Question of the Day

I recently received the question: "I've been working out for two years now and managed to drop my weight to an ideal 115 lb. I still hit the gym everyday but now I always aim to burn over 2,000 calories everytime. Is this good? If I cut it down am I going to gain the weight again?" My answer is ... it depends. Let me explain ...
Burning 2,000 calories per day is no small feat. I average between 300 - 600 calories per hour and consider myself fairly fit. Marathon runners will burn that in several hours on long runs, but it can be done with intense workouts (such as sprints) and weight lifting as well. Compared to the average couch potato, it's a tall order ... yet to some Olympic athletes, it's just getting started.

So there are really two questions to answer:

1. Is it good to burn 2,000 calories per day?

The answer depends on what you think is good. Good for what? If it's something you enjoy, can sustain, recover from and doesn't interfere with your schedule, how could it be bad? I know some extreme runners and hikers who love to "go the distance" and will get up at 4am just for the opportunity to spend several hours burning thousands of calories. They love doing it and for them, it's fine.

If you are an elite athlete and you burn those calories towards your sport, it's also good.

Here's when it is not good: when you are just beginning an exercise program. 2,000 would be way over the top and an invitation for injury. So those reading who are just starting out, take heed: even after 10 years of consistent training, I still average 300 - 600 calories depending on my training cycle. I'll only burn thousands of calories when I start training for my marathon again and need to burn the calories to cover the enormous distances required.

Of course, a spin-off question is easily: is it BETTER, and I say, NO. It's not necessarily better. Research suggests that burning several hundred calories several days per week is really all that is needed to receive the benefits of exercise. So if you're trying to create a lifestyle approach, you will do what works well within your schedule and budget and what is fun. I wouldn't set it as a goal just because of how much is burned, because you can manipulate the other side of the calorie equation relatively easily: the nutrition side.

That leads me to the second part.

2. If I stop eating so many calories, will I gain weight?

It depends on your nutrition. Obviously if you are eating to sustain that goal and you suddenly stop training, but don't change your nutrition, you will gain weight. It's simple math as you will suddenly create a surplus.

I experienced this when I took over the technology side of a software company. The first year I probably worked 80 hour work weeks consistently and traveled. I was still eating as if I were bodybuilding and doing high intensity cardio, but my only training I could consistently fit in was yoga and stretching. I quickly gained 10, 20, and 30 pounds.

Fortunately, I was still eating healthy, so despite the gains, I was still showing all positive health markers: low cholesterol, blood pressure, and the other works. I was just taking in too much energy and my body was thanking me for the opportunity to store it against the possibility of a famine being around the corner.

I quickly adjusted by reining in my nutrition, eating less, training more (I started my goal of running an ultramarathon) and was able to shed those pounds.

Had I really taken a look in the beginning and realized I was taking a tremendous cut in my exercise, I would have trimmed back calories and avoided the unnecessary weight gain.

So burning less than 2,000 calories per day won't cause you to gain weight IF you adjust your nutrition accordingly. For most people, it's a relatively simple shift: simply focus on more whole, natural carbohydrates and lean more towards raw vegetables than starchy, cooked carbohydrates and make sure those proteins are lean. Add lots of fiber and you can still feel satisfied despite a dramatic shift in calories (I find most people who consume a larger number of calories are more likely to have shakes, bars, breads, and other processed foods, so simply replacing these with whole foods can cut a lot of calories).

Congratulations to the person who submitted the question for getting into shape and best of continued health, success, and abundance in all you do.

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