A Weight Loss Lesson From a Roundhouse Kick to the Face

Back in high school, I trained in a branch of martial arts.

Sparring was always one of my favorite things we did at the dojo.

One day I got to spar one of the adult blackbelts.

This guy was about a foot taller and 30 pounds heavier than me.

As an enthusiastic (and rather cocky) teenager, I was excited for an opportunity to prove something to him and everyone else.

We circled around each other at the start. I remember looking at him through my gloves, thinking I’ll make the first move.

I went for the first strike, but I made a big mistake.

In my hastiness I dropped my right hand that was guarding my face.

Whack.

The blackbelt landed a perfectly timed roundhouse kick to my exposed face. He saw my mistake coming and anticipated it.

I don’t remember what happened in the 3 seconds after that.

But I do remember the rest of that training session and the days after.

I was humbled.. and I had a big black eye to prove it.

Energy Stewardship – The Center of Weight Loss

A roundhouse kick packs a lot of energy.

And my face felt it.

The energy from his kick wasn’t destroyed when it made contact… It was simply transferred to my face.

This is the law of conservation of energy.

Energy cannot be destroyed. It can only be transferred or converted.

When we take in food, we take in energy.

When we use energy to move, we expend it.

When energy in exceeds energy out, it can’t be destroyed. It has to go somewhere. 

This leads to weight gain.

In the fitness and nutrition world, this is called energy balance.

As a Christian, I see this as energy stewardship.

God is the one who has given us food to be our energy.

And He designed our bodies to use energy to operate.

We take in energy, we use it to live, and we do it all for His glory. This is energy stewardship.

This principle is at the center of every weight management effort.

• We gain weight when energy going in exceeds energy going out.

• We maintain weight when energy going in equals energy going out.

• We lose weight when energy going in is less than energy going out.

That’s it.

Every fad diet, every weight loss program, every exercise bootcamp, and every new fitness craze helps us manage weight because of this principle.

And there are only two things we can do to manage this energy.

1) Energy in: eat

This is the first part of energy stewardship.

God designed our bodies to turn plants and animals into energy our bodies can use.

If your goal is weight loss, the way to do that is by having a caloric deficit.

But here’s how to make that easier.

Cut out energy-dense foods and focus on nutrient-dense ones.

1) Energy-dense foods.

Typically these are nutrient-poor. They have a lot of energy, but not much else. 

Some examples:

• Sugary drinks: Pepsi, Coke, fruit juices, etc…

• Pastries: donuts, danishes, kolaches, etc…

• Alcoholic beverages: beers, wine, spirits, etc…

• Salty snacks: chips, pretzels, etc…

• Fast foods: fries, fried chicken, etc…

• Candies/desserts: M&M’s, ice cream, licorice, etc…

2) Nutrient-dense foods.

These also have energy. And they give you everything else your body needs to operate.

Some examples:

• Meats: beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, etc…

• Fruits: apples, bananas, berries, melons, etc…

• Vegetables: cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, onions, sweet potatoes, etc…

• Legumes: beans, lentils, nuts, etc…

• Dairy: milk, Greek yogurt, cheeses, etc…

The less we intake energy-dense foods and the more we consume nutrient-dense ones, the easier it will be to steward the energy coming in.

2) Energy out: move

This is the second part of energy stewardship.

God designed our bodies to move using energy.

Expending energy through movement is how we balance out the energy intake.

There two categories of movement.

1) Exercise

This is mostly planned activity, from time in the gym, a home gym, a sport, or hike.

Examples:

• Kettlebells

• Barbells

• Dumbbells

• Circuit training

• Bodyweight

• Sports

2) Non-exercise activity

This is all the other movement we do throughout the day.

Most jobs don’t require much of this anymore.

So being intentional to move more throughout the day is the low hanging fruit in most weight loss efforts.

Examples:

• Walk… and incorporate as much as you can of it throughout the day

  • Start the day with a walk

  • Take a work call while working

  • Take a walk for a lunch break

  • Take a pm walk break

  • Take a family walk at the end of the day

• Fidgeting

• Standing up

• Carrying and moving stuff around the house

➡️ The Weight Loss Takeaway

All weight loss efforts depend on energy stewardship. God is the one who has given us food to eat and body systems to use.

We gain weight when energy going in exceeds energy going out.

We maintain weight when energy going in equals energy going out.

We lose weight when energy going in is less than energy going out.

Focus on eating more nutrient-dense foods and less energy-dense ones.

Exercise. And walk more.

And do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

If you liked this, check out the Layman’s Fitness Newsletter, where I release similar content like this every week.