What is a Calorie?

What is a Calorie?

Calories are a measurement of energy that the body receives from foods and beverages. This energy is what fuels the body, and enables it to function properly. Most people know that in order to lose weight, calorie intake must be reduced and monitored. Some people find an effective weight management tool to be a calorie-controlled diet. So what is a calorie-controlled diet anyway?

A calorie-controlled diet is, simply put, a diet in which calories are counted. The recommended average calorie intake for women is about two thousand calories per day. The recommended average calorie intake for men is about two thousand five hundred calories per day. These guidelines are basic averages and may vary depending on specific dietary needs, and/or activity level. A good rule of thumb to determine how many calories you should be consuming per day is to use one of the calorie multiplier methods. For a daily maintenance diet, multiply your body weight in pounds by fifteen calories (lbs. x 15). For a fat loss diet, multiply your body weight in pounds by twelve calories (lbs. x 12). This is a very easy, efficient way to get a good idea of your daily caloric requirements. Another helpful tip for fat loss is: for every one pound of fat you wish to lose per week, you must reduce your caloric intake by three thousand five hundred calories per week (or five hundred calories per day).

The calorie-controlled diet can help you gain a much more realistic view of how many calories you really consume each day. Recent studies have shown that people underestimate the number of daily calories consumed by as much as one thousand when they do not keep track of their diet. To be as honest as possible on the controlled diet, keep track (or keep a log) of everything you eat in a day. At the end of the day, add up the total number of calories and write it down in a journal. When seven days have elapsed, add the total calories for the week, and divide that number by seven. That is your average daily calorie intake. 

Aside from being more aware of how many calories you are consuming each day, there are several other advantages of a calorie-controlled diet. This diet does not limit your food and does not keep you from eating your favorites. All calories are counted, and as long as you do not exceed your daily allotted calories, most foods can be consumed with moderation. Calorie controlled diets are also quite easy to begin and do not interfere with daily life. Finally, a calorie-controlled diet helps you maintain a healthy eating program for life. The diet encourages people to make smart food choices which optimizes energy and promotes overall health and well being

How Are Calories Related to Weight Control?
If our energy intake (that is, the calorie content of the food we eat) exceeds our energy expenditure (that is, the calories we burn while at rest and while moving), our
body stores the excess energy as body fat. Result?
We gain weight.

How Many Calories Equals One Pound of Body Fat?

Dietitians typically reckon that 3500 calories are adequate one pound of body fat.
Therefore, in order to reduce weight (eg.1 pound per week), each day we need to consume 500 fewer calories than we burn.
During a 7-day amount, our calorie deficit will amount to 3500 calories.
However, it's not essential to achieve these calorie savings exclusively by eating less.
We can conjointly increase our calorie expenditure by exercise additional.
We might eat 250 fewer calories per day and burn an additional 250 calories in aerobics.

What is a Calorie-Controlled Diet?
A calorie-controlled diet is no more than an eating plan with calculated calorie content.
A very-low-calorie diet (or very-low-energy diet, VLED) typically contains about 800 calories per day.
It is typically a mix of real food and meal replacement shakes or bars and is commonly used under medical supervision by very overweight or obese dieters, with nutritional supplements.

A low-calorie feeding arranges, typically used as a weight loss diet, typically contains 1200-1600 calories.
Low-calorie meal recipes, (eg.Weight Watchers "Smart Ones" or Lean Cuisine) generally average concerning four hundred calories.

High-calorie diets, used by athletes and sportspeople who burn very large amounts of energy, may contain up to 10,000 calories.

How Many Calories will we get to Eat every Day?

Our daily calorie needs to rely upon a variety of things, including our: gender, age, weight, and level of activity.
Very approximate ballpark calorie wants for average-sized adults, aged 30, with a sedentary lifestyle, would be 2400 calories (men) or 1800 calories (women).
Daily calorie wants for kids and teenagers vary from 1200 to 2000 calories.

What Are Sensible Ways To Reduce Calories In Our Diet?

As a rough guide, the first step to reducing calories is to avoid calorie-dense foods that are high in fat or sugar. 

Why avoid these foods? Because these type of foods are overly available. And they are too easily eaten. For example, after the main meal, we are not typically hungry, yet it's easy to demolish a large helping of rich ice cream, or a creamy dessert. By comparison, it's much more difficult to eat 4-5 large apples. In addition, fat contains more than twice the calories (9 per gram) than carbs or protein (4 per gram), while too much sugar may raise blood-glucose levels too fast and leave you hungry within a couple of hours. Another way to make healthy calorie savings (and still feel full) is to choose high fiber foods, such as vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains. Foods rich in fiber (soluble or insoluble) take longer to digest and give us a sense of satiety.

Are All Calories Equal?

Although scientifically speaking all calories are equal in energy terms, most dietitians and nutritionists advise us to make calorie savings by choosing nutrient-dense foods (meaning food with a high nutritional content) in preference to empty-calorie foods (meaning food which contains calories but little or no nutrition). Nutritious foods include lean meat, fish, low-fat dairy foods, eggs, beans, whole grains and of course plenty of fruit and veggies. Empty calorie foods include regular sodas, candy, sweets, cakes, and cookies. Paradoxically, some high-calorie foods (eg. oily fish) should be preferred to lower-calorie options, because of their omega-3 fat content, which is believed to assist metabolic function rather than lead to weight gain.

What Exercise is Best For Calorie-Burning

In general, aerobic exercise (sustained exercise of the large muscles) such as brisk walking, swimming, jogging, running, and treadmill workouts tend to burn the most calories. However, resistance training (eg. weight training) is essential to build muscle and raise your basic metabolic rate. This is because muscle requires more calories to sustain than fat. So the more muscle we have, the more food we can eat before we gain weight.