When we talk of fitness & workout, calorie is the most frequent word we hear. Lot of fitness articles & blogs would talk of how many calories you need to consume & burn. Specifically in case of weight loss or fat loss, the word “ calorie” is all the more familiar. The fact around “calories” can be sometimes more overwhelming if you have not made concerted efforts to figure out what it means.
So let us discuss first about calories.
A calorie measures the amount of energy we ingest when you eat foods & drink beverages. In other words, calorie is a degree of measurement & it measures energy. Energy is found in our diet in the form of macronutrients- fats, protein & carbohydrates. To live & stay healthy, we need this energy. Everything we do in our day to day life requires energy which comes from micronutrients & macronutrients we consume
However, it is important to note that not all calories are healthy. The quality of calorie is of utmost importance. Poor quality calories include empty calories such as sodas, fast food, high sugar foods, fried foods etc. Good quality calories are those that provide essential micronutrients required for proper functioning of the body. To give you an example orange & a candy bar may offer similar calories & those calories would be burnt more or less the same. However the difference lies in the quality of calories. Orange will provide essential vitamins that will aid growth & development of your body while consuming candy bars will lead to micronutrients deficiency & fluctuations in your blood sugar level. You may lose weight even if you eat low quality calorie food but it will seriously impact your health. Besides, such weight loss will not be sustainable.
An average person using exercise for health should avoid empty calories & must ensure that all energy comes from nutrient dense foods.
We have shared in our e-book as well that 1 gram of carbohydrates has 4 calories, 1 gram of protein has 4 calories & 1 gram of fat has 9 calories.
So how are calories burned?
To understand this, we need to know about metabolism. Metabolism explains how your body creates energy from food & how your body uses energy. Metabolic rate explains how quickly your body burns these calories for energy. Your metabolic rate depends upon various factors such as activities you are doing, your body composition & gender.
Why should you burn your calories? Unused energy or excess of calorie input over calorie output is stored in the body as fat. Excess fat( over & above essential fat our body requires) not only feels lethargic but can also create various health complications & lifestyle diseases going forward. Diet plays an important role in maintaining your calorie balance. Your calorie input & output are the main building blocks when it comes to weight management. Your diet can impact your calorie in a negative way- create a positive energy balance if you’re consuming more calories than you are burning. Therefore if your fitness goal is weight loss, make sure that you are consuming more or nutrient dense food rather than calorie dense food consistently. Even if you indulge in high intense workout but end up having highly processed foods such as Pizza, Burgers, fries & sugary stuff, you are not going to achieve your weight loss goals since you will not be able to maintain required calorie balance.
At the end it is an input-output game. You eat more than you burn, you end up gaining weight since the positive energy balance or excess calories gets stored as fat in fat cells. If you burn more than you consume, you end up using both energy consumed & energy stored, thereby resulting in weight loss. However, it is important to consider that what you eat should also offer you essential micro nutrients. These essential micro nutrients ensure that your body are using them for body growth & development to the best of its ability.
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