Is It Really All About Calories In vs. Calories Out?

Is It Really All About Calories In vs. Calories Out?

It has been an ongoing debate in the world of nutrition whether the qualities of calories you ingest has anything to do with your body composition. Some believe that eating clean calories will lead to better weight loss and more lean mass gain, while others think as long as you hit your macronutrient breakdown, you should eat whatever you want.

What is the correct answer? Perhaps no one really knows the real answer.

But, there is one other important thing to consider – how do the calories ingest make you feel and perform in the gym…

Sure, you could probably eat ice cream, chocolate and protein shakes all day, and still hit your required 200g of protein, 400g of carbs and so on, but what is your workout going to look like? Are you going to be hitting new one rep maximums, or are you going to be dragging yourself through your workouts, not really putting in your best effort.

Now, what if you ate sweet potatoes, lean chicken and olive oil instead? How would that make you feel? What would your performance in the gym be like then? Probably a lot better, right?

What I am trying to say here is sure, it may be possible to lose weight and gain muscle eating ice cream, but do you really want to sacrifice your in gym performance for a bunch of junk food? Do you really think you will be able to perform to the best of your ability if you don’t eat clean?

Do yourself a favor and eat clean. Sure, having a cheat meal a few times per week is great, but if the foundation of your diet is not based on healthy food, you are not progressing to your goal as fast as you could be.