The myth behind calorie in and calorie out dieting and why it's not the complete story

If you just burn more calories than you eat, you can lose weight, right? How many times have you heard this? Have you ever tried to lose weight this way? Were you successful? For some blessed individuals this is actually enough. For the rest of us... well, it turns out that metabolism is far more complicated than the simple arithmetic of calorie in calorie out. We are not pure calorie-burning machines. We are an intricate system of biology, hormones, genetics, and even bacteria that process nutrients individually. So depending on your age, gender, hormones, heritage, and dieting history there are factors that are either working with you or against your attempts to change your weight.

For instance, if you have ever lost weight in your life, your net calorie needs will be forever lowered. Your body becomes more efficient at extracting nutrients from your food, so you need less food. If you continue to eat the same foods and/ or the same amount of food without increasing your exercise, you will gain weight again.

It takes a much deeper understanding of fat if you are going to control it. We, at Park Street Healing Arts and Ideal U Weight loss, have studied fat and the science of weight loss and understand what it takes. Most often is it what you are eating and how that affects your hormones and how your hormones trigger fat storage or fat burning. But for some, their fat is more stubborn! Sometimes it is the frequency that you eat, or the amount of exercise (sometimes it's too much), and even not getting enough sleep can make a difference in the weight loss equation. All these factors take special consideration and we want to help solve the fat burning puzzle.

If this is a topic that interests you consider attending one of our free weight loss clinics to learn more! And stay tuned for future blog posts, the story continues.