Any discussion of nutrition is sure to include the word Calorie. We know
that food consists of Calories, and that we eat less Calories when we
want to lose weight and more when we want to gain weight. But do if someone
asked you what a Calorie actually is, could you define it?
Believe it or not, a Calorie is not a sneaky little creature that makes
your clothes smaller in the middle of the night. A Calorie is actually
a unit of heat, specifically, the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature
of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. Therefore, a Calorie is simply energy.
And recall from high school physics that energy cannot be created nor
destroyed, it just changes forms.
Weight Gain
When food enters our body, it does two things. First, it is digested and
serves as the energy source for life sustaining processes such as heart
pumping, muscle contraction, hormone generation, breathing, and many other
body processes. Then, once enough energy has been consumed for these processes,
extra Calories are stored as fat. Weight gain is simply a result of ingesting
too much energy in the form of Calories.
Weight Loss
Weight loss occurs when too few calories are ingested and your body recruits
previously stored fat to energize those body processes. Fad Diets work
by eliminating significant amounts of Calories from your current daily
intake. Thermogenic aids, or diet pills, claim to enhance weight loss
by stimulating fat loss, but fail to stimulate more weight loss than a
consistent exercise combined with a healthy diet routine. Quick fix plans
rarely work in the long term, and most importantly do not improve overall
health. Long term, sustainable weight loss occurs slowly; 2 to 3 pounds
a week is ideal. Determining exactly how many calories you need to consume
for weight loss can be tricky, since the amount varies based on your current
weight, gender, activity level, body type and goals.