Simply, calories are tiny units of energy that your body processes in order function.
Calories in, calories out means, if you burn more calories than you take in daily, you lose weight; on the other hand, take in more than you burn each day, and you will gain weight. This is a result of our Basil Metabolic Rate (BMR), which identifies the amount of energy expended in a give period.
Understanding this is important; but to take this a step further and maximize the results of your calorie monitoring and create an effective diet plan, it’s essential to also understand the way the various foods we eat translate into calories. This process is known as the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), and is one of three factors determining your BMR. TEF is the amount of calories used by the body while processing, digesting and absorbing the food you eat. In general, TEF makes up about 10% of the calories expended by your body if eating an average diet (example: if eating a 400 calorie cold cut sandwich, you’re only taking in 360 calories, since you’re expending 10% to simply process the meal).
Each of the main components in our food—protein, carbohydrates and fat—has an assigned TEF level. Proteins, having the highest TEF, burn 20-30% of their calories while processing, as opposed to carbohydrates and fats, which only expend 7% and 3% respectively in digestion. Knowing this, you can stack your diet with foods that have a higher TEF value and maximize your weight and fat loss, without sacrificing your muscle growth and retention.
