Diet Information

Science Of Weight Loss

May 27, 2009
By J White

“No matter what I do, I just can’t seem to lose weight.” You may have made that statement yourself or heard it made by others. The quandary resulting from the statement might lead you to think that there is some mystical incantation or magical beans for weight loss. Rest assured, there is nothing so other-worldly. The laws of science do apply. You just need to understand what they are.

The Science of Weight Loss

Regardless of what you might think, there is only one way to lose weight and that is by burning more energy than you take in. A more scientific means of describing this is the energy balance equation. If you were to write out the equation, it would look something like this:

Energy Balance = (Calories in your food) + (Calories expended in your daily physical activities)

Once you grasped the concept of this equation, you will know the basic key to weight control and the basis of any weight loss program.

Applying the Energy Balance Equation

When you start to apply the equation, you will notice that there are only 3 possible values: positive, neutral, and negative.

1. Positive You get a positive energy balance when you consume more food calories than you expend in your daily physical activity. This of course leads to you gaining weight. As long as this condition holds true, you will gain weight.

2. Neutral When the equation has a neutral outcome, that is when calories in food equal the calories expended, you will maintain your present weight, nothing more, nothing less.

3. Negative A negative energy balance occurs when the calories you consume are less than the calories you expend or burn in activities during the day. For those who wish to lose weight, this is the energy balance that you want to remain in. Even though staying in this condition may be more challenging than the equation itself, the bottom line is that this is the only way you are going to naturally lose weight.

So you see, there is nothing mystical about weight loss. It relies on a basic scientific equation. And now that you understand this equation, you also know that if you can’t seem to lose weight, then you do not have a negative value in the energy balance equation. And as I am sure you are able to deduce, the only way to get in this condition is to either consume fewer calories or increase your daily physical activities. The best means, however, is to do both.

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