Should I Be Counting Calories?

What is Calories? A calorie is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius, in another words a calorie is a measure of heat energy. When food is burned, it releases a certain amount of heat (energy), depending on the type of food, for example; Fat has more calories (9 calories per gram) than Carbohydrates (4 calories per gram). The more calories that are in the food, the more energy will be released when it is burned and whatever surplus energy that is not used by the body will get stored as adipose tissue (body fat).

Whatever your goal might be, be it to lose weight or gain weight, you need to count calories to reach your specific goal. If you want to lose weight then you need to be in a negative calorie balance, for example; if you require 2500 calories per day to maintain your body weight, then to lose weight you would need to lower your calorie consumption per day (negative calorie balance) and the opposite is true if one wants to gain weight. So if you do not count calories then you will not know whether you are in a negative or positive calorie balance and that’s one of the reasons why so many people go through numerous diet plans and training programs without achieving the results that they require.

Do not assume calorie consumption, if you say to yourself that you will eat less than what you normally do so you can be in a negative calorie balance, then I have news for you, this in most cases will be disastrous because if you go too low on your calorie consumption it will send your body into starvation mode which in turn slows your metabolism and makes it more difficult to lose weight. And you will even put on weight when you start to binge.

To find out how to calculate your maintenance calorie consumption and how many calories you require to achieving your specific goal Click Here!