You’re feeling great after another victorious workout! That feeling of accomplishment, however, is accompanied by an appetite appropriate for a ‘World’s Strongest Man’ competitor!

Although your new fitness routine is working wonders on the bod, it’s also left you feeling hungrier than a hippo (assuming hippos are actually hungry outside of the popular board game…). Our minds begin to run like they were just fitted with a new pair of shoes… Should I eat more?? Should I eat less?? How much do I need to eat to keep me going strong through me workouts?? Can I eat more and still lose weight?? What if I want to gain weight?? I’m starving!! Well, my Glistening gals, it’s time to buff up our nutritional knowledge by learning how to fuel up without slowing down!

As always, it is important to remind ourselves that the focus of any workout regime or nutritional program should be based on overall HEALTH, not a set-point on the scale. One’s preconceived “ideal weight” may not coincide with their actual “ideal health.” With that said, nutrition is a very important aspect in achieving our “ideal health;” it’s a key ingredient (did someone say ingredient?? That sounds delicious!) to living out a limitless, fulfilling, active lifestyle. A great place to begin our quest is the Energy Balance Equation.

The Energy Balance Equation is a basic formula that is essential to managing our weight. Many exercise scientists point to it as the “science behind weight control.” In a nutshell, it works like this: Everyone consumes calories, and everyone expends calories. You can consume calories through food (including beverages), and you can expend calories through physical activity or even basic bodily functions (like digesting food, sleeping, etc.). While the rate at which they consume and expend calories differs based on nutritional habits, physical activity levels, and even genetics, the process of consumption and expenditure is something that we all go through.

• To maintain weight, our calories consumed will be equal to the calories we expend.
• To lose weight, our calories consumed will be fewer than the calories we expend.
• To gain weight, our calories consumed will be greater than the calories we expend.

Sounds simple enough, but let’s consider a few more things just to be clear. One pound of stored body fat is equal to 3500 calories. So, to lose one pound of fat, we must get rid of 3500 calories. Looking at the Energy Balance Equation, we see that losing weight requires that more calories need to be expended than the calories consumed. This can be accomplished several ways…

(1) Expend more calories (increase physical activity),
(2) consume fewer calories (modify diet), or
(3) a combination of increased physical activity with decreased caloric intake.

Option number three is the ideal solution due to the killer one-two punch of physical activity and a nutritional diet. Small cutbacks yield big rewards with the Energy Balance Equation, and eating smaller meals more frequently keep your metabolism running hot. A cut back of 100 calories per day (700 calories total), coupled with a week of great workouts (averaging 400 calories per workout) will help you reach your goal of cutting 3500 calories. Keep in mind that medical recommendations for healthy weight loss result in no more than two (2) pounds lost per week. This may seem very small when reality shows display contestants losing double-digit figures each week, but the focus here is on healthy, sustainable weight control for lifelong health.