This document discusses calories and the energy balance equation in depth. It argues that calories in/calories out is an oversimplification and that biochemistry, not physics, determines weight gain and loss. The summary is: 1) While calories consumed must equal calories expended to maintain weight, the equation is more complex than typically presented, with stored energy occurring in body fat, tissues, waste, and kinetic energy in heat and metabolism. 2) Different foods impact the body differently - fiber passes through undigested but sugar is quickly absorbed, for example. 3) Relying only on calorie counting to lose weight ignores hormonal factors and can promote processed, low-calorie foods that may

1. Understanding
Dietary Calories
Is weight management truly all about Calories?

2. True or False
Calories are a substance

3. False
• Calories are a measure of energy
• A small calorie (little “c”) = the approximate
amount of energy needed to raise the temperature
of one gram of water at room temperature by one
degree Celsius
• A large Calorie (capital “C”) or dietary calorie =
1000 calories or 1 kilocalorie
• A convention (not always followed) is to refer to a
dietary calorie as “Calorie” with a capital “C”
• One Calorie = 4184 joules of energy

4. Think of Calories as
Stored Energy in Food
• Measuring a Calorie in food – assign the following to
each gram as follows:
***The numbers do not always add up. Consider alcohol. Alcohol is
lighter than water. One gram of alcohol provides 7 Calories

5. True or False
Calories in = Calories out

6. True
• There is not denying the laws of physics
• First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy can be
changed from one form to another, but it cannot
be created or destroyed.

7. Energy cannot be created or destroyed -- It can only
change form
(following the principal of substitution)
 Calories consumed (C)= Calories expended
 Calories expended = stored energy (S)+ kinetic
energy (k)
 Calories consumed (C) = stored energy (S)+ kinetic
energy (K)
C=S+K

8. The Calorie Enthusiast
• To this point in the presentation, I am in factual
agreement with those who claim that losing weight
is all about Calories
• Calorie enthusiast will proclaim:
“If you eat it you better burn
it else you will store it”

9. True of False
Body tissue is the only option for
stored energy (S)?

10. False
• Consider what is in the toilet after a visit. Is there
stored energy in our waste?
Yes, of course.
There are countless ways the body gets rid of stored
energy : I will label all stored energy not stored in body
tissue waste (w)

11. Consider the Haircut
• We store calories by growing hair and burn them by
visiting a barber or stylist

12. Consider the Dust Mite
• We all shed approximately 1,000,000 skin cells a
day. Dead skin cells have Calories, right? Dust
mites feast on them.
• Gross thought: Your ceiling fans are covered in
dust mite feces.

13. Stored Energy
• I will label all stored energy not stored in body tissue
waste (w)
• Body fat (f) is not the only tissue where Calories are
stored
• Let’s label all other options (t)
Stored energy = body fat stores (f) + other tissue
storage (t) + waste (w)
S=f+t+w

14. Appending the Energy
Balance Formula
 Calories consumed (C) = stored energy (S) + kinetic
energy (K)
C=S+K
 Stored Energy (S) = (fat stores (f) + other tissue stores
(t) + waste (w))
 C = (f + t + w) + K

15. True or False
Metabolic energy (chemical energy) is
the only option for kinetic energy in
Calories?

16. False
• Energy exists in many forms, such as heat, light,
chemical energy, and electrical energy.
• Heat is a big alternative, so I will label this one (h)
• All other I will consider metabolic energy (m)
• kinetic energy = heat energy (h) + metabolic
energy (m)
• K=h+m

17. Consider A Glass of Cold
Water
• Goes in cold – comes out warm
• We’re burning Calories drinking cold water, aren’t
we?

18. Consider Warm Breath
• Usually the air we breathe is cooler the air we
exhale
• The cooler the air the more Calories we burn

19. Consider Heat Released in
Digestion
• Proteins release about 30% of it’s kinetic energy as
heat during digestion -- carbohydrates lose about
6%
• While they both have 4 Calories per gram,
carbohydrates have 24% more potential for
metabolic energy than protein

20. Appending the Energy
Balance Formula
•
•
•
•
C=S+K
C = (f + t + w) + K
K=h+m
C = (f + t + w) + (h + m)

21. Spelling it Out
Calories in = Calories out = Calories consumed =
stored energy + kinetic energy = (fat stores + other
tissue stores + waste) + (heat energy + metabolic
energy)

22. Consider 30 grams of Table Sugar
vs 30 grams of Insoluble Fiber
• Both are pure carbohydrate – both contain 120
Calories
• Different foods take different metabolic pathways

23. 30 grams of Table Sugar
• 6% is lost to heat energy in digestion; very little goes
to waste; the rest of the Calories are absorbed
quickly into the blood stream.
• This leaves 94% of the Calories to be stored as fat,
other tissue or used for metabolic energy

24. 30 grams of Insoluble
Fiber
Our bodies do not have the enzymes to breakdown
insoluble fiber.
Nearly all will go to waist

25. What is Our Caloric Need?
Method used to estimate an individual's basal
metabolic rate (BMR) and daily kilocalorie
requirements.
Men: BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x weight in kg) + (4.799 x
height in cm) - (5.677 x age in years)
Women: BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 x weight in kg) +
(3.098 x height in cm) - (4.330 x age in years)
** there are plenty of online BMR calculators that Google can help you find

26. BMR = the SWAG method
• SWAG : scientific wild backside guess
• Too many other variables:
How much sleep are you getting? What is your
genetic predisposition? How much stress are you
under? Are you fighting an infection? What is your
overall physical condition? Are you in a growth sprit?

27. True or False
The body has an amazing ability to rev
up or slow down its metabolism

28. True
• According to the BMR formula it is estimated that I
need about 3800 Calories per day
• If I cut my intake to 3000 Calories per day, who’s to
say I will not begin to feel sluggish as my body slows
its metabolic rate to match my Caloric intake?

29. True or False
There are 3500 calories in a pound
of body fat

30. True
This is very measurable

31. True or False
A 3500 Calories surplus or deficit will
lead to one pound gain or one
pound loss of body fat

32. False
• Our amended energy balance equation
demonstrates that burning or storing of body fat is
NOT the only option for keeping energy in balance
• It is difficult to measure calories in and impossible to
actually measure Calories out. Animals don’t need
to count calories to lose weight. Neither do we
humans.

33. Conclusion
• There are too many variables in the energy balance
equation for Calories to be effectively applied to
weight loss or weight gain
• The energy balance formula does not address
causation or the overall health affects of our food
choices

34. Low Calorie Thinking is
Dangerous and Ineffective
• Food manufacturers make food low Calorie by
making it low fat. In this way they get to a lower
number by exchanging a 9 with a 4
• In doing this they cut cost and make a health claim
taking out the healthy good fats and replace them
with cheep bad carbs like high fructose corn syrup

35. Low Calorie Thinking is
Dangerous and Ineffective
• Low Calorie thinking has us eating
less real food, more processed foods,
more wheat, and more lite beer. (less
filling .. taste great)
• Ironically, the medical community
has come to understand that these
foods are the very foods that are
biochemically more likely to lead to
fat storage, insulin resistance, lepton
resistance, diabetes, heart disease
and numerous other medical
disorders.

36. My Proclamations:
• Biochemistry is too complex to be expressed in a
simple number
• Calorie thinking is too flawed to be included in any
meaningful discussion about dieting. The focus
needs to be based biochemistry not the same
physics applied to internal combustion engines. -Calories don’t make us fat; hormones do.

37. The Right Approach
• With an open mind, throw out all preconceived
notions about calories and saturated fat
• Understand there are good carbs and bad carbs,
good fats and bad fats, good proteins and bad
proteins. Learn the differences and eliminate the
bad
• Include moderate exercise in your daily routine -- not
to burn calories – rather, to improve your fat storing
hormone health

38. Resources for the Better
Approach
• www.eatingacademy.com
• www.dietdoctor.com
• www.authoritynutrition.com
My blog page
• www.fatandmclean.blogspot.com