Summary:
Evolution has prevented us from lounging on the couch and eating fast food all day long. Because the body is a machine that has been perfected in the process of evolution. Only successful reproduction can transcend our secondary goal of survival, and for millennia until the age of the supermarket, food scarcity was the greatest threat.
Therefore, any excess energy is carefully stored as fat for a rainy day. Due to genetic inheritance, each person has a different predisposition toward where body fat is stored and most importantly, how much fat is stored. Your ancestors had to fight to survive? This is not good for you because your body may store fat more efficiently.
Less satisfying: Food shortages and sudden wealth in the early centuries gave Nauru the highest rate of diabetes in the world. / © Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program
In addition to genetic predisposition, metabolic training also plays a role. For example, those who eat extreme diets to avoid weight gain train their metabolism more to accumulate calories as fat.
Regardless of your genetic makeup, the basic idea behind weight loss and weight gain is simple: if you eat more than you burn, you gain weight, and vice versa, logically, you lose weight. Yes, there are countless trends like “no carbs after 6pm,” intermittent fasting, low-carb and low-fat diets, or crazy Gwyneth Paltrow stuff. Some of these measures are useless even at the best of times, while others will actually push your metabolism in the other direction in the long run, or help you develop healthier eating habits in general, and lessen your weight.
However, in my experience, if you think of your body as a self-contained physical system, the influence is much greater, and this is where the input-output principle applies. The first step is to understand your calorie intake (input) and calorie consumption (output).
Yes, rating all meals and drinks is comparable to vis ratings in terms of popularity. But it’s very useful. Fortunately, there are a number of apps that greatly simplify the task. Instead of entering calories, fat, etc. For example, you can simply use Fatsecret to scan the barcode on the package and register your lunch. And: If you continue to follow your diet for a few weeks, you’ll quickly develop a really good feeling about your nutrition while learning to listen to your body.
Fatsecret also lets you take pictures of foods to track their calorie content. / © kwgeek
In addition to pure energy intake in kilocalories, most apps also record the macronutrients that make up the energy provided. Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbohydrates, sometimes called “carbs.” Bad news for alcoholics: Alcohol is also a macronutrient and packs a lot of calories. Two glasses of vermouth is roughly equivalent to one cup of olive oil. Yum.
Macronutrient Comparison
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carbohydrate |
protein | Fat | Alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 kcal/g | 4 kcal/g | 9 kcal/g | 7 kcal/g |
Whether it is a diet low or high in carbohydrates: there are countless philosophies about how the supplied energy should ideally contain macronutrients. Although the ingredients have no effect or only a secondary effect on weight gain or weight loss, it still works on the body according to the information source. For example, I kept feeling tired on a low-carb diet because my body lacked a readily available source of carbohydrate energy. Eating the wrong food at the wrong time, we tend to overeat.
Based on the carbohydrate/protein/fat ratio as a source of proportional energy, I’ve been getting the best results with macronutrient ratios between 60:20:20 and 80:10:10 respectively. If you stick to a diet for a while, you’ll see the macronutrients broken down in the app and see for yourself what works best for you.
In my opinion, the best calorie counting app is Cronometer. With it, you can track not only the macronutrients mentioned above, but also micronutrients, i.e. vitamins, etc. In the article below, you can read a more detailed comparison between popular calorie counting apps:
| application 1 | application 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| application | stopwatch | FDDB expander |
| draw |  |
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| describe | Cronometer tracks not only macronutrients but also micronutrients. Although the database didn’t identify Nutella in our tests, it includes most foods. Another positive is that Cronometer is also available in a browser version, allowing you to comfortably review your eating history on the big screen. Professional features, such as meal photos and detailed analytics, cost about $30 a year. | Food Database is the oldest reference database of food, nutrients and more – with FDDB Extender it comes as an app on your smartphone. The scope of functionality is very similar to Cronometer. Some extra features, like macronutrient goals, cost $1.67 per month. The app also has the option to connect to Google Fit, Samsung Health, Fitbit or Garmin Connect. |
| download |
Quick note: There are a lot of nutritional aspects to consider beyond macronutrients. “Fast carbs are (generally) worse than slow carbs (glycemic index), have good fats and bad fats (saturated/unsaturated), and there are also huge differences in protein (value) oatmeal (slow carbs), e.g. , keeps you fuller than white toast (fast carbs), so it’s easier to eat less. , I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for in no time at your local bookstore or in a related forum.
Once you determine your input and output, it consists of two components: what is called your basal metabolic rate and your power metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate quantifies how much energy you expend in your daily life without physical activity. There are simple rules of thumb and calculators for BMR.
Energy metabolism ultimately quantifies total “peak” consumption, from endless pizza dough kneading to HIIT motor units. Fitness trackers are a great help in determining power metabolic rate. They track your daily movement and heart rate, giving you a pretty good estimate of your active calorie burn. To learn more about calorie burn, read this article:
| best fitness tracker | Best iOS Smartwatch | The best Android smartwatches | Best Smartwatch for Sports | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| product | ||||
| draw |
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| Vtoe |
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| evening paper |
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| confuse |
Read the Mi Smart Band 7 review |
Read the Apple Watch 8 review |
Read the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review |
Read the Garmin Forerunner 955 review |
You can find other fitness trackers and smartwatches to monitor your calorie burn in the article linked below. If you don’t want to buy extra hardware, pedometer apps can help: They let you estimate your energy consumption using your smartphone. However, due to the lack of pulse measurement, motor units will not be recorded accurately.
If you now know your calorie intake and expenditure, controlling weight gain or loss should be the result. Unfortunately, it’s actually not that simple because the body is an extremely complex system and calorie expenditure values are always estimates. But you can improve its accuracy: log your weight for weeks; use an analog scale and pen, or more practical of course a connected scale, including a smartphone app. If there is any inconsistency, you should adjust your BMR empirically.
Or you can finally stop sneaking all those chocolate bars off the calorie counter.
Now, whether you’re gaining or losing weight, there’s another variable: How much exercise are you getting and how is your body responding? This is where the aforementioned evolution comes in. From an evolutionary standpoint, muscle is a luxury for your body. At rest, they use up a lot of valuable energy, so if they are not absolutely necessary for survival, i.e. if they are constantly being used, they are broken down.
This is especially true for…
