Skip to content

Menu

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Services
  • Packages
  • Products
  • Book a Free Discovery Call

Copyright Strength Sisters 101 2025 | Theme by ThemeinProgress | Proudly powered by WordPress

HOT
  • What is G-Flux, and why can it be so important?
  • Is Cortisol hindering weight loss?
  • Do Carbs make you fat?
  • Breaking up with fad diets
  • What is Progressive Overload
0
Strength Sisters 101Health, fitness, strength training, nutrition
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Services
  • Packages
  • Products
  • Book a Free Discovery Call
Written by Strength Sisters 101May 24, 2025

What is G-Flux, and why can it be so important?

Uncategorized Article

G-Flux has been presented as that magic missing piece and also dismissed as pseudoscience, but you can also say that about calorie balance and many other claims. I’d argue that knowing what it is and how you can use it to your advantage without the nonsense can be beneficial, particularly if you struggle with maintaining your weight. 

When we talk about calorie balance, we know that calories in are the ones we intake through food and beverages, and calories out are the ones we burn through the body’s metabolic processes and exercise. 

If we consume more calories than we use, we are at a caloric surplus; if we consume fewer calories than we use, we are at a caloric deficit. 

If we consume as much as we use, we are at a caloric balance.

The interesting part comes when we realize that if we consume 1200 calories and we use 1200 calories, we are maintaining the caloric balance just as much as if we consume 1400 and use 1400, or consume 2400 and use 2400. 

G-Flux, or energy flux, is the relationship between the energy that flows in and out of a physiological system. It’s the balance between the two. You can also think of it as the amount of calories you turn over.

Understanding your optimal energy turnover or G-Flux can help you become more metabolically active, consume more calories without gaining weight, feel better and have more energy, maintain a healthy weight, lose weight without losing muscle, lose weight without starving or having to keep lowering your caloric intake. 

At first, you may think this is about moving more, except that moving more doesn’t always lead to an increased G-Flux.

To understand how to find the optimal G-Flux for us, we have to also understand NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), and how they can interact with each other.

During a caloric deficit, the physical activity components, Exercise and NEAT, of the calorie equation are inversely proportional to each other; the more exercise you do, the more your body will conserve energy and decrease NEAT (fidgeting, pacing, and overall desire to move).

  • BMR or Basal/Resting Metabolic Rate: Energy essential to maintain your body functioning.
  • TEF or Thermic Effect of Food: Energy utilized to break down and digest the food.
  • EEE or Exercise Energy Expenditure: Extra energy that is spent through intentional exercise. 
  • NEAT or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis: Energy that you burn while moving around during the day that is not intentional exercise (pacing, fidgeting, bouncing, etc)

This is how much each influences what we call metabolism: 

BMR: 50-60%

TEF: ~10%

EEE: ~5-15%

NEAT: ~20%

As we can clearly see, the function that consumes the most calories is our resting metabolic rate, and the one that can make a difference during the day would be NEAT.

But our BMR seems to be the most important aspect; studies have shown that even when someone has a slower metabolism than normal, the variants isn’t large and has minimal influence on weight loss/gain. That’s why, when calculating your BMR, a little miscalculation won’t make a large difference (~50/100 calories, such as half an apple or half a teaspoon of peanut butter).

When we look at NEAT, that’s a different story because the difference in NEAT among people can be very high, a lot higher than a mere 50/100 calories from BMR. Depending on weight, height, age, and other factors, NEAT can vary by ~1000 calories from person to person. 

But we have to be careful because EEE and NEAT are inversely proportional to each other; the more exercise you do, the more your body will conserve energy and decrease NEAT, and too much intentional cardio will eventually interfere with recovery as well. Walking or LISS tends to add intentional NEAT without affecting EEE much.

As coaches, we monitor recovery and energy/fatigue feelings weekly or on a daily basis in some cases to adjust these important factors because more is not always better.

Strategically increasing or decreasing your NEAT intentionally, depending on your goals, may make a difference, but worrying about your BMR or counting calories to perfection may not.

The magic can happen when, instead of creating a caloric deficit, we create a G-Flux increase. 

How do you create a G-Flux increase if, when you move more, your NEAT decreases?


This is the fun part. Ideally, you would monitor your step count. You track how many steps you take daily. Usually, when you are in a caloric deficit, your NEAT decreases, including how many steps you unconsciously take. But if you use a tracker, you can notice what’s happening and when your steps are decreasing.

Now, I’m not saying it’s easy, but being aware of that decrease can help us intentionally take the extra steps that lead to that extra caloric burn. 

So, a slight caloric deficit can decrease your NEAT, and we can offset it by doing a few extra steps. The problem with this solution is that if we are at a caloric deficit, we are not going to have the energy to keep up with this extra movement daily. We will be tired or exhausted at the end of the day, and even the next day if we aren’t consuming enough calories and also trying to take the extra steps. 

This is where increasing caloric intake by a couple of hundred, and using that extra energy to take a few extra steps a day, or start running, dancing, or moving more in any form we enjoy, can make a difference. We can eat a bit more, and have more energy to move a bit more.

Over time, this can be increased more and more as our body adapts. 

And if you focus on increasing overall G-Flux instead of lowering calories, you are going to have more energy, increase cardiometabolic capacity, improve body composition, improve nutrient partitioning (what our body does with what we eat), be able to eat more, maintain weight loss previously accomplished, increase metabolic rate, physical fitness, and feel better overall. Not to mention, stop the diet cycles. 

The weight may not change as we are maintaining a caloric balance, but with increased G-Flux, our body composition will certainly improve. 

The opposite happens when we keep reducing calories or decreasing activity. 

Reduced activity combined with lower calories means a decrease in metabolic rate, decreased health, and potential loss of valuable lean muscle mass.

Keep in mind that to increase G-Flux, you also have to increase your caloric intake, otherwise, you would be in a caloric deficit through exercise, and your NEAT and metabolic rate will drop, as well as your energy availability. 

And last but not least, attempting to move more too quickly or without allowing our body to adapt is not a good idea and will not result in an increased G-Flux. Start slow, but steadily monitor and increase to a point where it feels comfortable and more energized. 

This can be accomplished in many ways, and a few extra steps daily can do the trick. 

If you feel sore due to the extra activity, slow it down, recover, adapt, and try again in lower doses. 

Reference:
Increasing Energy Flux to Maintain Diet-Induced Weight Loss

PMCID: PMC6835968  PMID: 31640123

Let me know what you think and if this information can help you. 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022

Calendar

June 2025
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  
« May    

Categories

  • Nutrition
  • Training
  • Uncategorized

Copyright Strength Sisters 101 2025 | Theme by ThemeinProgress | Proudly powered by WordPress