Weight Loss That Fits

A Calorie Counter — Weight Loss That Fits Tips

If your goal is weight loss, the first thing that probably comes to mind is calories–even though you can’t see, touch, or weigh them. Every food contains calories, but they aren’t nutrients. Calories are often thought of as something to be avoided, but they are simply units of energy. They play a key role in determining weight.

Calorie counting–essentially, it’s an energy management problem. If you take in more energy–that is, calories–than you expend through metabolism and physical activity, you gain weight; take in less energy than you expend, and you lose weight no matter which foods your calories come from.

After water and air, the body’s most basic requirement is energy, which you get from carbohydrates, fat, and protein. In other words, calories are necessary for life. But it’s important to strike a balance. Taking in too many calories may make you fat, but if you take in too few calories, your energy levels will sag. How many calories do you need? It depends on a multitude of factors, including you weight, age, gender, activity level, and proportion of muscle to fat.

There’s nothing bad about them as long as you get the right amount of them. Unfortunately, most people don’t. Americans eat about 300 more calories per day than they did two decades ago. The incidence of obesity has risen accordingly, with one in three adults officially overweight.

One reason that obesity is such a problem in the United States is that Americans consume a lot of “empty” calories, usually in the form of sugary snack foods. Unlike whole foods, which are filled with vitamins and minerals, snack foods supply calories–and not much else. Beware also of “fat-free” foods; they may have less fat, but many still pack an excessive amount of calories.

Ever eat just one low-fat brownie? How about one measly ounce of reduced-fat potato chips? Or a 1/2-cup scoop of frozen yogurt? No? Well, join the club. Most people, it seems, think that the calories in these and other low-or no-fat foods don’t count. To the contrary–they add up rather quickly. In fact, because of low-fat labels, Americans may be eating more calories than they otherwise would have. Americans are eating a lower percentage of their calories from fat, but they’re actually eating more total calories–and gaining weight. Stick to one serving and you’ll be okay. Pig out on even these reduced-fat alternatives, and, well, you do the math and the damage control!

Another reason for increasing incidence of obesity is that once you reach adulthood, your body’s need for calories declines at the rate of about 2% per decade. All too often, however, we keep the same eating habits that we had when we were younger. Generally, older adults (age 70+) need about 1,600 calories daily, most of which should come from foods that are high in protein and complex carbohydrates and low in fat.

There are all sorts of formulas for determining ideal calorie intake. One quick way to estimate your calorie needs is the “rule of 10″: For every pound you weigh, you need 10 calories just to keep functioning. Thus, a 150 pound person needs 1,500 calories. But you need more for physical activity. Most adults ultimately require 13 to 15 calories per pound of body weight for routine energy demands and even more if they are very physically active.

Carbohydrates are the best sources of calories for the body for two reasons: They are more easily burned for fuel than either fat or protein, and they contain fewer calories per gram than fat does. Fat, in contrast, is least desirable partly because it is so dense with calories. A gram of fat contains more than twice as many calories as a gram of protein or carbohydrates. That means a food made from fat will be twice as “fattening” as a carbohydrate food of similar size and weight. It also explains why you can boost calories tenfold or more by making raw cabbage into fat-laden coleslaw, for example.

The calories you eat are just part of the weight-loss equation. In order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in; once you’ve achieved a healthy weight, the goal is to keep the two numbers equal. For most of us, regular exercise is the only way to burn enough calories to keep weight under control. Any type of exercise will help. If you weigh 120 pounds, you’ll burn more than 330 calories during one hour of aerobics. You’ll burn 220 calories by walking briskly for an hour, and 383 calories during an hour of tennis. You’ll also burn extra calories just by moving around more. Mowing the lawn? It burns about 300 calories an hour. Doing housework with enthusiasm burns 135 calories, and bowling for an hour will burn about 165.