All About Calories

What is a Calorie?

Calories: You’ve counted them, cut them, burned them and even cursed them. But what exactly is a calorie? Flip open a dictionary and you’ll find that a calorie is defined as “the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius.” If that’s mumbo jumbo to you, then here’s a simpler explanation: Calories are simply a way to measure energy. Think of calories in food as fuel, they’re what keep your body going. We may see them described in other terms such as a carbohydrate, a fat and a protein. These terms are measured in units called grams. So the basic building block of each gram is a defined number of calories.

1 gram of carbohydrates contain four (4) calories
1 gram of protein contains four (4) calories
1 gram of fat contains nine (9) calories

What does that have to do with the number on the scale? Because one pound of body fat equals about 3,500 calories, you need to cut 3,500 calories from your diet to lose one pound.

For me understanding calories and their importance was the single biggest factor in my quest for getting lean. This time last August I was trying to lose half a stone (I was about 9st 10lbs), and I thought I was eating really healthy, I was exercising like a demon, yet the scales were not budging, I became really frustrated and actually started to put weight on! I could not understand why this was happening. I was eating healthily! Oh yeah right, but I was still eating way too much! I only came to appreciate this when I actually started logging my calories on a food tracker. Boy I was over eating. The minute I worked out how many calories I should be consuming for weight loss (use a calorie calculator), and started logging it in a calorie food tracker the lbs starting to come off. So please take the time to work out how many calories you should be consuming and track them, there are free tools available and they contain a huge database of foods. This will only take 5 minutes of your day, and as nutrition counts for 80% of your success, not exercise, please take the time to do it.

So Just How Many Calories do you Need?

We are all different; hence we all have different calorific needs. The easiest way to work out how many calories you should be consuming for weight loss is to use an online calorie calculator. This takes into consideration a number of factors including age, height and activity level. Bear in mind this is a base line calculation and should be used as a guideline. Regardless of what option you pick, they will all come about the same, so don’t stress over what method to choose. Stick with the calories advised for a week, measure your progress, if you’ve lost weight, great, it’s working, if it’s not, make sure you are being honest with the amount of calories you’ve consumed, and play around with the figures for the following week. Never go below 1200 cals. That would extremely low, and is not necessary. Stick to the plan and the weight will come off.

Tools to help you track calories

There are various free tools on the internet that can help you track how many calories you have consumed. I personally love My Fitness Pal. This is available online free of charge and contains a massive database of food and drink. It is also extremely easy to add your own foods and meals. You will spend 5 minutes a day logging your food choices, and I bet it will be the best 5 minutes of your day. Plan to eat the calories you need for weight loss and the odds are in your favour that you will stick to that plan. I use it first thing on the morning, adding all my meals, that way I know a. what I’m eating for the day, that makes me feel like I’m in control, and b. if other food choices present themselves to me, e.g. cookies offered with a cuppa in the morning, I know I can’t have it as it will take me over my allowance.

How are calories burned?

While you eat, food is broken down inside of your stomach and metabolized into your blood stream. It is either used and burned up efficiently through activity or stored in our cells and fat cells are created.

Your body will need to a certain amount of calories in order to maintain itself properly. The act of breathing, walking, running, sleeping and talking all burn a certain amount of calories.

Physical activities such as jogging, walking, and skiing also help burn calories. The more physical exercise you get, the more calories you will burn. Thus you are keeping your body in shape by eating right and working off the excess calories through exercise. Thus, exercise in general helps to keep your metabolism rate higher and continues to burn fat long after the exercising is done. It will also help your body burn excess fat efficiently at rest.

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