Trying to learn how the body handles calories (bear with me)

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gman1232
gman1232 Posts: 37
in Health and Weight Loss
So I get how the body either uses the energy or stores the energy. The question I have is about increasing in weight. Do calories you eat increase in weight if your body stores the energy. For example if I eat a serving of almonds (28g), and it is above my calorie intake will the almonds increase in weight when the convert to fat. In other words after they convert will the fat created be greater than 28g?

Does that make any sense?

Side note, I know that just one serving of almonds over my calorie intake doesn't mean I will gain weight, I am just trying to understand the body's conversion of energy.

Replies

  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    Are you trying to gain weight? If so, a great place to post this is in the Gaining Weight forum:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/50202-goal-gaining-weight

    If you're just curious about food in general a good rule of thumb is eating anything over your maintenance and you will gain weight. Eat under, and you will loose weight.
  • gman1232
    gman1232 Posts: 37
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    It isn't for either. Just trying to understand the biology of it.
  • FindingMyPerfection
    FindingMyPerfection Posts: 702 Member
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    No when your body digests the almonds there is fiber and other things that pass through you. If you calculate the cal units you are over and then convert those units to how much a cal of fat weighs then you have a formula to see how much fat weight you will gain.
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
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    Exact fat gain is influenced by a variety of factors from thermic effect of food of specific foods, to genetics, to hormonal variations throughout the day, to your current body composition, to activity level (e.g. heavy resistance training will double protein synthesis for ~24-36 hours, so more caloric surplus will go to muscle provided the body is maintaining a positive nitrogen balance). There's no simple equation for it, it is a complex multivariate system.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    fat at 9 calories per gram is more energy dense than protein / carbs at 4 cals per gram. So eating anything other than pure fat is likely to result in a lower fat weight accumulated than the weight of food eaten, if you follow.

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