Results Interpretation
Your Energy Balance
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This is the average amount of calories you burned per day over the course of your test period.
Every system in your body uses energy – your immune system, heart and lungs, kidneys and liver, your brain, and of course exercise and other physical activity. Also known as total energy expenditure (TEE), this is the total amount of energy that was required to power the ~37 trillion cells in your body during your test period each day. Your TEE is measure of how your body is functioning, a peek into the hidden engine that powers your life.
Scientific American: How We Burn Calories
Science: Busting Myths About We Burn Calories
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Calories eaten is calculated by combining your calories burned with the weigh-ins provided on your sample card. The points on the chart represent your reported weigh-ins during your test period, while the dotted trendline smooths the data to account for non-body weight changes (e.g., glycogen stores, salt, hydration, etc.). This change in weight is then used to determine the caloric intake required to result in that change.
Calories eaten per day and calories burned per day determine your resulting calorie surplus/deficit and weight gain/loss. If your intake is more than you thought, you’re not alone! It’s difficult to remember everything you eat, portion sizes can be difficult to estimate, and the numbers on food packaging are not always accurate. Tracking calories is a big challenge, and most people undercount.
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If you have a calorie surplus (+), you’re eating more calories than you’re burning and will gain weight.
If you have a calorie deficit (-), you’re burning more calories than you’re eating and will lose weight. However, keep in mind that if you’re in too large of a calorie deficit, you may lose muscle. You’ll get lighter, but your body composition and health may suffer. You may even experience metabolic adaptation, where your body “turns down” its metabolism as a natural reaction to an unsustainable diet.
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This is how much weight you would lose/gain per week if your calorie budget continued to match that of your test period.
Calorie Intake By Objective
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If your goal is to lose weight as fast and effectively as possible, this is the number of calories to eat per day. Crash diets can make you feel miserable and can also impact your metabolism. That’s why it’s important to avoid too large of a calorie deficit: you’ll get lighter, but your body composition and health may suffer. You may even experience metabolic adaptation, where your body “turns down” its metabolism as a natural reaction to an unsustainable diet.
Calorify Blog Post: How to Use Calorify to Achieve Your Body Composition Goals
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This modest calorie deficit accomplishes fat loss and muscle gain at the same time.
Calorify Blog Post: How to Use Calorify to Achieve Your Body Composition Goals
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Calories in – calories out works! Eat the same amount you’re burning to maintain your body weight.
Calorify Blog Post: How to Use Calorify to Achieve Your Body Composition Goals
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This modest calorie surplus promotes lean muscle gain while minimizing fat gain.
Calorify Blog Post: How to Use Calorify to Achieve Your Body Composition Goals
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If your goal is to gain weight beyond muscle, this high calorie surplus will allow you to do so.
Calorify Blog Post: How to Use Calorify to Achieve Your Body Composition Goals
Your Energy Budget
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Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is how many calories you burn at complete rest. You can think of it as the amount of energy you need to “keep the lights on.” If your metabolism was a car, your BMR would be the engine at idle – the energy needed just to keep everything running. BMR is determined by your organs, particularly energy-hungry organs like your brain, liver, kidneys, and heart.
This metric is calculated using your measured body composition, sex, and age.
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Your physical activity level (PAL) is the total number of calories you burn divided by your basal metabolic rate. A higher PAL corresponds to more activity. A PAL of 2.5 is thought to be the upper limit for sustainable energy expenditure.
Calorify Blog Post: Physical Activity Level
Scientific Reference: PAL vs TEE
Scientific Reference: Maximum Sustainable Energy Expenditure
Training Metrics (PRO-exclusive)
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Your energy budget can be broken down into four main components:
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): Calories burned at complete rest (estimated based on your measured body composition).
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): Calories required to digest food (as reported in your macro data sent to Calorify).
Exercise: Calories exerted during your logged workouts (as reported in your exercise data sent to Calorify).
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): Calories utilized by non-exercise activity (e.g. work and daily life).
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Energy availability is defined as the number of calories you have left (after accounting for exercise and training) relative to your body size. More precisely, it is measured as non-exercise calories eaten per kilogram of lean body mass.
Calorify Blog Post: Energy Availability
Scientific Reference: Energy Availability in Athletes
Scientific Reference: Energy Deficiency in Sports
International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement on EA in Sports
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This is where you lie on the spectrum from completely sedentary to the maximum sustainable energy expenditure.
A result of less than 100% indicates that you are training sustainably and have room in your calorie budget before you hit your upper limit (above a PAL of 2.5).
A result of greater than 100% indicates overtraining. Also reported is your training horizon (i.e., how long you could repeat your testing period before the scientific literature predicts you will get injured, get sick, need a vacation, or dial back your training to stay within a sustainable regimen).
Your Body Composition
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This is the weight of everything in your body except for fat on day 1 of your test.
This includes things like your organs, bones, muscles, blood, skin - everything except fat (this metric is also sometimes referred to as “lean body mass”).
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This is the weight of fat in your body on day 1 of your test.
This measurement includes both essential body fat and storage body fat. Essential body fat is vital to maintaining your body’s core functions, while storage body fat consists of fat accumulation in adipose tissue, located mainly beneath the skin (subcutaneous fat) and around internal organs (visceral fat).
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This is the proportion of your body weight that is fat on day 1 of your test. The percentile compares your body fat percentage to your peers (people of the same sex and of similar age).
Note that your hydration status can affect your body fat percentage measurement. If you were over-hydrated on day 1 of your test, your body fat percentage is likely reported as lower than actual, whereas if you were under-hydrated, it is likely reported as higher than actual.
Your Hydration
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This is the average amount of water that flowed through your body each day during your test period. You take water in from the moisture in the food you eat and the water in the beverages you drink.
Your body also produces about 8 oz of water each day from metabolism (water is a byproduct of converting oxygen and nutrients into energy). You lose water in sweat, the water vapor you breathe out, and from urine and stool. If you’re physically active, you can expect your body to use more water each day. Also, if you drink a lot of water, you will see that in your water throughput measure. Your body controls the amount of water it holds very carefully in order to main your total body water pool.
We’ve all heard the age-old advice to “drink eight cups of water a day.” But if you fall short, don’t worry: that advice is probably wrong anyway. The advice is misguided in part because it doesn’t take into account all the water that we get from our food and from other beverages like coffee and tea. Overall, research has found that water needs vary from one person to the next and depend on factors like your age, sex, size, physical activity level, and climate that you live in.
Long story short, “drink when you’re thirsty” is about the most scientific advice out there.
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This is the percentage of your body that was comprised of water on day 1 of your test.
Total body water (TBW) is tightly regulated by thirst and hunger, which offset water losses.
Note that body composition affects this measurement, as water does not go into fat cells. Therefore, a leaner person will have a higher total body water than someone who is not as lean.