Count Your Calories!

A balanced diet is something we all seek to maintain, but very often we get misled into eating too much of high calorie foods instead. Calories are essentially measurement tools that are used to quantify energy that is obtained from food & beverages. So; whether it is from the carbs, proteins or fats in our food substances; there are bound to be calories!

Once we put this energy into our body, we can then use it to engage in physical activities; thereby ‘BURNING’ the energy (calories). The amount of calories that each individual required differs depending on certain factors such as: age, height and gender; the daily activity level and if a person wants to lose/ maintain or gain weight.

Calories & Energy Balance!

Calories play a very important role for the human body to survive, as they are essential for the growth of our cells and the healthy functioning of our lungs and heart.

By maintaining a food diary, it is an easy way for you to keep a track of your calorie intake. Thus, by doing so you can keep a track of the amount of ‘energy’ that you are ‘eating or drinking’ and thereby ensure that it is not too much.

It is very important to remember that if we want to maintain a ‘STABLE’ weight, we have to have the same energy put into our bodies as the energy that we use during regular physical activity during the day.

So, if there are certain days when we PUT in more energy into our bodies than we use, than we should ensure that there are also days when the opposite occurs as well. This will help to maintain a balance in the long run. However, if excess energy is stored in the body than we use; it is usually stored in the form of ‘BODY FAT’.

Also known as ‘discretionary calories’, empty calories are those calories that are derived from those food substances that contain no nutrient value. These foods virtually contain no dietary fibre, dietary minerals and vitamins, amino acids or antioxidants.

Empty Calories primarily come from:

Solid fats: These refer to those fats that are solid at room temperature. Some examples include butter, shortening and beef fat! There are also some solid fats, which can be found naturally when foods are processed or prepared by food companies. For example: cookies, cakes, pastries, donuts, sodas, energy drinks, fruit and sports drinks. You can also find solid fats in pizzas, ice creams; and foods such as sausages, hot dogs, bacon and ribs.

Added Sugars: These are calorific sweeteners, which are added to foods and beverages. Some of the common added sugars include sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup (mainly composed of half fructose & half glucose). Added sugars can mainly be found in popular beverages such as fruit drinks, sodas, energy drinks and sports drinks.

Empty calories, surprisingly can also be found in some foods that contain very important nutrients.

Small amount of ‘empty calories’ are NOT TOO HARMFUL and is perfectly healthy; but it is extremely important to LIMIT the amount of EMPTY CALORIES in your diet! One of the biggest mistakes that people make is INCLUDING fruit drinks, energy or sports drinks in their diet, DESPITE trying to lose weight! Little do they know how much it is adding to their weight and slowing the entire process down!

No wonder it’s so hard to lose weight; with ALL those ‘EMPTY CALORIES’!