All About Calories

All About Calories

Calories are only part of the battle in the weight war, but It's the most important part. Balance your calories, and you're sure to lose weight. Along with counting calories, everyone needs to know which calories are good and which are bad. If you take in mostly bad calories you're going to find yourself in an uphill battle.

A big part of losing weight is burning more calories than you take in throughout the day. Cut down your calorie intake, and make sure you are burning more than you're taking in. But this doesn't mean starve yourself to cut calories. Still eat 3 regular sized meals or 6 small meals for the day. The average intake of calories for the day should be from 1,200 to 1,700, depending on your activity level and metabolism.

Calories are fuel for the body... You need them to give you energy for everything you do. Carbohydrates, fats and protein are all nutrients that contain calories, making them the main source of energy for the body. The amount of calories in each varies. Carbohydrates and proteins have about 4 calories to every gram, and fats have about 9 calories per gram. All calories that you eat are either converted to fat and stored within your body or converted to energy, which is used during physical activity. So, if you reduce your calorie intake and up your physical activity you'll see the pounds come off.
There's about 3,500 calories in a pound of fat, so you need to burn double that to take off 1 pound... You can do the math for the amount of weight you want to lose. The more aware of calories you become, the easier it will be to avoid overindulging. Simple things like avoiding that high calorie cupcake, and trimming some of your portions here and there will help you take off the weight.

Avoid foods that are high in saturated fat and processed. Calories that come from fruits and vegetables are the better calories that you can take in. Meats that are high in saturated fats are not a good source of calories. When you get your plate of food, put less on it than you think you'll eat. Don't eat until you feel full. Stop eating right before you start to feel full. You can find calorie calculators on the web that will help you count the calories in what you're eating.

Hope these tips help you shed those pounds! And Remember, make your exercise as fun as possible.

All About Calories