ACTIVE BODY
PUT IN WHAT YOU NEED TO GET OUT An essential element of sport nutrition is getting the ‘energy balance’ right. Nutritional adviser Helen Cole explains how... Have you ever wondered why it is that some people have the ability to ‘eat like a horse’, while others claim to ‘peck like a bird’ and still gain weight? Well, the simple answer is ‘energy balancing’. I can still hear my father-in-law saying ‘you need to put less in and more out’ and do you know something... he was absolutely right and I’ll explain why. ENERGY BALANCE The nutrition requirements for sports people and regular exercisers differ from those who are more sedentary because
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involvement in any sort of physical activity means that we require more energy. If our energy intake equals our energy expenditure, our weight is likely to stay the same and this is called ‘energy balance’. If energy intake is less than our energy requirement, our bodies start to rely on stored energy (glycogen and fat) and once this has been used up, we start to feel fatigued, our performance is less effective and we will start to lose weight. On the flip side, taking in more energy than we require will eventually result in weight gain. So, how do we get it right?
ENERGY EXPENDITURE The way in which our bodies use energy can be calculated in the following way: Energy expenditure = basal metabolic rate + thermogenesis + physical activity Basal metabolic rate (BMR) – is the minimal amount of calories (energy) we require while resting and maintaining our body’s normal function. In a sedentary individual, this can account for up to 75% of total energy requirements. Thermogenesis – or ‘heat generation’ –