Monday, September 30, 2013
Calories...The Good, Bad and Ugly
When we take in more calories than we burn, we gain weight. But what is a calorie anyway? A calorie is simply a measurement of energy contained in the food we eat. We all need energy (or fuel) to function everyday, and we get that from food. Our bodies use this fuel and burn it to produce the
energy we need to live.
When you take in more calories than your body uses daily, the extra calories are stored as fat. If you are very active and use more calories than you take in, your body uses some of your stored fat as energy. So your body weight depends on the number of calories that you take in versus the calories that your body burns.
To get an idea of the number of calories your body uses daily with little or no exercise, find your age category and multiply your current weight by the number of calories shown:
*Ages 20-29: multiply weight by 13-15 calories
*Ages 30-39: multiply weight by 12 calories
*Ages 40-49: multiply weight by 11 calories
*Ages 50 and above: multiply weight by 10 calories
One pound equals 3,500 calories. To gain one pound, you must eat 3,500 MORE calories than your body burns. This doesn't happen overnight...it just seems to sneak up on you. By simply cutting 500 calories each day, you could lose one pound per week. If 500 sounds like a lot of calories to give up, consider the following:
*Your morning Mocha Frappuccino contains 390 calories
*A glass of juice with breakfast -- add 100 calories
*Put regular dressing on your salad -- add 150 calories per 2 tablespoon serving
*Those M&M candies from the vending machine -- tack on 260 calories
*Each piece of candy from a coworkers' candy dish adds 30 calories per piece
*Put mayo on your sandwich and add a whopping 220 calories for 2 tablespoons
***(note: calorie amounts are approximate)
*Determine how many calories your body currently burns each day:
*Subtract that amount from the number of calories you take in daily from your Food Diary to get the number of extra calories you have been putting into your body and storing as fat.
*A safe weight loss is between 1 and 2 pounds each week, which amounts to cutting between 500 and 1,000 calories from your daily food intake.
*Determine how many calories you can cut every day, but in no case should your caloric intake drop below 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day.
*Start by cutting the hidden calories from your eating regime. Drink black coffee, skip the juice and have a piece of fruit instead, use mustard instead of mayo on your sandwich, etc.
You will feel better about yourself immediately because you have taken a step toward improving your health. The next blog post will discuss how moving more will add to your calorie burning.
This Post is excerpted from my class, "6 Powerful Weight Control Strategies"