Calories In vs Calories Out: Is A Calorie A Calorie?

There is much debate as to whether a calorie is a calorie, i.e. is any calorie equal to any other purely because of the amount of energy it contains? Indeed, many of the popular weight loss methodologies offer pure ‘calories in vs calories out’ options and food scoring systems to encourage the right food choices. This can work, but remember weight loss by any means is not our goal, we are seeking the perfect blend of performance, aesthetics, sustainable lifestyle and future health.

This means we have to get a little more nuanced with the question of ‘calories in vs calories out’. Let’s start by saying that yes, technically a calorie is a calorie. If you are on a surplus you should see weight gain, and if you are on a deficit you should see weight loss. Let’s caveat that though - we are interested in recomposition (i.e fat loss and muscle maintenance/gain) which means we may not be best served giving ourselves carte blanche with the content of our food, even if the numbers stack up. 

For example, think about insulin response, energy production and inflammation. If I knew I needed 200g of carbohydrates on a given day, I could do this with pizza, jelly babies or quinoa. The numbers would be the same, but the effects on the body may be very different because of how the sugars affect the bloodstream and the body in general which we’ll discuss below. 

Let’s look at a protein example, if I needed 150g of protein from a meal, I might reasonably do this, mathematically speaking with processed meats, like pepperami, might this have a different effect on my body, energy, psychology than perhaps grass-fed beef or the protein I could garner from plant-based foods like mushrooms, chickpeas and nuts?

This is where you will see the ‘If It Fits Your Macros’ or ‘IIFYM’ approach, which again will work, technically. But deciding how to make those macros work best for you with good quality, nutrient-dense foods is a level of complexity I would suggest embracing. Try to consider the fact that your health and fitness goals will impact all aspects of your life, so you want to operate at a high level at every point of decision, every variable you can manipulate. This way your progress will be exponential.