Sustaining Your Weight
If you have ready the section regarding 'Weight loss' you will know that my hometown of Grantham was also home to none other that Margaret Thatcher. However facts regarding celebs coming from the wonderful town of Grantham do not stop there, oh no, it was also home to the Big daddy of physics, yes that's right, Isaac Newton..and of that's not enough the legend that is Mr Newton went to my old grammar school. Now aside from sitting under an apple tree and discovering gravity, he will forever be known for his laws of physics, my personal favourite:
"For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction"
(Sir Isaac Newton)
Now although educated at the same school as the great man, a genius I am not. However undeterred I have thought up this quote in the hope that one day it will be up there with the illustrious and legendary ones like Newton's Laws of physics, so here goes:
"When trying to keep your weight the same, your calorie consumption should be like the prime ministers choice of attire during their new years speech...on one hand its too cold for a bikini or Speedos, but a duffle coat and a balaclava tend to send out the wrong impression too.. thus a balance is key."
(Ross Edgley a.k.a. Me)
You know what. I think I've done it again, stroke of genius, haha.now allow me to explain:
Put in its very simplest form; if you wish to maintain the same weight, you must be eating the same amount of calories (energy) than you are expending. I.e. Energy in (calories in) must be the same as energy out (calories out.) Below are examples and explanations of how the body puts 'Energy In' and puts 'Energy Out:'
Energy in: This refers to any food or drink which contains calories/energy.
Energy Out: This refers to ways in which energy is expended in the body, this occurs in 3 ways:
(1) Through the movement of your body. Any movement produced by your body requires energy, a general rule of thumb is the more muscle fibres used to move the more calories you will be using or 'burning'. E.g. Running on a treadmill burns more calories than cycling on a gym bike since the gym bike only requires the leg muscles to move, whereas running requires muscles throughout the entire body to work.
(2) Through the digesting of your food. Few people know the actual eating and digestion of food will result in 'energy out' i.e. you expending energy and burning calories when eating.
(3) Through simply keeping alive. Your body burns calories even when you are doing nothing, this is known as your Basal Metabolic rate, and is the number of calories you expend merely keeping the body functioning at rest.
Once again lastly just before I finish, I took the liberty of writing down the more complex way of explaining the science of gaining weight for those of you who wish to know the technical side of things. Just because:
- I'm single and so have a lot of spare time on my hands, haha
- In my opinion fully empowering yourself with knowledge is key to creating a healthier you
Consuming the same amount of calories as you expend is known as 'Energy Equilibrium.' This can be explained through the equation below:
Energy Equilibrium = Energy expended (exercise, metabolism, thermic effect of feeding) = (equal too) Energy taken in (Food + Drink)