FitSugar

Back to Basics: Calories Explained

FitSugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0800

We talk, or at least think, about calories almost daily. You cut calories. You count them. You burn them. But do you know what a calorie is?

Simply put, a calorie is a unit of energy. When you eat, you're fueling your body with potential energy in the form of calories, which your body uses not just for exercise but for vital functions like breathing. Basically, a calorie is the amount of energy it takes for the temperature of one gram of water to increase by one degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. However, when we talk about calories burned or calories consumed we are technically talking about kilocalories, each of which equals 1,000 calories. Kilocalories are most often referred to as calories for short. Scientifically speaking, the term is capitalized, but in most literature about food and exercise "calorie" is written in all lowercase and it's assumed we are all talking about the same unit of measurement.

Foods are made out of mixtures of macronutrients: protein, carbs, and fat. Protein and carbs each contain four calories per gram, while fat contains nine calories per gram. These caloric amounts represent the amount of potential energy these macronutrients provide.

To see how the body burns calories, just read more.

The body uses calories for three distinct categories of activities. One is your basal metabolic rate (BMR), or how many calories your body burns just to keep the basic operations going - heart beating, kidneys functioning, lungs breathing. Sixty to 70 percent of all calories go toward just keeping your body operational, kind of like overhead expenses. The body also needs calories for physical activity, be it washing your dishes, walking your dog, or running a marathon. The third component of calories burned is the thermic effect of food, or how much energy it takes to digest your food to turn it into energy. Your body burns 10 percent of overall calories consumed to fuel the digestion process of those calories you just consumed.

Food is energy, or calories, that you put into your body to fuel all your activities for the day. If you do not use all that fuel, your body stores the fuel just in case you need it during a famine, and you gain weight. If you use more fuel than you have consumed, by burning more calories than you have eaten, you will lose weight.

The Health Guide has some pretty cool tools to help you understand your personal relationship with calories. To see how many calories your body requires to maintain your weight, check out this Nutritional Needs Calculator. To see roughly how many calories you're burning during a variety of activities, visit the Calorie Burner Calculator.

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Back to Basics: How The Body Burns Calories

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:30:00 -0700

This may seem like sixth grade science class all over again but if you are trying to lose calories, then you should know the basics of how your body burns them. Here are the three primary functions the body uses for burning calories from RealBuzz.com:

Basal metabolic rate. Your BMR accounts for about 60% of your daily calorie burn, and is simply there to keep your body alive, irrespective of your activity levels.
Activity and exercise. The fuel that you require for your daily activities – from every small movements through to harder exercise – accounts for the next 30% of your calorie expenditure.
Thermogenesis. Every time you eat, digest, absorb and utilize food, heat is generated – which is referred to as the ‘thermogenic effect’. This meal-induced heat production accounts for the remaining 10% of your calorie expenditure.

So it is important to always keep the three primary calorie burning functions in mind when going through our weight loss journey. Especially activity and exercise as this is the one area where most of us are majorly lacking -- Coincidentally it also happens to be the area that we have the most control over.

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Physical activity

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:49:41 -0700

HEALTH GUIDE REFERENCE FROM A.D.A.M

Definition

Physical activity is any activity that causes your body to work harder than normal. The actual amount of physical activity you need depends on your fitness goals, whether you are trying to lose weight, and how fit you are right now.

Alternative Names

Fitness recommendations; Exercise

Information

Physical activity can help you:

Burn calories and reduce body fat
Reduce your appetite
Keep your current weight and control it

For the purpose of weight loss, physical activity works best when you also reduce the amount of calories you take in from food and drinks.

The number of calories burned during physical activity depends on:

The amount of time you spend on physical activity: For example, walking for 45 minutes will burn more calories than walking for 20 minutes.
Your body weight: For example, a 250-pound person will burn more calories walking for 30 minutes than a 185-pound person.
Pace: For example, walking 3 miles per hour will burn more calories than walking 1.5 miles per hour.

BASAL METABOLIC RATE

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body uses when it is at rest. BMR accounts for most of your calorie use. Your basal metabolic rate is based on things your body always does such as breathing, breaking down food, and keeping your heart and brain working. Your age, sex, body weight, and level of physical activity affect the basal metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate increases with the amount of muscle tissue you have, and it reduces with age.

Along with burning more calories, physical activity increases the BMR, and the BMR can remain increased after 30 minutes of moderate physical activity. For many people, the basal metabolic rate can be increased for approximately 48 hours after the activity. This means, for example, that after the physical activity, when a person is sitting and watching television, the body is using more calories than usual.

EFFECT ON APPETITE

Physical activity at a moderate rate does not increase the appetite. In some situations, the appetite will actually decrease. Research shows that the decrease in appetite after physical activity is greater in individuals who are obese than in individuals who are at their right body weight.

LOSS OF BODY FAT

When losing weight just by taking in less calories, a person loses a quarter of his or her lean body mass, and three quarters of his or her body fat. Combining calorie reduction with physical activity can result in loss of 98% of body fat. Weight loss that is reached with a combination of calorie reduction and physical activity is more effective. For keeping a desirable body weight, a maintenance level of calories along with physical activity is recommended. This helps to preserve lean body mass and muscle tone.

RECOMMENDATIONS

For losing or maintaining weight:

Try to do some form of physical activity at least three times a week. Increasing it to four to five times a week is even more helpful. Spread out the physical activity through the week rather than doing it on three or four consecutive days, to reduce the risk of injuries.
The target heart rate during physical activity should be 60% to 90% of the maximum heart rate.

To calculate the target heart rate, use the following formula:

220(beats per minute) minus age = maximum heart rate.
Maximum heart rate multiplied by the intensity level = target heart rate.

For example, a 50-year old woman exercising at 60% maximum would use the following calculation:

220 - 50 = 170 (maximum heart rate)
170 X 60% = 102 (target heart rate)

This is her target heart rate regardless of the type of physical activity she elects to do.

Physical activity at 60 to 70% of the maximum heart rate can be continued safely for a long period of time. If an exercise is too hard, conversation cannot be carried on during the physical activity (the person is out of breath).

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, physical activity of less than 2 times a week at less than 60% of the maximum heart rate, and for less than 10 minutes per day, does not help in developing and maintaining fitness. If physical activity is stopped, the fitness benefits are completely lost. Within 2 to 3 weeks the level of fitness is reduced, and within 3 to 8 months it is completely lost, and the person has to restart again.

Twenty minutes of continuous aerobic activity 3 days per week is recommended for weight loss. Examples of physical activity that are considered aerobic are: walking, running, jogging, hiking, swimming, bike riding, rowing, cross country skiing, and jumping rope.

BENEFITS

Physical activity contributes to health by reducing the heart rate, decreasing the risk for cardiovascular disease, and reducing the amount of bone loss that is associated with age and osteoporosis. Physical activity also helps the body use calories better, thereby helping with weight loss and weight maintenance. It can increase basal metabolic rate, reduces appetite, and help in the reduction of body fat.

SIDE EFFECTS

Physical activity should be done at a rate that is right for the person. An evaluation by an exercise physiologist is helpful, in order to to avoid injuries. Injuries can occur if physical activity is started without much consideration as to the type or length of the activity, and the physical condition of the person.

Review Date: 10/24/2006

Reviewed By: Daniel R Alexander, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, St. Mary's Hospital, Leonardtown, MD. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is an independent audit to verify that A.D.A.M. follows rigorous standards of quality and accountability. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial policy, editorial process and privacy policy. A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch).

A.D.A.M. Copyright

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997-2009 A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

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You Asked: Too Few Calories?

FitSugar — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:30:00 -0800

You're asking and I'm answering . . .

"Fit, so I've been working out 5 days a week, and I'm only eating around 1000 calories a day and I can't seem to lose the weight. What gives?"
- Frustrated Fiona

To see my answer, read more.

What gives is that your body is probably starving. Granted I don't know your statistics, but 1,000 calories is not a lot, and you must be hungry! Here is the thing that so many dieters fail to accept: if you cut out too many calories, your body goes into starvation mode, which means your metabolism starts to conserve energy, slows down, and doesn't burn calories as fast - the exact opposite of your goal. You should always (always, always, always) be eating at least enough calories to match your resting metabolic rate or BMR (basically what the amount of calories you'd burn if you didn't get off your couch for a day). Here's a calculator if you don't know it - mine is around 1500, just to give you an idea. Clearly, since you're working out five days a week, you're going to need more than your BMR, as you're not a couch potato.

Check out my calculator to see how many calories you should be taking in given certain amounts of activity. So stop starving yourself and you should see a difference, you'll definitely feel one.

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FIT Calculator: Calorie Evaluator

FitSugar — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:00:00 -0800

From breaking down your favorite fast food meals by calories, to telling you that you need to burn more calories than you eat, I have been heavily focusing on calories lately. I've even suggested that you make a food diary so you can keep track of your calories, but why?

Calories are an easy way to gauge how to maintain, gain or lose weight. Basically the way it works is that there is a mathematical formula that you can use to figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate (MBR), which is the daily amount of calories you would burn if you stayed in bed all day. Then you multiply your BMR by another number depending on how much exercise you do.

It's all pretty complicated so that is why FitSugar has created SugarStats' Calorie Evaluator, which is an easy way to evaluate how many calories you need to maintain, gain or lose weight.

That's not all! With the new SugarStats you can also find your Target Heart Rate, see if you're drinking enough water and find out your Body Mass Index.

FitSugar

Back to Basics: Calories Explained

Back to Basics: How The Body Burns Calories

Physical activity

Overview

Illustrations

Definition

Alternative Names

Information

You Asked: Too Few Calories?

FIT Calculator: Calorie Evaluator