subject: How To Build Muscle And Lose Fat [print this page] Amount of calories you burn when resting (Resting Metabolic Rate) + Calories burned in physical activities and work = Daily Calorie Expenditure (DCE)
When the calories you eat aren't all used up by your resting metabolic rate and physical activity, your extra calories will be stored in your body, causing weight gain. (IN greater than OUT = Weight Gain)
NEGATIVE - WEIGHT LOSS
In contrast, if your total daily calorie expenditure is greater than the amount of calories you consume, your body will use up calories stored in your body, which leads to weight loss. (OUT greater then IN = Weight Loss)
NEUTRAL = NO Loss, No Gain
When the calories you get from eating food are all used up, no calories are left over and your body isn't in need of anymore either. The input and demand for calories are pretty much equal, so there's no surplus (weight gain) nor deficit (weight loss). This results in no change in weight. (IN OUT = NO LOSS, NO GAIN)
Effect of exercise
The results can vary somewhat when exercises comes into play:
Positive balance = Weight Gain, remember? However, Positive balance + Exercise = Weight gain IN MUSCLE MASS
Negative balance = Weight Loss, while Negative balance + Exercise = Weight Loss IN FAT MASS
Neutral balance = No change in Weight, but Neutral balance + exercise = No change in Weight, with some MUSCLE GAIN, AND some FAT LOSS.
Remember! Exercise increases your caloric expense, so if you start exercising and keep the same caloric intake (eat the same amount of food) your balance will become negative. To keep a neutral balance, you would have to slightly increase your caloric intake (this usually happens naturally: people tend to be hungrier than normal when they first begin to exercise).
No Exercise
The results can differ with exercise, so it makes sense they can vary due to a lack of exercise too.
Positive Balance = Weight Gain in FAT MASS and Negative balance = Weight Loss IN MUSCLE MASS
The difference caused by a lack of exercise is important. Many other advertised diets claim huge and quick weight loss, but their diets revolve around restricting food consumption, and don't emphasize exercise. This will result in weight loss, but it will be that loss will consist of a larger portion of muscle mass loss and a smaller portion of fat loss. Furthermore, this is undesirable because loss of muscle mass means a lower resting metabolic rate, which also reduces your daily caloric expenditure. By taking on these kinds of diets, your resting metabolic rate will lower, which means you burn up less calories while you are resting. This leads to a lower DCE, which means if you eat the same amount but don't exercise, you'll be gaining weight. This is an outcome that we certainly do not want.
How do you reverse that situation? One, do not restrict your calories intake by following these "fad" diets. Two, you must exercise, since exercise will increase your metabolic rate, and give you much better outcomes by sustaining a healthy weight, while losing fat and building muscle.
