The basics of fat loss

The only way to lose fat is stated in the law of weight/fat loss also known as the law of energy balance:

“In order to lose weight you must use more calories than you eat every day.”

A calorie is a measurement for a form of energy – heat.
The food you are eating releases, when digested, an amount of energy (heat). So each type of food has a caloric value.

The total amount of calories that you consume in a day is the sum of the caloric values of the foods eaten on that particular day.

Calories are also used as a measurement for the amount of energy stored in the body as adipose tissues (fat) or glycogen (stored carbohydrates).

The amount of calories that you use in a day is also known as your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and consists of:

• The calories used for normal bodily functions like digestion, circulation, eating etc. – your Basal Metabolic Rate.
• The calories used while performing physical activities.

What happens when your total energy expenditure is greater then the number of calories eaten is that a caloric deficit appears. The body, in an attempt to reach energy balance, must tap into stored fat for energy – calories are released from body fat and used for energy.

Using body fat for energy (because of the caloric deficit) leads to lower body fat levels and, implicitly, weight loss.

By now it’s clear that “being on” a caloric deficit is the only way to go about losing fat. The reverse is also true – “being on” a caloric surplus will ultimately lead to fat gains.
When your total energy expenditure is equal to your caloric intake, body fat levels stay the same because the body has enough calories from food to compensate fro the energy expenditure. This is known as the maintenance level.

How to create the caloric deficit?

If we where to sum everything mentioned in the previous paragraphs into an equality, it would look something like this:

(Total energy expenditure) – (Calorie intake) = (Caloric deficit)

If you know a bit of math (and I bet you do), you would clearly see that the calorie deficit can be created/increased in 3 ways:

1. Increasing total energy expenditure above calorie intake
2. Decreasing calorie consumption below total energy expenditure
3. At the same time decrease caloric intake and increase energy expenditure

The obvious pick between the three is number 3. The chapters on nutrition and exercising will discuss in length how to do this, so there is no need to go into details here.

Overview of “The basics of fat loss”

• In order to lose fat you need to create a caloric deficit.
• The best way to create a caloric deficit is by increasing your total energy expenditure and cut back on your calorie intake.