Every day walk ten thousand steps,
Why am I still gaining weight?
Many friends think that as long as they move, they will definitely lose weight. In fact, exercise energy expenditure is not as high as we imagine. From the perspective of evolutionary biology, our ancestors used to get food by hunting to fill their stomachs. If the energy expended in hunting is higher than the energy obtained from food, it would be difficult for humans to survive. Therefore, the body gradually learned to conserve energy expenditure, making exercise energy expenditure lower, thus beneficial for human survival.
The calories burned by walking ten thousand steps is only about 240-300 kcal, which can be consumed by just one cup of milk tea. Additionally, during holidays, gatherings often involve feasting, leading to unintentional overeating. If daily calorie intake exceeds expenditure, it results in weight gain.
Here, daily calorie intake refers to the calories obtained through diet, while calorie expenditure is the sum of resting and activity calories:
Resting calories: Energy expended by the body in a state of rest to maintain basic physiological activities like food digestion, respiration, heartbeat, etc. It is usually about 20% higher than basal metabolic rate, which is approximately 1200-1400 kcal for an adult.
Activity calories: Energy consumed during physical activity, such as sporadic household chores, or specific sports activities.
Conversely, if total daily calorie intake is less than expenditure, it can lead to weight loss, a method known as creating a “calorie deficit”.
To help understand the calculation of a calorie deficit, let’s take an example. Let’s assume that Ahua’s resting calorie expenditure for the day is 1500 kcal. He burned 300 kcal through running, making his total calorie expenditure for the day 1800 kcal. Then, he consumed 1300 kcal through food intake. By subtracting the calorie intake from expenditure, we can calculate Ahua’s calorie deficit for the day, which is 1800 minus 1300, equaling 500 kcal.
