Calories & how this affect our weight loss

First of all - what are calories? Bit scary word for most in terms of losing weight.

A calorie is a unit of energy. We tend to associate calories with food, but they apply to anything containing energy. For example, a gallon (about 4 liters) of gasoline contains about 31,000,000 calories. You could drive a car 22 miles (35 km) on the calories in 217 Big Macs.

Sometimes energy on food labels are given in joules.

1 calorie = 4.187 joules

How weight loss works?

If you eat the same number of calories as you burn, your weight remains the same.

Energy In (Food) = Energy Out (Exercise + Resting Metabolic Rate*)

If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight, & for every 500 calories less you eat per day, you will lose about 1 pound (1/2 a kilo) of weight per week;

Energy In (Food) < Energy Out (Exercise + Resting Metabolic Rate*)

The amount of food you eat is less than the calories you burn, but the energy has to come from somewhere. Your body takes it from your stored calories of fat.

Another thing to remeber is that it is not recommended to eat less than 1200 calories per day.

The key to healthy weight loss is to make sure the reduced calories you eat provide the nutrition you need.>

*Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the amount of energy your body needs to function at rest. This accounts for about 60 to 70 percent of calories burned in a day and includes the energy required to keep the heart beating, the lungs breathing, the kidneys functioning and the body temperature stabilized. In general, men have a higher RMR than women.

Also please remember that if you ONLY reduce the calorie intake & DON'T increae the physical activity, it will take LONGER for you to lose weight.

Say your goal is to have 500 calorie daily deficit - then try eating 250 calories less & spend 250 calories in physical activity.

You can make adjustment to this, say if you are starting out & to spend 250 calories on physical activity is too much for you, try eating 400 calories less & spending 100 calories on physical activity.

Hope you get the picture.

The best way to find out how many calories you consume is to keep a Food Diary.
Yes, you need to write everything that you eat. (for eg; the piece of ham & cheese you put in your mouth while making kids school lunch in the morning!)