What’s the difference between eating an entire container of ice cream in one sitting and eating an entire container of ice cream over the span of a week? Isn’t it all going to end up in the same place anyway?
I get a lot of fitness/nutrition questions that I am going to start posting here with responses. Here is a recent one that I’ve gotten asked multiple times in different ways, so hopefully responding here will help some of you, if you happen to have a similar question.
First off, that’s a great question. There IS a difference between binge eating (eating an entire container of ice cream by oneself) and having small portions, even if you do happen to finish off that container by yourself by the end of the week.
One of the problems with binge eating (eating/drinking too much within a short period of time), is that the body is being overloaded with a massive amount of calories all at once. The more calories that you put into your body in a day, the harder and less likely it is going to be that you will actually burn those calories off.
The reason this is a problem is because those calories will then be allowed ample time to accumulate, making them more likely to be converted to fat. For the most part, when you consume calories, they are stored in the liver as an energy source for up to 36-48hrs (the amount of time can very big time depending on the individual/activity level, etc). For someone who is very active or blessed with a fast metabolism, they might actually deplete those energy stores. For the person who is not as active or leads a sedentary life, the liver will then expel those calories (since they are not being used for energy), and they will be stored as fat throughout the body.
For someone who does not binge eat, but sticks to portion sizes - Since the calorie intake is much lower, they are much more likely to burn it off during the amount of time that the body is allowing it to be drawn upon for energy - before the calories are kicked out of the liver and stored as fat. Timing is very important when it comes to nutrition and energy balance.
Once stored as fat, those calories can still be burned off of course - but it is much more difficult to do so. In many cases, a person has to train their bodies in order to burn fat.
I hope this helps. I’m always here/will do my best to answer any questions you all might have. Thanks for submitting and showing concern about eating habits.
Good luck on your nutrition journey.
-C.
