more energy I use to power movement (to an extent of course), the less my immune system is over-acting, the less #inflammation it is creating, the less cortisol (stress hormone) it is releasing, etc. which is a good thing! That is why #exercise is such a great "stress releaser" or "stress management" tool!

Ah, yes it is all coming together... but WAIT! If I forget my #metabolism remains within a narrow range (for me between around 1500-2000- read my last post) and I go ahead and just eat what I believe I burned that day, I am going to eventually be eating in a calorie surplus, and I am going to slowly gain weight over time.

Yes. To a degree. WHAT?! We'll keep digging into this! Until next time.