Let’s Talk Calories, Part 3: Calorie Surplus

Got strength goals? Want to improve your mood? Need to improve your sleep?

You might need to be consuming more calories.

Who in their right mind would ever consider eating more food to be healthier?

It sounds contraindicated, right?

Well, the reality is, most of us are tunnel visioned with the mentality that we have to consume less and less to hit our goals.

How’s that working out for you?

While that might be true for some, the continual decrease in calories for an extended period of time can actually down-regulate your body’s metabolism.

That is why I recommend finding your maintenance calorie range, and living there for a bit, prior to incorporating any calorie deficit.

So what exactly is a calorie surplus?

A calorie surplus is exactly what it sounds like: it is an excess of energy.

This is when weight gain happens. So why would anyone ever want to do this?

To build muscle. (Heyo, fountain of youth.)

Building muscle requires energy. By constantly eating less, or under-fueling, it is hard for muscle to grow.

To promote hormone recovery.

Hormones require energy. By constantly eating less, or under-fueling, it is hard for proper hormonal function to happen. (SOS if your fat intake is low, especially.)

Women who constantly eat less often lose their period, have irregular cycles, or disrupted luteal phases, all of which affect fertility.

Men who constantly eat less often experience hormone imbalances such as the dreaded decrease in testosterone.

Does this mean you should start consuming more ice cream and fritos to build muscle and balance hormones? Not necessarily.

As with everything, quality always matters.

If you have a muscle growth goal or an hormonal balancing goal, your body requires not just adequate energy, but also adequate protein, fats, carbohydrates and micronutrients. (Macronutrient balancing and minerals are always important.)

Muscle growth also requires that the proper workout be implemented. Going into the gym, ping ponging workouts will get you ping ponging results.

Steady, consistent training will reap muscle growth.

It is why my clients enjoy a progressive overload template to grow muscle, improve strength, and as a result, improve metabolism.

Once you have built more muscle, your resting metabolic rate will increase. You will be able to consume more calories at rest than when you had less muscle. It’s a fun thing.

As mentioned in my calorie deficit post, eating less for an extended period of time is not great for your body.

You should always aim to be at a maintenance calorie range.

Once you know your maintenance range, you could implement a small surplus to promote muscle growth, paired with a weight lifting protocol.

Want to try it? Have questions on how to improve your well-being with a calorie surplus?


Apply to work with me here.

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