Hey everyone! I hope you all found my first blog post helpful. This week I will go in-depth into what a calorie is, the different sources of your calories and why diets do not work.
What is a calorie?
By definition, a calorie is a unit of energy. One calorie is the amount of heat it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). It's important to remember that a calorie is not a physical entity that is in food, it is just a unit of measurement. When talking about food, the calories that are listed on nutrition facts and labels are actually kilocalories but are more commonly known as food calories (1,000 calories = 1 kilocalorie).
So if a bottle of Sprite has 200 calories, it contains 200,000 regular calories, or 200 kilo/food calories. In terms of exercise, when you are exercising on an elliptical machine and it says you have burned 100 calories, it means you have expended 100 kilo/food calories.
How many calories do I need?
As you will see on the nutrition facts panel of any food you eat, the daily values for different foods are based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet. At best, this is a very vague assessment because your weight, height, age, gender and activity level all affect how many calories you need in order to function at rest.
In order to find out how many calories you personally need, you have to calculate your Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR) and your activity level.
Your BMR is the amount of energy your body needs to function at rest. It accounts for up to 60 percent of your calories burned in a day by simple bodily functions such as your heart beating or breathing. So you actually burn calories when you least expect it.
Click here to find an easy way to calculqte your BMR. Once you have your BMR, calculate your activity level. The number you get from this formula is the number of calories you can eat every day and stay at your current weight. In order to lose weight, you'll need to expend more calories than this number.
Where your calories come from
So now that we know what a calorie is and how many you need per day, it is important to know where your calories come from. There are three major sources of caloric intake when you eat food: Proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
Alcohol -- Although you won't get alcohol from food, it's worth knowing how many calories you take in when you decide to unwind and have a drink or two... or six. There are 7 calories per gram of alcohol so when you drink, you are still taking in calories even if you are drinking Bacardi and Coke Zero. You may take in less calories with that cocktail than SoCo and Grenadine lime juice, but remember that you are still taking in calories when you drink, especially if you get wasted.
Proteins -- There are 4 calories per gram of protein. Enzymes break down protein into amino acids, which are the building blocks for cells to grow and maintain their structure. The body is made up of 20 amino acids that are either non-essential (your body creates them on its own) or essential (your body must get them through food). Protein comes from animal and vegetable sources and the animal sources of protein such as meat, dairy and eggs are called complete proteins that have all of the essential amino acids. You can get quite a lot of protein from vegetables like nuts and beans too.
The recommended daily allowance (RDA) on protein is pretty liberal at .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight. I weigh 170 pounds so I will need about 61 grams of protein a day. When you look at the nutrition facts of grams of protein on most foods, it's not hard to meet the RDA for protein.
Carbohydrates -- There are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates. The enzymes in your body break down carbs into glucose, more commonly known as blood sugar, and then creates ATP (adenosine triphosphate) that is energy for every cell in your body. Think of carbohydrates as basic fuel for your body like how a car needs gasoline.
There are simple carbohydrates like sugars that are in candy and honey and are quickly processed for energy (this is the "sugar buzz" that you get from eating chocolate). Then there are complex carbohydrates that take longer to digest such as fruits, vegetables and starchy carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta. Complex carbs are the carbs to eat because they are high in vitamins, minerals and make you feel fuller after eating.
Fat -- There are 9 calories per gram of fat. Fat is the body's way of storing energy and breaks fat down into glycerol and fatty acids. When you eat fat, it helps you feel full or satisfied. Too much fat however results in weight gain. There's a lot of negative rhetoric out there that all fats are bad and any intake of fat will make you obese. Believe it or not, your body needs fat in order to function properly such as growth, healthy skin and vitamin absorption.
The fat that your body needs is called essential fat like the Omega 3 fatty acids that you often hear about in foods like salmon, tuna, flax seed, pumpkin seeds, etc. Your body cannot make these fats on its own, so essential fats need to be taken in through food. Fats to stay away from are saturated fats that come from vegetable oil and fried foods and trans fat which come from baked goods.
Is it worth counting calories?
After all the information you have just read about calories and where they come from, you're probably trying to trace how many you have eaten up until reading this blog. But the good news is that you don't have to count your calories if you're eating right for fat loss. Besides, counting calories is monotonous and downright boring.
According to www.mcnewsletters.com, if you eat foods that maximize nutrient value and minimize insulin release, limit your consumption of foods that raise insulin and have no nutritional value, and eat minimally processed foods, there's no need to count calories.
Why diets don't work
With all this talk about calories and where they come from, it is imperative to know that diets do not work in helping people lose weight and permanently keep it off.
As I said before, your calories come from protein, carbohydrates and fat, and you can't cut out any of the three because you would be depriving your body of valuable nutrients it needs to function properly.
The natural amount of weight someone should lose in a week is two pounds if they are eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly. If someone is overweight or obese, they can lose two to three pounds or even up to five pounds a week starting out. If you lose more than two pounds a week, it is less likely that you will permanently keep all of that weight off.
In the next couple of weeks, many college students will start preparing for spring break by hitting the gym and trying many absurd methods on how to lose weight such as the low-carb Atkins and South Beach diets. Carbohydrates are fuel for the body when you exercise and if you are not taking in any carbs and then try to exercise for any period of time, you will not have any energy. Think of it like your car on empty.
When you do not take in carbs, your body starts looking for energy by burning its fat reserves, which is good, but will also start looking for energy through proteins and will later start burning muscle. So yes, you will lose weight, but it will come at the expense of you feeling fatigued and having no energy to exercise or do anything.
So how the hell am I expected to lose weight?
In order to lose weight and keep it off, you must change your lifestyle. So if you are looking to lose weight, it's a simple mathematical equation that you must expend more calories than you take in.
If you are really interested in learning how many calories you should be taking in, use the previously mentioned BMR and activity level formulas to figure out how many calories you need to maintain your weight and how many more you need to expend in order to lose weight.
What did I just read?
So to recap, here is what I have babbled on about:
1. A calorie is a unit of measurement, not a substance found in food, and the calories listed on nutrition facts are kilocalories or more commonly known as food calories (1,000 calories = 1 food/kilocalorie)
2. In order to lose weight, you must expend more calories than you take in.
3. There's no need to count calories as long as you are eating healthy. But if you feel so inclined, you can keep a food journal on what you are eating.
4. Believe it or not, you burn calories when you aren't exercising.
5. Last but not least, diets DO NOT work. When you deprive your body of a nutrient that it needs (fat, protein or carbohydrates) you will lose weight temporarily but will gain it all back once you stop the diet. Changing your lifestyle by eating healthy and staying active are the only proven ways to shed weight and keep it off.
Last year, The Alligator featured UF economics professor Mark Rush who lost 50 pounds by changing his lifestyle without an excessive exercise program.
Next week I will touch on some different exercises that help make your beach muscles look great in preparation for spring break.
Hope this helps and stay healthy, Gators!
