Why The Scales Aren't Moving

Despite what influencers and infomercials may have told you, changing your body composition, through fat loss and/or muscle gain, is actually pretty simple in theory. It’s a matter of energy balance; calories in versus calories out.

All foods contain calories, and all calories consist of macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein, and fats.

• Carbs and protein contain four calories per gram
• Fats contain nine calories per gram
• Alcohol contains seven calories per gram

The combination of these macronutrients will vary depending on what it is you’re consuming. To calculate your caloric intake, multiply the macronutrients you consume throughout the day in grams by their relative calories per gram.

For example, if you consume 300 grams of carbs, 200 grams of protein, and 100 grams of fat in a day, then your caloric intake would be:

• 300 x 4 (300g carbs at four calories per gram) +
• 200 x 4 (200g protein at four calories per gram) +
• 100 x 9 (100g of fat at nine calories per gram) for a total of 2,900 calories consumed that day.

It should be noted that the weight of a particular food made up primarily of one nutrient is not equal to the amount of that nutrient. For example, chicken breast is mainly protein, but 100g of chicken breast does not equal 100g of protein — it’s closer to 30g of protein.

So how can you use this information to help you meet your goals? First, you must understand your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).

TDEE is the total calories you burn daily through bodily functions, exercise, and general movement.

Energy balance refers to the relationship between the calories you burn (TDEE) and the calories you consume.

If you consume more calories than your TDEE consistently (otherwise known as a caloric surplus) you’ll gain weight.

If you consume fewer calories than your TDEE consistently (a caloric deficit), you’ll lose weight.

Ensuring that the weight you’re gaining is muscle, and the weight you’re losing is fat, takes a bit more nuance.

Things like consuming enough protein, training hard enough, and your rate of weight loss/gain are all important factors to consider.

But the essential takeaway here is that energy balance is the key to all body composition changes, and there‘s no way around it.

You can train hard, eat enough protein and get 8 hours of sleep each night, but if your energy balance is not aligned with your goals long-term, you simply won’t see the physical change.

So if you feel like you’re doing everything right, but the scales aren’t moving, reconsider your energy balance.