Macros are not magic

I often get questions such as: “how many calories should I be eating?” or “what will my maintenance macros be?”

While there are some basic formulas we can go by to determine basal metabolic rate, they aren’t very accurate. In fact, I’ve found that (anecdotally) multiplying bodyweight by 10 or 11 is usually a pretty good start for fat loss. However, the differences between individuals is enormous.

The issue is that the CICO (calories in calories out) formula is rather one sided. We can easily prescribe the calories in portion but it has a dynamic effect on calories out. When we restrict calories we will likely throttle some of the mechanisms that drive calorie expenditure. Autonomic functions that we don’t even recognize such as blinking or fidgeting. While it doesn’t seem like much, these small movements add up to large amounts of caloric burn. Unfortunately, we can’t measure blinking.

This is where steps come in. The one thing we can use as an intervention is steps. It is a simple tactic that helps to increase our energy expenditure while not further stressing the system as exercise can sometimes do. We still want to see training occur but we use steps independent of exercise.

The other benefit of creating a habit around steps is that as we come out of a caloric deficit and begin the process of increasing calories we will see an exponential effect. As calories increase and we move and eat our way into a state of high flux, those metabolic adaptations that were throttling output will start to restore. As they do, we will need to further increase input to keep pace with our ever growing output. This is the basis for the Abundance Model.

Keep in mind that our bodies are not math equations. We are not the sum of static numbers. We are individual humans with very different situations. The body is an ever-changing system that is constantly working to maintain homeostasis. If we want to affect a dynamic problem we can’t rely on a static  solution.